Health and Safety Notices

City Decision-Making through COVID-19 Emergency

Earlier this week the City of Burlington announced that we would extend the closures of City Hall, administration facilities, recreation facilities and parks through the end of June. While decisions like this continue to be made on a daily basis in response to the ever-changing situation with COVID-19, the way the City makes these decisions looks different than it has in the past.

The City wants to ensure the people of Burlington have a full understanding of what is happening behind the scenes during this emergency, and that we provide transparency about how issues are raised, and decisions are made during this challenging time.

City Council continues to be responsible for overall governance of the City and strategic decisions. Emergency-related and time-sensitive decisions that are being made on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis and relate primarily to operational issues are being managed by the city’s Emergency Control Group.

From a Municipal governance perspective, City Council is ultimately...

City Cancels Spring Programs and Extends Closures

Burlington, Ont.—March 30, 2020 —Due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, the City of Burlington has decided to suspend all City-run spring programs and extend the closure of all recreation facilities, parks, playgrounds, sports fields and City administration facilities to the end of June.

During this time, all bookings will be cancelled, and credits will be placed on accounts. Refunds will be issued based on requests. Organizations and residents are asked to please be patient during this time as we process these cancellations. Questions related to rentals can be sent to rentals@burlington.ca. For registrations, email liveandplay@burlington.ca.

This decision, made by the City’s Emergency Control Group, follows the guidance of the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health to prepare and plan for the months ahead. The City of Burlington regularly plans in quarters, including Council’s 4-year strategic workplan, Vision to Focus. We need to make decisions...

Update on OP timelines and processing of development applications as a result of COVID-19

In these unprecedented times, it has been necessary for the City to make changes to various timelines and processes related to Planning and Building and By-law matters. To that end, the public meeting scheduled for April 14 on the official downtown policies has been pushed to fall to better enable the public and all stakeholders an opportunity to provide full feedback to staff and Council as decision makers, in a public and accountable forum. The City is currently processing development applications and building permit applications received by March 13. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) has suspended all LPAT hearings until the end of June. As a result of COVID-19, processes for building inspections have been modified accordingly to keep both staff and the public safe.

Official Plan Update

Over the past few months, the Official Plan project team with help from planning firm, SGL Planning and Design, have been working on developing detailed policies. The endorsed land use vision and...

City successfully holds virtual special Council meeting and announces a modified schedule for Burlington Transit starting Sunday, March 29

Burlington, Ont.—March 25, 2020 — In a continued effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, while working to provide essential services to the community, the City of Burlington held the first of two virtual special City Council meetings yesterday. The meeting was used to discuss essential, time-sensitive business, including an amendment to a procedural bylaw that will allow virtual participation and remote voting at electronic City Council meetings, a remuneration report and Burlington Hydro’s operating line of credit.

Due to COVID-19 and public health concerns, no members of the public were permitted at the meeting and all Council members participated remotely, with the exception of Mayor Meed Ward who was in Council Chambers along with the Clerk/designate and an information technology technician.

Members of the public can view virtual Council meetings remotely using the City’s existing web streaming tool at www.burlington.ca/calendar. While no delegations are currently permitted, written...

Mayor applauds provincial closure of non-essential businesses, announces special council meeting and community town hall updates

Burlington, Ont.—March 23, 2020 — The City of Burlington’s Mayor and Council are applauding the announcement today by the Province of Ontario. The Ontario Government will order the mandatory closure of all non-essential workplaces effective as of Tuesday, March 24 at 11:59 p.m. This closure will be in effect for 14 days with the possibility of extending this order as the situation evolves. A full list of businesses that are permitted to stay open will be released by the province tomorrow. The Province also announced much needed funding for municipalities, which allows municipalities to provide direct support to homeless shelters, food banks and the local Red Cross.

The City of Burlington is announcing two special virtual City Council meetings on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. This meeting will be used to discuss time-sensitive matters. All other items will be deferred to a later date. To protect the public and City staff and to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 virus, a reminder...