Windsor Essex Community Safety and Well-Being Plan

The Plan

As of November 24, 2025, the councils of the City of Windsor and Essex County, as well as the seven lower-tier municipalities of the County of Essex, have endorsed the refreshed version of the Windsor Essex Community Safety & Well-Being Plan (the 2026-2029 Plan).

• See the full (2026-⁠2029) Plan.

Please visit our archived web page for more information on the original (2022-2026) Plan. 

Executive Summary

A summary of the (2026-2029) Plan is available in multiple languages.

• Executive Summary (2026-⁠2029) - English
• Executive Summary (2026-2029) - French
• Executive Summary (2026-2029) - Arabic
• Executive Summary (2026-2029) - Spanish

Mandate

The Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), 2019 mandates that all Ontario municipalities adopt a community safety and well-being (CSWB) plan that is reviewed every four years.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General (SOLGEN) identified the following benefits of CSWB plans: 

• Enhanced communication and collaboration among sectors;
• Increased understanding of and focus on priority risks, populations, and/or neighbourhoods;
• Increased awareness and access to services; and
• New opportunities to share multi-sectoral data and evidence to identify community trends, gaps, priorities, and successes.

CSWB Planning Framework

SOLGEN developed a CSWB Planning Framework, which forms the foundation of the plans. Rather than focus on incident response, the framework emphasizes social development, prevention, and risk intervention.

1. Social Development: Promoting and maintaining community safety and well-being 
2. Prevention: Proactively reducing identified risks
3. Risk Intervention: Mitigating situations of elevated risk 
4. Incident Response: Critical and non-critical incident response

The Plan's "Refreshed" Approach to CSWB

The 2026-2029 Plan builds on successes and lessons learned from the previous Plan and presents an approach that: 

• Is grounded in local data and community voice;
• Offers impactful and measurable directions;
• Is aligned with, supportive of, and complementary to other regional plans and initiatives, without duplicating efforts; and
• Extends available resources for maximal impact while remaining scaled to capacity.

Like the previous Plan, the 2026-2029 Plan was created based on data and community engagement:

• Data from various sectors informed the 2026-2029 Plan: demographics, crime and victimization, education, financial security, housing, environment, mental health and substance use, and physical health.
• Consultations involved 746 individuals across Windsor and Essex County. Two leadership focus groups, two public focus groups, a community survey, and municipal conversations were held over six months.

CSWB Advisory Committee

The 2026-2029 Plan brings together municipal governments, sector leaders, local service providers, and local community groups and individuals to identify, contextualize, and prioritize local and regional risks. A mandated consultative body known as the CSWB Advisory Committee, consisting of community leaders, priority populations, and persons with lived experience throughout Windsor-Essex, will oversee the implementation of the Plan.

Vision and Focus of the 2026-2029 Plan

“A community where everyone feels safe, has a sense of belonging, equitable access to services and opportunities, and can have their needs met across Windsor and Essex County.”

Through extensive consultations, three key pillars were identified and form the basis of the Plan:

1. Engaged Communities,
2. Safer Public Spaces, and
3. Coordinated Systems. 

Each pillar consists of a goal and at least four implementation activities, all aligned with the CSWB Planning Framework. In total, three goals and 14 implementation activities were established.

For more information on the project background and mandate, please visit our Resources page.