Engagement Inspiration from the "Burnaby Model"

June 24, 2021

Public engagement initiatives are ideally designed to be based on resident needs, but how exactly do we implement these processes? How do we meaningfully integrate stakeholder and community input in the public engagement activities? And how do we evaluate progress with an authentic reconvening process?

We explored these questions and more at the fourth installment of the Doubling Down event series with the City of Burnaby, where dived deep into a conversation about the “Burnaby Model”, the approach for Your Voice. Your Home., the City’s largest public engagement process to date.

Speakers

  • Mayor Mike Hurley, Mayor of Burnaby
  • Lee-Ann Garnett, Deputy Director Planning and Building, City of Burnaby
  • Shauna Sylvester, Executive Director, SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue; Task Force Facilitator
  • Thom Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer, Co-operative Housing Federation of BC; Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing member
  • Victor Yin, Burnaby resident and Your Voice. Your Home participant

Resources

Your Voice. Your Home. Meeting the Housing Needs of Burnaby Residents

Your Voice. Your Home. Meeting the Housing Needs of Burnaby Residents was an innovative partnership between the City of Burnaby and SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, designed to engage the community and inform the work of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing.

The project was highly integrated with the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing and directly engaged with more than 2,600 residents over 6 months, making it the largest public engagement process ever undertaken by the City of Burnaby. Your Voice. Your Home. Meeting the Housing Needs of Burnaby Residents provided a set of unique in-person and online engagement opportunities for community members to gather and share ideas, present recommendations and engage with one another to find workable solutions.Your Voice. Your Home. consisted of three phases resulting in three publicly available reports

Burnaby's Housing and Homelessness Strategy

HOME: Burnaby’s Housing and Homelessness Strategy (the HOME Strategy) is the City’s strategy aimed at tackling one of Burnaby’s most pressing challenges – housing. The HOME Strategy addresses challenges and opportunities across the entire housing system – including reducing homelessness. The HOME Strategy will identify specific actions the City can take to improve housing opportunities for the entire community and guide City decisions on housing for the next 10 years.

The HOME Strategy addresses five community goals:

  • Inclusive and Livable Neighbourhoods
  • Options for Secure Tenure
  • A Renter-Friendly Community
  • A Health Supply of Non-Market Housing
  • A Place Where Homeless is Rare, Brief, and One Time