Peel's Community Safety and Well-being Plan
Renewed and updated plan
Peel has renewed and updated the Community Safety and Well-being (CSWB) Plan that sets out how partners across different sectors can work together to make Peel a safer, more inclusive, and connected community where all residents thrive.
Over 70 organizations, representing emergency services, education, health and social service providers and governments, come together to advance the Plan.
- Vision: Peel is a safe, inclusive and connected community where all residents thrive.
- Mission: We will work together to ensure access to services and supports that advance safety, connectedness, and well-being for all Peel residents.
The Plan remains flexible to respond to emerging issues in the community.
Current focus areas
While the plan recognizes there are many issues that impact community safety and well-being, 5 current areas of focus, centred around youth and families, are evolving:
- family violence
- mental health and addictions
- systemic discrimination
- youth violence prevention
- international students
The Family Violence Action Table includes organizations representing various sectors, including health and social services, government, police, and education. Partners collaborate to:
Create and strengthen pathways to safety
Family Violence Action Table Collaborative Forum
Family Services of Peel hosted an in-person forum bringing approximately 95 partners in the sector together to strengthen collaboration, support dialogue, build connections and trust among interest holders.
Intimate Partner Violence Unit
Peel Regional Police’s intimate partner violence unit, in the Safe Centre of Peel, provides integrated and comprehensive services for survivors, including onsite child minding, system navigation, crisis support and counselling, court support, settlement services, income support, and more.
Photovoice research project
Led by Trillium Health Partners, the photovoice research project focused on co-designing better services with input from people who have witnessed or experienced family violence. The project team also included local organizations and researchers.
Increase awareness and public education of family violence
Annual public education and awareness campaign
To raise visibility, help identify and reduce cases of family and intimate partner violence in Peel, together the community, regional, and municipal partners have co-designed the annual family and intimate partner violence awareness campaign.
The most recent 'Break the Silence' campaign, focused on challenging misconceptions about abuse to encourage difficult conversations about violence against women and shared available resources to support survivors.
Learn more about Family and Intimate Partner Violence.
The Mental Health and Addictions Action Table includes organizations representing various sectors, including community mental health and addictions, education, family services, health care, police, and settlement services. Partners collaborate to:
Improve access to mental health and addictions services for youth by simplifying pathways to care and coordinating efforts
Coordinated advocacy efforts
The Mental Health and Addictions Action Table continues to identify and advocate for Peel’s unique needs, challenges, and opportunities for investment related to mental health and addictions.
Access the Action Table’s 2023 pre-budget submission to the Ontario government.
24/7 Crisis Walk-In Design Model
The Canadian Mental Health Association Peel Dufferin and partners designed a 24/7 walk-in model and business case to make it easier for people get care when they're experiencing a mental health or addictions crisis. The business case was submitted to relevant interest holders for funding consideration, as an example of the need for increased investment in cross-sectoral mental health and addictions initiatives along the continuum of care in Peel.
Peel situation table
Peel Regional Police and over 50 agencies, including Peel Region are part of the Peel Situation Table, and help to provide immediate access to community resources to and reduce the need for involvement by police and other crisis-based responders.
Co-designing mental health care photovoice project
The Mental Health and Addictions Action Table collaborated with the Family and Child Health Initiative at Trillium Health Partners on an arts-based research project working with young adults, family, caregivers, and service providers to improve mental health care.
Promote mental wellness and positive relationships among youth and families
Mental wellness for newcomer youth and international students
Peel Newcomer Strategy Group and partners developed cultural competency trainings for service providers and stigma reduction videos for youth and their families. The project activities were informed by newcomer youth and international students through Community Advisory Boards.
The Systemic Discrimination Action Table includes organizations representing various sectors, including police, education, employment, health, housing, children and youth, and settlement services. Partners work collaboratively to engage and influence system leaders and anchor organizations in Peel to embed and advance anti-oppressive and equity considerations within their processes and practices and work to address inequity in our community.
Partners are working to:
- Publicly review, develop and sustain anti-oppressive and equity practices and policies in Peel.
- Implement effective data gathering and reporting practices to assess impact and respond to inequities as they emerge.
Creating space for community dialogue
The Systemic Discrimination Action Table continues to serve as a vital forum for meaningful and challenging conversations, reflections, and calls to action on topics of system discrimination and their impacts globally and locally. This initiative supports senior leaders in enhancing their understanding and awareness of existing injustices and inequities, which is crucial for fostering meaningful change that promotes inclusion. For example, the Action Table provided input into Peel’s Municipal Diversity Plan, participates in initiatives and conferences such as the Regional Diversity Roundtable’s Annual Conference, and engages in discussions about making change to support structural and system transformation.
In March 2022, Public Safety Canada announced their commitment to support municipalities with crime prevention and safety through the Building Safer Communities Fund program, which aims to prevent youth gun and gang violence. In October 2023, Peel Region signed a 3-year, $7.3 million contract with Public Safety Canada with an end-date of March 2026.
Funds are being used to:
- Bring local partners together to set an approach and build a Youth Violence Prevention Strategy for Peel.
- Fund community-based youth violence prevention and intervention programs that enable integration and collaboration across system partners.
To support planning and implementation, the Youth Violence Prevention System Table and Community Table bring together 30 multi-sectoral organizations representing health and social service agencies, school boards, police services and local municipalities.
The International Students Collaborative is a network of over 35 multi-sector organizations, representing health and social services agencies, academic institutions, government, and individuals with lived experience. Through a collective approach, partners work together to:
Improve pathways to support by enhancing access to information and resources for international students, and supporting cross-sectoral collaboration
Information sessions for international students
From May to July 2025, the Collaborative is hosting an information session series on topics to support international students with navigating key aspects of life in Peel and Canada.
Strengthen systems and policies impacting international students by advocating for key policy changes that protect international students’ rights, address exploitation risks, and foster safe and supportive communities
The Collaborative continues to bring awareness to the challenges faced by international students and advocate for the needs of students and sectors that support them.
Municipalities are required to regularly review, and if appropriate, revise their CSWB Plans every 4 years. Peel took this opportunity to design a process to reflect, learn, strengthen and evolve the foundational work and accomplishments achieved thus far. The aim is to develop a responsive and collaborative model that ensures long-term relevance and viability, while maximizing impact for the Peel community.
Next steps to address community safety and well-being within the unique context of Peel
Use the processes in the new model to assess and evolve our responses to the 5 current areas of focus. This may involve refining existing tactics or adopting new approaches to amplify impact on these critical issues.
Apply the new CSWB model to identify and anticipate emerging issues related to the structural and social determinants of health, such as affordability pressures currently affecting food security and housing. By integrating systems thinking, data, and community insights, we will set priorities and take actions tailored to local needs.
Refer to Peel's CSWB Adaptive Model to Amplify Impact graphic on page 16 of the CSWB plan.
As we move forward, we remain committed to collaborating with system and community partners, building on the strong foundation we have established together. We will work together to bring Peel’s new CSWB model to life and its vision for action, while continuously listening to and involving those with lived experience to improve our community.
As legislated under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 municipalities must prepare and adopt a plan.
The plan is guided by the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Community Safety and Well-being Planning Framework, which seeks to enhance community safety and well-being by addressing key local risk factors through proactive and integrated strategies. The focus on proactive, preventative efforts and upstream social development has proven to reduce the financial burden of crime including the number of incidents that require enforcement.
Refer to Ontario’s community safety and well-being planning framework on page 5 of the CSWB plan.
The first iteration of Peel’s Community Safety and Well-being (CSWB) Plan 2020-2024 was endorsed by Peel Region Council on October 22, 2020.
Municipalities are legislatively required to review and, if necessary, revise their CSWB Plans every 4 years. To meet this requirement, a structured approach was taken to review the first iteration of Peel’s CSWB Plan 2020-2024.
Peel Region Council endorsed the updated CSWB Plan on June 12, 2025.
