Council and City Administration

Community Survey

Since 1998, the City of Burlington regularly conducts a community telephone survey to uncover resident satisfaction. The Community Survey provides the City with statistically representative baseline data. The City benchmarks progress against previous years of survey data.

The City most recently conducted the Community Survey in the fall of 2023. This study measures resident satisfaction with City services and explores residents’ thoughts on City priorities across all six wards. The results help guide future actions, priorities, and decisions on City services.

How survey results will be used

Information gathered in the survey will be used in updating City business plans. Results will also guide the development of communication initiatives and public engagement programs on City issues. Council may also use the information to influence budget and spending decisions. The Community Survey provides the opportunity for benchmarking and to monitor progress of community responses compared to previous years.

The most recent Community Surveys were completed in 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021. The Community Survey is now conducted every two years.

View the full 2023 Community Survey Results

Key 2023 Community Survey highlights include:

92 per cent of respondents were “Somewhat satisfied” to “Very satisfied” with the services provided by the City of Burlington
Quality of life was rated highly with 79 per cent of respondents ranking Burlington “Very good” or “Excellent”
81 per cent of respondents were at least “Somewhat satisfied” with their most recent interaction with the City
80 per cent of residents at least “Somewhat agreed” that they would like to provide input to the City for the purpose of influencing decision-making about city projects and services
The City of Burlington outperformed both the Ontario and national averages for both quality of life and overall satisfaction with services
Services that were identified as strengths through community feedback are Fire Services, parks, sports fields and trails, recreation facilities and festivals and events
Survey respondents would like to see road safety and traffic, cost of housing, over-development, public transportation and pedestrian infrastructure and infrastructure improvements prioritized.

Resident opinions on property taxes, transit options and City related information and communications were included such as:

39 per cent of respondents would be in favour of at least a small tax increase to maintain service levels and 18 per cent reported a preference for increasing taxes to improve services (57 per cent total)
Residents who have not used the transit system most commonly had not used it either because they own a car (36 per cent) or because they felt it was generally not convenient (27 per cent)
81 per cent of respondents were “Somewhat satisfied” to “Very satisfied” with the overall quality of City information and communications.

Improvement opportunities and context

There is an opportunity to continuously improve on resident well-being and satisfaction with City services. City service satisfaction results were analyzed using a derived importance methodology. This means those results were prioritized using performance, room for improvement and derived importance for each service. Council services, transit service, bylaw enforcement, roadway and sidewalk maintenance and parking management are the top five areas for primary opportunities for the City to consider based on the feedback heard. There are also opportunities in the areas of community engagement and communications.

The consultant shared several studies have cited a decline in public sentiment and satisfaction scores towards various aspects of governance and public services, globally and in Canada. Although there was a softening of some results from previous City of Burlington Community Surveys, the City of Burlington outperformed both the Ontario and national averages for both quality of life and overall satisfaction with services.

How the City is using the data

Resident input from this survey helps City Council and City staff prioritize where resources and time should be spent. The survey results are one input for review of the City’s four-year work plan, Burlington’s Plan From Vision to Focus 2022-2026 and the City’s Strategic Plan. In the workplan, results from the community survey on community satisfaction of people feeling involved and informed about city business and receiving great service are included. The City uses these results to help measure how well the City is doing. The results help the City prioritize issues and focus on improvement opportunities.

Past Community Surveys

How residents can continue to be engaged

The City of Burlington relies on residents to make sure community interests are represented. Speaking at a Committee or Council meeting is a great way to keep the City informed and accountable to your needs. Residents can register to speak at a meeting and have the option to delegate in-person in Council Chambers or remotely. Those wishing to speak at an upcoming meeting must register before the meeting at burlington.ca/delegate. Residents can also stay up-to-date on City of Burlington news and subscribe to newsfeeds, calendars, and webpages at burlington.ca/subscribe and look out for the City Talk publication that is sent to resident homes with City updates. The public can also visit and register for updates at Get Involved Burlington and have their say on City of Burlington projects at getinvolvedburlington.ca.