Council members spent three days in Ottawa: evaluating their accomplishments
In the vibrant city of Burlington, Ontario, the local government has been actively engaging with various levels of government to advance the strategic priorities of the council.
Recently, Mayor Meed Ward, as Chair of Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM), led discussions with several provincial ministers, including the Deputy Premier, Minister of Health, Minister of Finance, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of Infrastructure, Attorney General, Solicitor General, Associate Attorney General, and Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. The discussions aimed to address essential issues such as housing affordability, protecting local greenspaces, providing predictable infrastructure and transit funding to municipalities, local economic growth, and skills development.
During these discussions, the municipalities of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, and Frankfurt also participated in the AMO Conference 2025, seeking to improve urban-provincial financial relations to protect their communities.
The Burlington delegation, including Mayor Meed Ward, attended the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) 2025 Annual General Meeting and Conference in Ottawa. At the conference, the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP) announced an additional investment of $1.6 billion, nearly doubling the program to $4 billion.
In addition, the City of Burlington's top strategic priorities, such as environmental sustainability, economic health, and housing, were advanced with provincial leaders. One such discussion involved the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES), which discussed the college's planned healthcare-focused campus expansion into the City of Burlington with Burlington's delegation and Mohawk College President, Paul Armstrong. However, no information was provided about the outcomes from these discussions regarding Mohawk College's expansion.
The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officials also recognized the need for careful coordination with the City of Burlington to communicate and ease local traffic impacts during Burlington Skyway Bridge lane closures.
Moreover, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) officials acknowledged that municipalities will be eligible for future components of the province's $5B Building Ontario Fund.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) team engaged in a discussion with Burlington delegates to better understand local energy infrastructure challenges and its impacts on municipal housing starts.
Strategic discussions also took place with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Rob Flack, the Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, the Minister of Energy and Mines, the Honourable Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Mike Harris, the Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, the Honourable Nolan Quinn, and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance, M.P.P. Michelle Cooper.
Lastly, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) staff engaged in strategic dialogue with the Burlington delegation around advancing the options to protect areas around Mount Nemo and the Niagara Escarpment. Burlington requested that the province redesignate the lands at Mount Nemo as Escarpment Natural and Escarpment Protection to ensure the long-term viability of our local ecosystems.
The new Capital Funding Program (CFP) was also announced, which will build more long-term care homes faster, especially in regions like the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and northern Ontario.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) supports and enhances strong and effective municipal government in Ontario and promotes the value of municipal government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada's political systems. The City of Burlington continues to advocate to all levels of government to advance these strategic priorities.
