Leading Today for Tomorrow:  Mississauga was one of the first municipalities in Ontario to build a corporate strategy to prepare for population aging. All service areas participated in the planning process and have implementation responsibilities

Innovation in Research:  Online and telephone survey questionnaires targeted adults 45 years and older resulted in over 800 direct contacts with residents.

A Model Corporate Project:  Corporate wide collaboration was a cornerstone of the project and is considered a model project within the City of Mississauga
                Reference from Gary Kent and Corporate Award Nomination
                 Corporate Award Write Up

Stimulating Discussion Amongst CIP Members:  The plan was presented at the 2008 CIP Conference in partnership with the City of Richmond. CIP presentation

Supporting Planning Graduate Students:  Mississauga has supported 3 graduate planning student research projects related to implementing and evaluating aspects of the Older Adult Plan (University of Toronto and the University of Winnipeg).

• Older Adult Clusters: The Plan incorporated the idea of clusters of services for the older adult population. The first academic paper explored this idea and developed lists of hard and soft services to create older adult friendly environments. Clustering Project Final Presentation
• Quality of Life for Older Adults: Developing quality of life measures or indicators for older adults was the second project which spun off from the premise behind the Plan. Studies like these which establish baseline data can be valuable tools in implementing older adult initiatives.
• Phasing out Senior’s Subsidies: An analysis of the Older Adult Plan’s arguments used to explain why seniors should pay the adult fee for a public service.

 

Recognition from Planning Professionals:  Albeit a new plan, planning professionals have referenced recommendations in the OAP in the Region of Peel Planning Housing Strategy.

 

 

Searching for Ideas, Issues and Solutions:  2 search conferences attracted 80 people.  A concluding session was organized to share the final report with staff and residents that participated.

Older Adults use Online Surveys:  481 older adult residents  responded to an online survey covering a wide-range of topics.  Our Older Adult Centre staff provided training and assistance to first time online survey users. Click here to see the report

400 Older Adult Residents Randomly Surveyed by Phone: This first-of-its-kind phone survey for Mississauga required extensive planning.  The average call length was19 minutes!

Outreach to Ethnic Communities:  In person visits to 8 cultural organizations with active older adult clubs or social activities to reflect their interests in the plan.  Improving direct communication with these groups was a major project interest.

Keeping the Ideas Alive:  The team delivered 18 separate presentations to staff, outside agencies and older adult groups about the Older Adult Plan over the past two years. City Manager’s Leadership Conference Display (see picture)

A Tidy Framework:  The vision statement, guiding principles, and goals have been developed to reflect the directions, priorities, and values that are shared amongst residents, agencies and the City of Mississauga.  It is the vision, principles and goals that form the basis of the Plan and the recommended actions.

Breadth and Depth of Interests:  The plan strives to address long-term strategic interests and operational needs as small as a function on the City’s website for users to change the font-size.  Combining these interests in one document demonstrates a global corporate commitment to older adults.

Complete Corporate Coverage:  Each municipal service area has taken responsibility to implement specific recommendations, from Transit, to Communications, to Roads, all municipal functions and operations are involved in plan execution.

Below-text of Planning Principles (listed on the next page)

Alignment with Our Future Mississauga:  Mississauga’s new Strategic Plan prominently reflects the interests of Older Adult Plan.  This alignment emphasises the City’s future investment of time, effort and money to ensure the planning interests of older adults are addressed over time.  

Implementation Analysis Report:  This final project deliverable provided the detailed analysis necessary to immediately implement 2 key recommendations – phase out older adult user fee subsidies and introduce a Fee Assistance Program for recreation services.  These two initiatives will launch May 4, 2009.

8-Person Project Team Intact:  After 2 years of collaboration, the Older Adult Project Team supports implementation efforts by providing advise and research assistance, champions the plan at corporate and public events and prepares an annual report card on implementation progress to Leadership Team

An Implementation Framework:  The Plan establishes priority, timing, responsibilities and monitoring indicators for all 66 detailed recommendations (click here to see a sample of implementation)

– Organization and Management
– Subsidies
– Policies, Procedures and Guidelines
– Collaboration and Partnerships
– Marketing and Communications
– Older Adult Programs, Services and Facilities

Leveraging Budget Resources for Action: This was achieved through requests in operations plans.  The plan provides clear rational for staff to explain the specific budget requests aligned to the Plan.  One year after approval, eleven recommendations are being implemented (brackets indicate actual recommendation reference)

– New Older Adult Coordinator Staff Position approved (A4)
– Fee Assistance Program (B1)
– Phase In of Older Adult Fees (B2)
– Cluster Concepts introduced into Official Plan Review (C10)
– Enhanced search tool and promotions of older adults recreation programs (E2)
– Piloted a font-size adjuster on intranet site (E4)
– Launched sale of transit fare at 11 Community Centres (E14)
– Advocating for Safety Standards for OA Parkland Furniture and Equipment (C5)
– Improved Pedestrian Signals and Signage (C2)
– Incorporated a therapy pool in the redevelopment of Meadowvale Community Centre (F3)

A Project Look:  All project documentation, presentations and consultation activities were identified by a project identifier – a graphical representation of an oak tree. 

Reports Online and Easy:  All project reports are easy to read, easy to reference and are available at all public libraries in Mississauga.

Real Time Web Communications:  The website was the primary channel for updating staff, agency stakeholders and residents about the project.

Community Outreach:  This display is used to explain the Older Adult Plan at community events

Interdepartmental Project Management Approach: The RFP and research involved staff from across the corporation, the Region of Peel and from stakeholders and is considered a model approach for project management at the City of Mississauga.

Provoking Personal Reflection:  Consultation activities caused participants to reflect on their own family circumstances.  This gave the research a human feel and built support for the final recommendations during each phase of work.

Action-Orientated Framework:  All 66 recommendations are clearly aligned to a vision, principles and goals.  The framework is designed for staff to leverage budget resources by referencing the framework in annual operations plans.

Creative Primary Research:  The consultation activities targeted study interest areas using new approaches:

– Online surveys for seniors clubs and associations, individuals
– Telephone survey for adults 45 years and older
– Best practices survey involving 4 North American cities

The Older Adult Plan is a commitment to measurable improvements in quality of life for Older Adults in Mississauga

Social:  New social programs, municipal services and facilities to address health and recreation interests based on extencive civic engagement in the planning process.

Economic:  Maintaining delivery of quality municipal services to a growing older population means older adults with an ability to pay will not receive age-based subsidies.

Cultural:  Municipal efforts to involve older adults in community building processes as volunteers and staff builds corporate and community culture

Environmental:  Planning and designing urban areas with the interests of older adults in mind means we have complete neighbourhoods and streets that support all ages.