Community Safety & Well-being Plan Update

The City of Thunder Bay is updating the Community Safety and Well-being (CSWB) Plan for 2026–2030, and we’re working with the community to shape it together. Your input will help ensure the plan reflects real experiences, priorities, and ideas from across Thunder Bay.

Listening, learning, and working together for a stronger Thunder Bay.

Take the community survey!

What is the CSWB Plan?

This plan is about more than responding to safety concerns. It is about supporting people’s well-being, building stronger relationships, and working together to create the conditions where everyone in our community has the opportunity to feel safe, supported, and included.

While all municipalities in Ontario are required to create a CSWB Plan, this work is about more than meeting a requirement. It is a community plan that brings together different voices, experiences, and ideas to help us better understand the challenges we face and take collective action where it is needed.

The plan brings together the City, service providers, Indigenous partners, and community organizations to focus on prevention, address root causes, and support meaningful, long-term change.

It focuses on complex issues such as:

• Mental health and addictions

• Racism and discrimination

• Poverty and homelessness

• Gender-based violence

• Community safety and belonging

Your input will help shape the next phase of the plan, make sure it reflects the priorities and realities in our community, and support the important work ahead.

Why it Matters

The current plan was approved in 2021. Since then, our community has continued to grow and change, and new challenges and opportunities have emerged. Now it’s time to update the plan for 2026 to 2030, ensuring it reflects the real experiences, priorities, and voices of Thunder Bay residents.

This is not just a City plan — it is a community plan. By listening to lived experiences, including diverse perspectives, and working together across sectors, we can strengthen our collective understanding and support work that leads to meaningful, lasting change.

How We’re Engaging the Community

Between now and December 2025, we’ll be connecting with people across Thunder Bay to gather input, share experiences, and better understand what supports safety and well-being in our community.

There will be different ways to get involved, including:

• A community survey

• Pop-up events in neighbourhoods across the city

• Small-group design labs and focus groups

• Opportunities to share your story, online or in person

• The Respect & Community Safety Awards, where you can nominate local changemakers

We are working with community partners to help ensure that engagement is accessible, inclusive, and available in multiple languages and formats, so as many people as possible have the chance to take part.

This is a community plan. Together, we can help guide the work ahead.