Strategic Plan

Improve community happiness and wellbeing, building connections and opportunities for everyone to thrive.

We will deliver accessible opportunities for personal growth and connection through safe and healthy spaces, places to gather, and recreational and cultural opportunities. We will apply all the municipal tools of governance, advocacy, and partnerships to improve affordability in our community including attainable housing, childcare and transit.

• Increase the diversity of housing forms and tenure types year over year to promote affordable and attainable housing for people living in Squamish.
• Generate a net increase of new parks, trails and gathering spaces by September 2026.
• Increase the number of inclusive and accessible arts, cultural, heritage and recreational multiuse programmable spaces by Q3 2026.
• Increase the equity and accessibility of our active transportation network and transit system year over year.

Build inclusion and belonging with and within the community.

We will continue our work towards genuine Truth and Reconciliation, actively engaging with the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) to foster equitable and trusting relationships. We will incorporate the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility throughout our organization with the goal to foster these principles in the greater community and support community groups in their work.

• Continue to address calls to action for local governments in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Final Report; update the District of Squamish TRC roadmap by Q2 2024, implement and complete the action plan by Q3 2026.
• Co-develop a relationship agreement with the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw per the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw Strategic Plan External Relations Goal #3 by a mutually agreed deadline.
• Implement the District of Squamish Inclusion Strategy: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility (IDEAs) in Action by Q3 2026 and facilitate IDEA in the community.
• Build relationships with community groups to increase community capacity and resources by September 2026.

Enable a bright and prosperous future for a resilient community.

We will work to ensure a livable community for future generations by acting to mitigate climate change and focus on sustainable economic development with fiscal, social and environmental co-benefits. We will address key aspects of climate adaptation by planning and investing with a long-term view to ensure a resilient, thriving community.

• Invest in hazard mitigation, infrastructure, and community resilience programming to ensure community adaptability in the face of climate change by September 2026.
• Create a net increase of employment lands and spaces both on land and marine by September 2026.
• Achieve goal of reducing community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45% by 2030 through updating and implementation of the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP).
• Increase economic activity in the core, enabling emerging economic sectors per the Economic Development Sector Strategy by September 2026.

Deliver efficient and effective municipal services for residents and businesses, today and into the future.

We will appropriately plan for the long-term financial health of the organization and the maintenance of the District’s infrastructure. We will build the organizational resilience required to respond to change and effectively deliver equitable, accessible, transparent, and culturally appropriate services with a focus on continually improving that service delivery.

• Create and implement a robust 20-year financial and asset management plan by June 2025.
• Enhance organizational systems to improve service delivery and enhance communication and engagement with the community by September 2026.
• Implement a comprehensive organization development program by December 2025to ensure human resource capacity is aligned to deliver municipal services.
• Update and implement the District’s master plans to reinforce business continuity and long-term infrastructure resilience by September 2026