Welland is changing and adopting smart city initiatives to better suit the needs of residents, investors, and its thriving business community. Home to Niagara College, one of Canada’s most respected and admired leading research institutions, and located in the heart of the Niagara Peninsula; our amazing city offers first rate education and investment opportunities.
Just 135 km from Toronto Pearson Airport, 70 km from Hamilton International Airport, 48 km from Buffalo International Airport, and 8 km from Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport: Welland is easy enough to find, and a great place to explore.
The City of Welland continued to experience exponential growth in 2022, accruing more than $200 million in residential building permit construction value. Commercial and industrial permits $20-plus million in building permit value. As a result, our community is thriving and offers options for families, employees looking to relocate or work from home, and a city to invest their future in.
Our economic development team continues to attract and support businesses in our City. Through an innovative development approach, they offer investors shovel-ready land and a thorough yet quick process to bring concepts into reality. This is impressive considering that 2022 was another year of uncertainty as the COVID-19 pandemic began to wind down.
As normalcy returned to our recreation and events setting, the City held over 100 events, inviting the community to be active, try new programs, and host significant events during the 2022 Canada Summer Games. Outside of Canada Games Park, the City of Welland hosted the most events out of any of Niagara’s other municipalities, thanks to our diverse amenities and venues such as Niagara College, Youngs Sportsplex, Welland International Flatwater Centre, Welland Stadium, and Welland Tennis Club.
With our growth, our Fire and Emergency Services have been heavily relied on and we were proud to open two new fire halls in 2022, including the state-of-the-art Fire Station 1 Headquarters. With an increase in calls over 2021, the Fire and Emergency Services team did an exemplary job of putting community first in all they do.
Council’s focus for 2021 centred around investment in infrastructure. With capital commitments for sanitary sewer replacements, watermain replacements, the Forks Road bridge replacement, road resurfacing, and sidewalk improvements, to name a few, investing in the City’s infrastructure is paramount as we set to welcome tens of thousands of new residents in the next few decades.
The City of Welland can look back at the year’s many achievements with pride and satisfaction. They can see the positive results of a focused approach to strategic priorities and initiatives. These were executed by expert, dedicated staff, which is indicative of a collaborative team approach throughout the organization.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners who work together to make Welland a great place to be, including our residents, city staff, local businesses and council.
Welland City Council is committed to governing the city towards a productive and successful future. Preparing for future generations, Council is focused on managing residential growth and building an economic landscape that includes new industry and stimulates the job market.
Back row, from left: Ward 3 Councillor John Chiocchio, Ward 4 Councillor Tony Dimarco, Ward 2 Councillor David McLoud, Ward 4 Councillor Bryan Green, Ward 5 Councillor Claudette Richard, Ward 5 Councillor Graham Speck and Ward 2 Councillor Leo VanVliet. Front row, from left: Ward 1 Councillor Adam Moote, Ward 6 Councillor Jamie Lee, Ward 3 Councillor Sharmila Setaram, Mayor Frank Campion, Ward 1 Councillor Mary Ann Grimaldi and Ward 6 Councillor Bonnie Fokkens.
Welland is a great city to live, work, play, and invest in. I've said this many times before and will continue to say it, as it is accurate and inviting. Coming out of COVID-19 has been a long and arduous journey, but the City has overcome every hurdle and supported its employees, businesses, and community however it could along the way.
Looking back at 2022, it is remarkable to see the City's growth in new buildings and investment. With a promising number of building permits and numerous new industries getting ready to call Welland home, 2022 has set the stage for a prosperous 2023. But, of course, the success we realize at the municipal level is directly tied to the quality of programs, services, and operations for our citizens, which we have supplied at an exceedingly high standard.
As we grow, we do so compassionately, focusing on the needs of our entire community. We are committed to providing the required service levels to meet and exceed our residents' expectations.
With a strategic commitment to redevelop the canal lands and waterway, invest in our financial management and sustainability practices, and focus on job creation, community engagement, and health and well-being, the City of Welland continues to focus on setting itself apart from other municipalities in Niagara. Our goal remains to create a unique, memorable experience for those who live, work, play, and invest in our City.
Recreation programming saw many changes in early 2022 due to the evolving restrictions for reopening during the last few months of the pandemic limitations; however, understanding that health and well-being through safe practices, we provided programming for 1945 registrants into Winter programming after very low registrants in 2021. The Spring and Summer of 2022 saw promise with 2552 registrants, and we were confident by the end of 2022, we would start to see the return on pre-pandemic registration numbers, and our Fall/Winter registration that occurred in August 2022 saw us only 639 participants away from our best year ever, 2019 with 3386 registrants.
In 2022 we worked to strengthen and create partnerships for recreational and cultural programming delivery. It is essential for Recreation, Sport, and Culture to cultivate and expand partnerships for various reasons.
Some partnerships include Brock University, Niagara College, YMCA, Sportball, and various direct delivery workshops.
City of Welland Summer Day Camp has been running for 30+ years and continues to be a favourite amongst parents and children. Hosting 823 registered participants over a nine week period at a partnered location and the Welland Arenas.
Each age group has age-appropriate activities that include, but are not limited to crafts, STEM, sports, yoga, games, guest speakers, unique presentations, and exciting local excursions. Camp also has theme weeks which are provided to parents or guardians ahead of time to ensure participation.
Local Farmers proudly share the excitement and flavour of the Welland Farmers’ Market with meats, cheeses, and baked goods, luring locals and tourists every Saturday to the Market since 1907.
We included six themed events and our four-week Christmas market during the Farmer Market season. In addition, each Saturday, there were either live music performances as part of the Jammin‘ at the Market series or ambient music throughout the facility for customer enjoyment.
Areas such as the cooler room have been revived and returned to being used as a service window during events, adding value to hall rentals.
All events are very well attended, with a much higher attendance than in 2022.
Our overall goal for 2022 was to utilize the Market Square as a complete recreational space for more than Saturday Farmers Markets. Therefore, we implemented the following to move us in that direction in late mid-2022.
Our first cooking class in the demonstration kitchen since COVID was a great success. Participants provided feedback and suggestions, and suggestions were to evolve the classes into a make a quarterly series. Recreation Coordinators are working with local providers on additional workshops.
Our inaugural Welland Supper Market occurred in September — October 2022 and consisted of various food trucks and three children’s movie nights.
The Good Food Box also utilizes the Market Square. Here they create food boxes to distribute to those in need. Another organization that uses Market Square to facilitate its program is Beyond the Streets.
Youth participation is hard to garner due to a lack of interest or motivation to join programming. Since programming can be challenging, we strive to remove gender and cultural barriers while marketing our programming in fun and relevant ways.
While we provide structured programming at our Community Centre, we also have Youth Innovations (YI), a youth space at the Seaway Mall where 12- to 17-year-olds have a safe and fun space they can call theirs. At YI, those who visit can play billiards, work on homework, play video games, play music or visit with friends.
In addition to YI, the Mayor’s Youth Action Committee (MYAC) plans youth-centric events and assists during larger city-wide events to assist us with a different perspective. Events that MYAC host or participate in include March Break Skate, Youth Paddles, face painting for St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day Extravaganza, Rotary Club Adventures in Citizenship and Diverse Academy Tutoring.
In 2022 we saw the resurgence of festivals and events return to the City with 104 dates on the events calendar. Of the 104 events, 61 were City hosted, 22 City Hosted events were held on the water, all events ranged from small to large-scale events, and 13 were City-partnered events such as Concerts on the Canal and Canada Day. Thirty events were third-party hosted, and City supported through our scheduling or the Special Event Application Review Team.
The inaugural or notable events for 2022 were Girl’s Day, a partnered event with Niagara College to allow girls ages six to 12 to try out a variety of sports. The lineup included basketball, soccer, softball, beach volleyball, golf and tennis. Another event was the Super Market at Market Square, which combined and renewed Big Movie Night that previously took place at Civic Square. In addition, Canada Summer Games was a highlight of the summer as athletes took to the field, the water and the courts to show off their skills. During the two-week event, the Games highlighted city venues such as Niagara College, Youngs Sportsplex, Welland International Flatwater Centre, Welland Stadium, and Welland Tennis Club.
Welland Fire & Emergency Services has moved into two new fire halls, with the headquarters moved to 400 East Main Street and the other to the King Street site. Both purpose-built buildings are highly efficient and meet the staff and equipment needs to support excellent service delivery. A third station is in the early construction process, and the fire department will also be adding a training tower to the center behind headquarters. Late in 2022, the department commissioned a second aerial truck, a 110-foot platform constructed by Pierce.
The By-law Enforcement team completed $136,000.00 worth of work where property owners failed to comply with orders. Examples: Grass cutting, refuse removal, tree removal, vacant building board ups, etc.
The planning division is responsible for the administration, review and processing of various applications submitted under the Planning Act. The division also prepares various agreements and by-laws. Mapping, property matters and various other studies/programs are also dealt with by the division.
The city’s economic development success depends on a goal-oriented approach to securing relationships and supporting business. Strategically positioned within Niagara Region with access to an extensive multimodal transportation network, Welland offers a diversified manufacturing and supply chain network. With shovel ready land available, industry continues to look to Welland as the place to relocate and or expand.
The Finance Department is focused on stretching tax dollars so the city can continue quality programs and services to the public.
An example based on an average residential property with an assessment value of: $229,567
| Budget Breakdown | $ | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parks, Recreation, Pools, Arenas and Welland Community Centre | $11,791,522 | 15.94% | $11,791,522|15.94% |
| Administration, Clerks, Legal, Finance, Human Resources | $11,106,957 | 15.01% | $11,106,957|15.01% |
| Fire Protection | $10,462,267 | 14.14% | $11,106,957|14.14% |
| Roads, Sidewalks, Street Cleaning, Winter Control & Streetlights | $9,983,792 | 13.49% | $9,983,792|13.49% |
| Debt | $7,398,249 | 10.00% | $7,398,249|10.00% |
| Contribution to Capital Projects | $7,323,822 | 9.90% | $7,323,822|9.90% |
| Transit — Conventional, WellTrans & Inter-Municipal | $7,266,330 | 9.82% | $7,266,330|9.82% |
| Community Planning, Building and Economic Development | $3,644,001 | 4.93% | $3,644,001|4.93% |
| Operating Grants | $2,795,505 | 3.78% | $2,795,505|3.78% |
| Contribution to Reserves | $1,864,222 | 2.52% | $1,864,222|2.52% |
| Other Grants (Permissive & Contractual) | $345,477 | 0.47% | $345,477|0.47% |
The Welland Public Library remained committed to providing the community with an exceptional variety of resources, services, activities, and experiences at its three branch locations. In 2022, the Library became permanently fine-free, eliminating all past, present, and future overdue charges for physical items. As a result, library membership soared by 15.35%, in-person visits more than doubled, and materials usage increased by 75.26%. The Library also welcomed the return of in-person programming and strengthened offerings by developing several new and existing community partnerships. Non-traditional collections expanded to meet the needs of residents and included new board games/ puzzles, physical activity items, gaming consoles, virtual reality headsets, technology, and musical instruments. The Library also completed planned security enhancements and accessibility modifications to enhance existing safety measures for staff and customers. A diversity audit of collection development practices was also conducted, providing the Library with new standards to ensure that collections and subject headings are diverse, inclusive, and reflective of our community.
The Welland Museum is committed to providing its residents, visitors and newcomers to the city with relevant, fun and engaging exhibits, programs and opportunities to learn about our diverse community. In 2021, the normal way of presenting our city’s history and culture was challenged due to the COVID–19 pandemic yet again. With your continued support we were able to provide virtual programming, workshops and celebrate milestones with our community despite that very challenging year. We connected with our seniors through online activities, held virtual day camps, participated in First Ontario PAC Celebration of Nations and strolled (virtually) through our neighbourhoods by way of our architectural walks. Thank you to our members for providing us with the opportunity to join together and prove once again why Welland is such a caring community.
City of Welland staff are finding new ways to connect with citizens and gather public feedback. People are always changing, and their needs are evolving; therefore, our team is constantly looking for new channels to reach and communicate with a broader audience. We believe that listening is the essence to better communication.
