Since the last progress update to Council in March 2023, eight Strategic Plan Initiatives have been completed, bringing the total number of completed initiatives to 122, since the launch in 2019. In addition, there are another 27 initiatives on track to being completed in 2023.

Providing strategic direction for a ten-year period, 2019-2029, the Plan includes four strategic directions and 10 goals where initiatives are identified annually to achieve those goals. The latest update demonstrates that results continue to be achieved.

The eight completed initiatives this quarter include:

• Plan and implement Phase 5 of Water Street Infrastructure Improvements

• Update Traffic Calming Policy

• Increase number of youth engaged in City matters through a Youth Panel: 200 people(s)

• Develop action plan and build capacity to support the Employee Success Program

• Implement a new FDM Training Module

• Develop an interactive internal paystation map

• Pilot the use of EngageStJohns.ca for planning applications requiring rezoning

• Plan for and launch the employee e-learning system

Aside from the strategic plan projects, an additional seven continuous improvement projects were completed since the last update.

CI projects aim to reduce waste in processes (activities that do not add value from a customer perspective), thereby improving lead time, turn-around time, saving hard costs, and ultimately improving employee engagement and customer experience. To demonstrate how this is working, the City is using a data collection tool to capture annual outcomes from CI projects.

The second quarter CI projects have contributed to a significant reduction in process hours for several projects and have resulted in a savings of over 210 staff hours annually.

Progress on the Strategic Plan can be tracked via our online dashboard, which provides real-time results. Quarterly Council Progress Reports are also available online.