Corporate Strategic Plan

Grey County is an upper tier municipality which covers a significant rural geography (4497.93 sq. km.) and serves more than 100,000 people, 12,000 businesses and 3 million tourists annually. The county’s services include social housing, childcare, Ontario Works benefits administration, paramedic services, three long term care homes, maintenance and construction of the county road network, land use planning, the provincial offences court and support for regional economic development, tourism and culture. We are guided by our values of integrity, collaboration, equity and sustainability to achieve strategic objections prioritized under four themes: Internal Operations & Service Delivery, Building Communities for the Future, Building the Staff Team and Giving Everyone a Place to Call Home.

During the discussions held to develop this strategic plan, current opportunities and challenges to our service delivery were assessed, as well as changes we see coming to our operating environment in the future.  Overall, the trend of strong population growth is expected to continue. Between 2016 and 2021, Grey County’s population grew by 7.5%.  Bolstered by growth in population provincially (Ministry of Finance forecasts an additional 6.6 million residents by 2046) and labour related in-migration related to significant infrastructure projects, Grey’s population is forecast to reach 127,130 by 2046.  Ensuring that our communities can accommodate growth and continue to thrive into the future requires housing, infrastructure and servicing, social services, employment and cultural amenities. The pillars of Building Communities the Future and Giving Everyone a Place to Call Home are focused on meeting these needs. 

Meeting service requirements also requires a skilled and experienced labour force. The municipal sector is experiencing a high number of retirements and up to 15% of the county’s current staff could retire by 2027. The strategic plan’s Building the Staff Team pillar recognizes that recruitment from outside will continue to be challenging and we will have to take additional steps to support staff development and training to ensure we have the human resources necessary to successfully deliver our services. 

Grey County provides a wide range of services that support the people who call Grey County home and everyone who visits to play or do business. 

• Grey County covers an area of 4,497.93 km² 
• Workforce: 597 full time    435 part-time/seasonal/contract/student
• Managing 992 rent-geared-to-income housing units at 35 locations, one 12-unit supportive housing site and a 22-bed emergency housing site
• Supports over 1,650 licensed childcare spaces for children 
• 0 to 6 years old and 730 spaces for 6 to 12-year-olds
• Operates 3 long-term care homes with 319 beds
• Maintains 887 km of roads, 206 bridges and culverts and fleet of 80 vehicles and over 1400 pieces of machinery and equipment
• Paramedic Services operate out of 8 bases and responded to 15,046 patient calls for service in 2023. The community paramedicine programs supports over 450 clients with care at home.   The Supportive Outreach Services program supports 100 to 150 people at any given time in the community.
• Grey County owns 45 forest properties and manages approximately 8,500 acres of forests and 77 km of C P Rail Trail from Owen Sound to Dundalk.
• Operates the Provincial Offences Court for Bruce and Grey County. Provides court administration and prosecution for 100 separate pieces of provincial and federal legislation.

Vision

To be the place where people feel genuinely at home and naturally inspired - enjoying an exceptional blend of active healthy living and economic opportunity.

Purpose

Grey County is committed to the coordinated delivery of responsive and cost-effective services that strengthen the economic, social, environmental, and cultural wellbeing of the diverse communities we serve.

Values

As part of the background work to help prepare for the development of Working Together for Success, County leadership (all elected officials and senior staff), were asked to provide input on the most important County Corporate Values. The following three values were identified as being the most important to guide the County through the implementation of this strategic plan.

Integrity with respect to how the county conducts its business – focusing on being honest and trustworthy while doing what is promised, and always keeping in mind that the corporation exists to serve the best interests of the people who live in Grey County.

Collaboration and Equity as pillars of the work done internally and externally – as collaborating on equal footing among all partners builds trust. Equitable delivery services ensure residents receive the support they need.

Sustainability as a foundation for all the county’s work. To be successful, the county must remain fiscally, environmentally, and social sustainable into the future. Decisions made today do not merely impact the present but have a ripple effect on the future that must be respected.

The strategic planning process reviewed current strategies and plans, issues and challenges facing Grey County as well as identifying opportunities for future improvements to programs and services. The information was grouped into themes or priority areas. Each priority has a goal or target to be attained and supporting objectives that are used to create departmental workplans and multiyear operating and capital budgets.

Internal Operations and Service Delivery

• Reduce risk and liability
• Enhance quality and customer service
• Improve financial forecasting and reporting
• Cost Containment

Building Communities for the Future

• Planning and Infrastructure
• Economic Development Tourism and Culture
• Protecting Our Environment
• First Nations Reconciliation and Relationship Building

Workforce Development

• Skills Development and Succession Planning
• Support optimal productivity and performance

Giving Everyone a Place to Call Home

• Increase housing options to better align with housing need

Council and staff will use these as a guide when planning and making decisions about investments, projects and programs over the term of council.

Priority - Continuous improvement in operational efficiency and service delivery

Goal - Contain costs and improve service access and quality through innovation 

Objectives:

Reduce Risk and Liability

• Streamline agreements process, confirm roles and responsibilities of staff, legal services  and senior management team
• Improve awareness of privacy requirements in our organization
• Update Indemnification By-law
• Implement formal project intake and management procedures to coordinate requirements, track progress and costs, and enable cross department reporting
• Implement recommendations in cybersecurity roadmap 
• Streamline the electronic records management process

Improve Financial Forecasting and Reporting

• Achieve Budget and Finance Committee objectives
• Implement budget management software to enable multi-year budgeting and reporting
• Implement A/P Workflow
• Implement Dayforce 
• Facilitate the development of processes that improve the accuracy, timeliness, and efficiency of financial information
• Develop multi-year operating forecast

Cost Containment

• Drive continuous improvement and adoption of Microsoft tools
• Implement purchasing management software (funds commitment, status reporting)
• Expand asset management plan to include asset sharing and identify joint procurement opportunities with member municipalities
• Expand asset management plan to include all municipal infrastructure assets, that identifies current levels of service and costs to maintain those levels of service

Enhance Quality and Customer Service

• Simplify childcare operator processes for new funding requirements, audits and reporting
• Implement EDTC master plan recommendations
• Deliver communications plan and staff development strategy for major initiatives in 2024 (i.e., Dayforce, Questica, Multi-year operating, Strategic Plan)
• Launch the public engagement framework and increase interaction with residents
• Improve employment rate for eligible OW clients
• Develop and measure KPIs for person centered care in LTC
• Maintain and improve upon paramedic response times
• Implement new and improve upon existing patient care programs i.e., mental health and addictions, falls, CP and CPLTC Program 
• Implement planning efficiencies in collaboration with member municipalities
• Enable multi channel service support (mobile, web, text), self service and online payments
• Improve permit efficiency and customer service by streamlining existing permits and ensuring permit access online
• Complete accreditation for long term care homes through Accreditation Canada
• Develop a Human Resources Annual Report

Priority - Grey County infrastructure, programs and services are future ready and sustainable.

Goal - Collaborate to create and implement plans, programs and infrastructure investments to support  resident quality of life and business success.

Objectives

Planning and Infrastructure

• Determine optimal county road network and management of urban cross sections
• Improve coordination of infrastructure projects with member municipalities to reduce costs
• Develop comprehensive community infrastructure master plans with member municipalities
• New paramedic base in Durham - Develop a template base design that is functional and meets the needs of the service and at the same time lead to costing efficiencies with future base builds.
• Paramedic bases Feversham 2025, Ayton, 2026, Thornbury 2027, Cobble Beach 2028.  Building based to meet needs of comprehensive deployment review enhancements and improve upon rural response times.
• Resolve Patrol D Depot location and associated construction projects
• Complete Green development standards project
• Complete regional waste management assessment
• Design and construct 19/21 Corridor Improvements
• New Rockwood Terrace LTC home built to net zero ready standard

Economic Development, Tourism and Culture

• Build regional capacity and collaboration for investment readiness
• Attract and retain business investment 
• Focus Grey Roots as a welcoming cultural centre
• Develop and deliver annual economic development leadership forum
• Support innovation and investment via Community Improvement Plan program

Protecting our Environment

• Reduce emissions from county operations and upgrade facility resilience
• Assess potential for county wide waste management services focusing on efficiency and diversion from landfill
• Increase access to electric vehicle charging stations
• Sustainably manage and enhance public amenities at forests and trails
• Develop a Climate Change Adaptation Plan
• Update the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan to align with Going Green in Grey

First Nations Reconciliation and Relationship Building

• Investigate further partnership with and support for M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre to deliver programs and services.
• Provide cultural safety training for all staff.
• Seek guidance, knowledge and feedback on Grey Roots programs and exhibits from the Indigenous Advisory circle.
• Develop archeological plan in consultation with SON.
• Undertake consultation with SON on planning matters e.g. Forest Management Plan, Recreational Trails Plan and on their plans for the Mountain Lake property which was transferred by the County to SON as part of the land claim settlement.
• Explore opportunities for collaborative projects between the climate change team, SON Environment Office and Bagida’waad Alliance.

Priority - Municipal workforce attraction, retention and skills development

Goal - Develop skills and experience of staff to meet current and future requirements

Objectives

Skills Development and Succession Planning

• Identify common skills development needs and develop multi-year plan with member municipalities to address cost effectively
• Create policies to support staff secondments between municipalities.
• Map out succession plans and skills development requirements for key positions across the County.
• Develop a formal knowledge transfer guide to ensure that implicit and tacit corporate knowledge is retained to minimize the risk of corporate knowledge loss as our potential retiree demographic grows.
• Implement new construction management and inspection training 
• Ontario Works staff receive skills training for common assessment tool
• Provide leadership and training to strengthen efforts at embedding diversity, inclusion and belonging at all levels of the organization, with a specific focus on developing partnerships with our indigenous communities.

Support Optimal Productivity and Performance

• Deliver a broad-based suite of leadership and management programming to develop new and existing supervisors and leaders, that is scalable for the member municipalities to participate.
• Establish a regular staff newsletter to improve internal awareness of County services and, by extension, the ability for staff to act as ambassadors in the community
• Increase use of data to drive decision making, measure effectiveness, identify issues, validate project progress, and track compliance. (Dayforce & Lean Project)
• Establish a comprehensive program designed to provide new employees information to help them achieve success in their new role and feel welcome and included as a member of Grey County.
• Ensure competitiveness and financial viability of total rewards program (including, but not limited to, pay, benefits, personal and professional development, health & well-being programs, discounts, etc.) so that its design and structure attract and retain talent, while being sensitive to the budgetary needs of the County.
• Create and implement talent development programs that focus on strengthening the skills of employees and providing information and guidance to help them grow as professionals.
• Grow our own skilled team members by supporting ongoing education and professional development, and student placements through provincial programs such as PREP LTC program.

Priority - Improve access to housing for all residents.

Goal - Increase the availability of housing options across the housing continuum to meet current and future needs.

Objectives

Increase Housing Options to Better Align with Housing need  

• Stabilize operations and Improve access to 24x7 emergency shelter
• Secure funding commitment for supportive housing
• Complete new Rockwood Terrace LTC home
• Implement Housing Action Plan recommendations
• Complete new 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan
• Explore innovative funding options for affordable and attainable housing development, i.e. community bonds, concept plans and development RFPs
• Secure base funding for SOS program  

Grey County is committed to the successful implementation of the priorities, goals and objectives identified in this plan. They form the basis of the annual budget and are incorporated into the performance plans of the Chief Administrative Officer and the senior management team members. Council and the community will receive information on progress in the following ways: 

• Quarterly updates on workplan progress for the CAO and each department are provided to Council via the CAO Performance Evaluation Committee minutes.
• An annual strategic plan review report to Council which includes updates on the status of each project/initiative (in relation to the Strategic Plan), estimated time lines for project implementation and/or completion and to report on any changes to the Strategic Plan priorities, goals and/or objectives.
• County website updates: The Strategic Plan page on houses all of the strategic planning information for residents to reference. This page includes a full copy of the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, related staff reports and quarterly updates, the annual strategic plan update report to Council. This page can be found at grey.ca/strategic-plan.