New plan encourages local agencies to work together as a co-ordinated team, not in silos
The City of Sault Ste. Marie is expected to create just a handful of new jobs in 2026, but another one was approved this week.
City councillors agreed Monday to hire a co-ordinator to oversee the city’s new community safety and well-being plan.
The new hire will be paid with $50,000 in previously approved municipal funds, plus $19,000 from a Future Sault Ste. Marie reserve, as well as contributions from other community agencies involved in implementing the 220-page plan.
“We’re going to be hiring this position as a one-year contract position,” said Brent Lamming, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services.
“We have a dedicated funding source right now through operations … We also have commitments from organizations,” Lamming said in a report prepared for Monday’s city council meeting.
Those organizations that have signed on so far have committed to making contributions over three years.
The city will be able to extend its own funding if council approves, Lamming said.
The following organizations have committed to provide $32,500 over the next three years, in addition to the city’s contribution:
- District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board
- Algoma Children’s Aid Society
- Algoma Family Services
- Canadian Mental Health Association Algoma
- Huron Superior Catholic District School Board
- John Howard Society
- THRIVE
- Sault College
The community safety and well-being plan, approved by city council this week, is intended to make agencies currently working in silos function together as part of a co-ordinated team to solve community problems.
“While there are some great programs and services that exist within the community, there’s inconsistent outcomes and avoidable escalation, those occurring usually because of fragmentation across systems rather than the fault of any particular program,” said Iain De Jong, a former Saultite who now heads OrgCode Consulting Inc., which wrote the new plan.
The plan “establishes clear leadership and co-ordination across focus areas to make sure those plans continue to evolve, as the community needs continue to evolve,” De Jong said.
The following are key findings of OrgCode, obtained from local consultations:
- mental health crises and substance toxicity are leading to frequent emergency responses and visible health-related crises in public spaces
- residents described feeling compassion for people in distress and feeling unsafe in shared public spaces because of unpredictable, crisis-driven behaviour
- experiences of housing instability and homelessness are deepening, with limited pathways to regain stability
- systems were described as fragmented, making coordination, navigation, and consistent support difficult
- youth are experiencing rising stress, disconnection, and limited safe, accessible places to belong or connect
The new plan calls for earlier interventions, more consistent responses, reduced escalation and stronger long-term stability, Chris Gorman from OrgCode told city council Monday.
“Rather than treating issues separately, this plan connects response, stabilization and prevention into a co-ordinated approach,” Gorman said.
The following are four priorities for collective action, as described in the plan:
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safer shared public spaces – Sault Ste. Marie will improve safety in shared public spaces by strengthening a co-ordinated presence across sectors, applying clear community standards and connecting people showing distress to health and social supports earlier so crises are less likely to escalate in public areas
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early outreach and support – Sault Ste. Marie will strengthen early outreach by creating a more consistent, co-ordinated presence that engages people when distress first appears, connects them to health and social supports sooner and reduces preventable crises that currently escalate before help arrives
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housing stability and reduced homelessness – Sault Ste. Marie will strengthen housing stability by improving co-ordination across outreach, shelter, health and housing services, creating clearer pathways out of crisis and increasing prevention and stabilization supports so fewer people cycle through homelessness
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youth belonging, prevention and structured time – Sault Ste. Marie will strengthen youth well-being by expanding opportunities for belonging, connection and safe, structured activities that reduce stress and isolation. This work is hoped to be informed by the Icelandic Prevention Model, which focuses on increasing protective factors, reducing risk and providing consistent, accessible opportunities for youth to engage in meaningful activities
“So these four strategic priorities are designed to work together as one system,” said Chris Gorman.
“They move from immediate safety concerns in shared public spaces to earlier outreach and support to housing stability and finally to long-term prevention. So rather than treating issues separately, this plan connects response, stabilization and prevention into a co-ordinated approach.”
“This plan, while not being perfect, definitely moves us to a different level as a community,” said Luke Dufour, Ward 2 councillor.
“I think a lot of those things that have been undertaken previously — it’s all good work — but it happened in pockets and in silos within different organizations,” Dufour said.
“I think what this allows us to do is allow the city to be the keeper of all of those things, all in a cohesive plan.
“I think where that’s going to find the most value is in communications and in political advocacy, because it’s going to show how much municipal investment has really gone into making our community a safer place.
“It’s going to buttress that argument for why we need upper levels of government to partner and assist with us,” Dufour said.
Some city councillors felt the plan didn’t focus sufficiently on intimate partner violence (IPV).
Ward 2 Coun. Lisa Vezeau-Allen referred to a resolution introduced in 2023 by herself and Ward 2 Coun. Angela Caputo.
The resolution, which was unanimously approved by fellow Sault councillors, declared IPV an epidemic after a local mass murder-suicide on Oct. 23, 2023 claimed the lives of 41-year-old Angie Sweeney and three children.
“We all know what happened in October of 2023 which is, I think, still reeling in our community,” Vezeau-Allen said.
“While I know that IPV is mentioned throughout some of the overlying priorities, I didn’t see Women in Crisis mentioned in terms of engagement organizations, or Phoenix Rising.”
“I’m just trying to understand the nuance and how priorities are set. And if we do have the capacity to bring something forth, and who owns the plan for that,” the councillor said.
City council approved the new plan at Monday’s meeting, but De Jong said council could continue to alter it going forward.
“And if the mentions to intimate partner violence throughout the report were seen as being insufficient, then that is something that could be taken and changed absolutely,” De Jong said.
Ward 1 Coun. Sandra Hollingsworth praised the plan for its emphasis on youth.
“I’m a strong believer that our kids, our children, our youth, are still forgotten,” Hollingsworth said.
“We need to invest more time, more space, more programs, into our children. So I’m glad to see one of the priorities is for the youth.”
