Roads, Fleet, Waste, Environmental Services, Engineering includes things like road maintenance and repairs, City vehicles, as well as garbage, recycling and green bin services. Environmental Services are responsible for providing safe drinking water through the City’s water treatment and distribution system and managing the Water Pollution Control Plant and stormwater management system. These areas also include elements of engineering and design for the day-to-day management to ensure these services continue uninterrupted.
Parks, Recreation & Cemetery covers the day-to-day operations of more than 100 acres of parkland and 60 acres of natural areas, as well as the maintenance of gardens and flowerbeds, outdoor playgrounds, sports fields. It also includes all recreational programming that occurs in parks as well as facilities like the Rotary Complex and Lions Pool, plus the ongoing operation of the City’s Avondale Cemetery.
Housing & Homelessness covers more than 600 rent-geared-to-income units in Stratford, St. Marys and Perth County, as well as the Britannia Street Phase 1 and 2 affordable housing buildings in Stratford. In recent years, the spectrum of housing has expanded to include supports for homeless individuals with the goal of ensuring all residents have safe and suitable housing.
Municipal and Recreational Facilities covers all the City-owned properties, including those used directly for City purposes, like City Hall or the Rotary Complex, and those used indirectly through agreements with external organizations like Gallery Stratford and the Municipal Golf Course.
Policing Services is largely a human resource driven service, with approximately 100 officers and administrators helping to ensure the safety and security of people and property in the community. Costs related to providing policing to St. Marys and Perth South are recovered via fee-for-service agreements and do not impact the City’s taxes.
Library Services include the operation and programs of the Stratford Public Library, a place where people can explore, learn, create, connect, and be inspired.
General Government and Corporate includes Clerks and Legislative supports, Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Tax Administration. It also includes parking administration, crossing guard services and industrial land servicing. Annexation agreements are captured in this grouping as well, which are perpetual payments to the neighbouring municipalities that have agreed to provide lands to the City for expansion for their lost tax revenues. Community Supports are also included here, which covers the City’s disbursement of grants, and the management of the city-portions of development charges that are required under the provincial Bill 23.
Fire Protection includes general fire services like fire prevention and suppression, public fire safety education, fire safety standards and enforcement, and inspections. There are a total of 51 firefighters and support staff.
Social Supports – Ontario Works (shared) provides financial assistance for food and housing, health benefits for eligible family members and employment supports to assist with finding employment, including workshops, counselling, training and education.
Planning & Development & By-law Enforcement includes internal land-use planning services for City initiatives, as well as consulting and management of all planning applications from external individuals and developers. Professional planners ensure compliance with provincial policy and consistency with official plans and zoning by-laws. The by-law enforcement team is tasked with investigating complaints received from the public regarding alleged violations and non-compliance with City by-laws.
Transit covers both the regular and Parallel Transit bus services, as well as the shared service of PC Connect, connecting Stratford and Perth County with other nearby municipalities.
Paramedic /Land Ambulance Services (shared) are provided by the County of Perth to the member municipalities in the County as well as Stratford and St. Marys.
Shared Road Agreements (County) refers to the City’s contribution toward the cost of adjacent County roads.
Long-term Care includes the costs to operate the 128-bed long-term care home at Spruce Lodge in Stratford. The costs for this provincially mandated service are shared by the County of Perth on behalf of their member municipalities in the County as well as Stratford and St. Marys.
Council & Committees covers the costs associated with City Council and Committees, including stipends, salaries and wages (where applicable), meeting expenses, conferences and special projects or activities.
Economic Development is provided by investStratford, the City’s economic development corporation. Together with the provincially funded Stratford Perth Centre for Business, investStratford offers full advisory services for business start-up, growth, relocation and new investment.
Public Health (shared) includes the City of Stratford’s share of the costs for public health services offered by Huron Perth Public Health.
Tourism covers financial support for Destination Stratford, which is Stratford’s official destination marketing organization. Its goal is to strengthen the local economy and enrich the quality of life in Stratford through regenerative tourism.
Museum, Archives & Provincial Offences (shared) includes the City of Stratford’s share of costs to operate the Stratford Perth Museum, the Stratford-Perth Archives and Provincial Offences Services.
Children’s Services / Childcare covers the costs associated with childcare subsidies for eligible families, as well as the operation of the Anne Hathaway Daycare.
Airport includes the costs to operate the 480-acre Stratford Municipal Airport just north of the City (in Perth East), which has two asphalt runways.