Housing Needs Assessments – Sharpening your focus on where to start
A better understanding of your community’s housing needs guides more effective municipal policy and partnerships for housing creation. Full stop. As the provincial and federal governments roll out new housing legislation and funding for the creation of housing, the...
Supporting Climate Caucus to support Canadian communities
Supporting non-profit climate organizations is an important way we advance our goals of contributing to climate mitigation, community resilience, and sustainability. We provide this support through partnerships, strategic planning and engagement services offered at...
Project Highlight: Regional Food Resiliency – Part 1
Food Costs are on the Rise Food costs have been rising in Canada faster than other goods according to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index data. One hundred dollars of food purchased twenty years ago now costs $183. This makes for easy math to realize that’s an...
Strategic Planning – What, Why, How?
Wow, we’ve been doing a lot of strategic planning this past year! Some of the communities and organizations we have had the pleasure of working with are listed below. And the start of 2024, is a great time to begin working on yours! Okanagan Regional Library ...
WCS tidbits
We're excited to share: WCS Engagement + Planning will be at the Mountain Town Planners Summit in Rossland in October. This annual Summit is a gathering of local government staff and other experts in timely, mountain planning hot topics. Cheeying will be co-leading...
New housing resources from WCS
Many communities wonder about the benefits and administrative requirements of setting up a municipal housing organization. They also have questions about coming legislation requiring all municipalities to allow secondary suites and increased density in residential...
Reconciliation and Indigenous Tourism – Investments with a huge payback
An ongoing journey to restore and uphold right relations The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) report defines reconciliation as, “an ongoing process of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.” That reconciliation requires a commitment...
Having better conversations about hot topics
Community or public engagement is an essential part of most successful planning projects or decision-making initiatives. When it comes to hot topics that are polarizing, leading community engagement can be especially challenging. Here are some best practices that can...
Anti-racism, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (AR-EDI) – from Awareness to Action
Where is your organization at on its anti-racism, equity, diversity, & inclusion journey? Anti-racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion (AR-EDI) (see also EDI, JEDI, or DEI) are essential principles of fair, just, and thriving societies. They are necessary to...
Popsicles and 15-Minute Communities Funding
The Popsicle Test While there are many ways to measure the safety and walkability of a neighbourhood the “popsicle test” beats the heat every time. If you haven’t heard of it, the “popsicle test” is a personal assessment of whether an 8-year-old child can walk a few...
Telling Better Stories Through Evaluation Part 2
In a previous blog post, we explored the crucial role evaluation plays in telling a compelling program or project story. Here's a simple step-by-step process for setting up an evaluation that works for your organization – and helps you tell the story of why you do...
Short staffed? Filling the vacancies and succession planning go hand in hand
Having recently led a strategic planning process for a non-profit dealing with critical staffing challenges, and with our organization (WCS) looking to expand our team – not to mention the ongoing news and anecdotal accounts of staffing shortages through most sectors...