Peel Region manages the childcare sector in Peel and is responsible for ensuring families have access to high-quality, affordable early years and childcare services. Every five years, the Ministry of Education requires Peel Region to develop a new system-wide service plan that outlines priorities for continuing to grow the sector while meeting the changing needs of Peel’s children and families. The newly introduced national childcare plan aims to deliver $10-a-day childcare, which means that the Region will need to create more spaces to meet the increasing demand.

To shape the new early learning and childcare plan, LURA was tasked to gather children’s and families’ perceptions on the affordability, inclusivity, quality, accountability, and accessibility of Peel’s Early Years and Child Care Programs and Services. LURA used several engagement tactics to gather feedback from under-served and under-represented communities, including hosting pop-ups in libraries and community centres where people live, work, and play. LURA also hosted a series of focus groups for target populations such as rural families, 2SLGBTQ+ families, and newcomer families.

To gather child feedback, LURA created a child feedback toolkit to send to service providers so that children can complete activities and answer questions about how their daycare or childcare program makes them feel and what their favourite part is. Together with their partner Forum Research, who conducted the quantitative surveys, LURA delivered a final report and presentation deck to better inform Peel Region on the most important aspects of childcare to the people who access it.

The Region of Durham developed a Community Safety and Well-being Plan (CSWP) that lays the foundation for a community where everyone feels safe, has a sense of belonging, and can meet the most basic needs. Rooted in the lived experiences of those living, working, and building their lives in Durham, the Plan reflects a deep commitment to inclusivity, safety, well-being and collaboration.

LURA played a pivotal role in shaping this transformative plan by designing and delivering a community engagement strategy. The approach ensured that the pre-pandemic feedback on six previously identified priority areas was validated, new priority areas were identified, and the actions to address each priority area were defined. In just a short timeline, LURA facilitated three purpose-driven virtual open houses and conducted a survey, engaging 436 people representing equity-deserving groups, the public, and service providers to inform the development of the CSWP.

The innovative use of Twilio, a tool promising equity and access in virtual engagement, ensured all had equal opportunity to contribute. The result was a comprehensive summary report presenting the overall recommendations and thematically organized insights that directly informed the Plan’s development. As the Region of Durham continues to grow and mature, the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan will serve as a unifying framework, aligning relationships, plans, and strategies across jurisdictions to foster a safer, more inclusive, and thriving community.

The seniors’ population in York Region is growing faster than any other age group. By 2031, 1 in 5 people will be 65 years or older. To plan for the aging population and the development of age- friendly, complete communities that help seniors age in place, York Region has developed a Seniors Strategy (2016). As part of implementing the Seniors Strategy, the Region’s Community and Health Services (CHS) Department purchased land from the Unionville Home Society (UHS) in the City of Markham to build the new Unionville Seniors Affordable Housing development, to be owned and operated by Housing York Inc. (HYI). The building will include apartments for seniors (over the age of 60), and significant square footage for a seniors-focused public community centre and a range of programs and services for seniors.

In 2018, LURA was retained to complete community engagement, a needs assessment and gap analysis to identify and prioritize the programs and services offered in the future Unionville Seniors Hub. LURA led two key activities to develop recommendations for future sites. The first included a review of hub models to identify the recommended site integration of a continuum of care model and a health and wellness model to include health, wellness, medical, and social services. The second involved a mixed-method approach to engagement with seniors, organizations representing the interests of seniors, and senior service providers to identify needs and inform programming. The engagement and research process included multiple focus groups with seniors and service providers, online surveys, stakeholder interviews and community meetings. LURA hired community ambassadors to engage with Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking seniors and hosted focus group sessions in Mandarin and Cantonese to gather deeper insights from seniors. Community asset mapping supported the needs and programming and service gap analysis. LURA prepared a series of recommendations to further develop and implement the Unionville Seniors Hub.

In 2023, LURA was retained to work with York Region again to review the 2019 report recommendations, ensuring they are still valid given the COVID-19 pandemic. This refresh included updated asset mapping, service gap analysis and additional community engagement. The results confirmed the community priorities for programs and services recommendations and reflected how local seniors’ needs have changed since 2019.

In 2017, local municipalities and service providers in the York Region worked together to create the first inclusion charter.

LURA was fortunate to work with the Region to support this work by leading community engagement activities with the Municipal Diversity and Inclusion Group (MDIG), which includes 20 member organizations that serve people in York Region and the Community Partnership Council, which leads activities focused on newcomers, and the broader community.

LURA’s role included creating and leading a community engagement strategy to inform the refinement of the ‘Inclusion Charter. This multi-faceted engagement strategy included pop-up consultation events focused on a creative campaign in York Region’s nine area municipalities. The pop-up events were conducted by community ambassadors recruited and trained by LURA. A series of five focus groups with key stakeholders and partners also took place, including Indigenous communities, PFLAG, agency partners and youth. An online survey was also launched for York Region staff and the general public.

LURA prepared a comprehensive summary report integrating the key engagement findings of the process, and the engagement findings were presented to a committee of York Region Council. At the time, over a thousand individuals participated in the formation of the Inclusion Charter. The process provided Region staff with important community inputs to develop the final Inclusion Charter. The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) International Training Centres for Authorities and Leaders recognized the Inclusion Charter. In 2023, the Charter celebrated 5-years of implementation and over 36 organizations have adopted the Charter for their organization.