10-Year Strategic Plan

Update: Council approves City's strategic plan for 2023-2032 

The City of Saint John's 10-year Strategic Plan identifying a renewed vision for the City and a new set of long-term goals was approved by Council on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

The 10-year Strategic Plan focuses on a vision for the community and will provide guidance to all strategic planning efforts by the City, while aligning strategic directions and managing limited resources to achieve maximum benefit for the community.

"This strategic plan will allow the City to be flexible and adapt to new realities over the next decade while still focusing on the goals we've identified, centering on uplifting the community and residents," says Stephanie Rackley-Roach, Director of Corporate Performance and Chief Information Officer. "With a focus on continuous improvement, accountability, performance and service, the City will continue to move forward in working to build a vibrant, prosperous community for our residents and be a city of choice."

Over the next ten years, the strategic plan will support and enhance the momentum and growth taking place in Saint John. It will be a key component in achieving the goals of the City of Saint John and will help provide a greater opportunity for neighbourhoods and residents to thrive and reach their full potential.

Please refer to the Strategic Plan here for details. Questions can be directed to StratPlan@saintjohn.ca.

Introduction

The City of Saint John is developing a 10-Year Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will identify a renewed vision for the City and a new set of long-term goals that will move our community forward in achieving this vision. The Plan will also serve as a management tool to improve the City’s performance and ensure alignment with existing plans, including the Long-term Financial Plan, PlanSJ, and MoveSJ.

How are we building the plan? 

A Strategic Plan Steering Committee is guiding the process. The Committee has seven members - the Mayor, three members of Common Council, and three members of the public chosen through an application process. The Steering Committee is providing direction to the Staff Working Group who are responsible for research, public engagement, drafting the plan, and analysis.

Where are we in the process? 

On June 13, 2022, the Committee, supported by the Staff Working Group, presented draft elements of the Strategic Plan to Common Council. This included a revised vision and mission statement and information concerning 14 draft strategic objectives and 136 draft strategic actions. Please refer to the Draft Objectives & Actions document here for details. The project team is now refining these objectives and actions. A complete draft of the Strategic Plan is expected to be completed in October 2022.

The draft vision, draft mission, and goals

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Strategic objectives

Objectives are specific areas of focus that will support achievement of one or more of the strategic goals.  

1. Grow the property tax base by 3% annually inclusive of 1% new build assessment and sustain or increase growth rate every year thereafter.
2. Grow our population to 85,000.
3. Protect the environment.
4. Champion for fair regional cost sharing and property tax reform that recognizes the City’s contributions to the region and Province.
5. Foster new partnerships to ensure Saint John remains an arts and culture destination.
6. Build a reliable, convenient public transit service and invest in all forms of active transportation to increase overall sustainable transportation usage to 20%.
7. Work towards achieving planned recommendations outlined in PlaySJ with a proportional share increase of 5% to the City’s current parks and recreation operating and baseline capital budgets.
8. Define, develop, and begin an implementation program for a social charter to support inclusion, diversity, equity, and quality of life.
9. Deliver excellence in serving our customers to defined service levels.
10. Strive to improve water and sewer utility cost competitiveness with municipalities of comparable water quality, infrastructure, and customer base.
11. Ensure public safety programs meet the needs of a growing and diverse community as guided by related strategic plans and standards.
12. Provide increased opportunities to engage a more diverse population for civic pride, participation, beautification, and community partnerships.
13. Deliver excellence in financial stewardship to the Corporation of the City of Saint John.
14. Focus on continuously improving as a high-performance public service organization.

The March 2022 public engagement period has ended. Thank you to all who participated. Check out some of the engagement results here.