Does Planning Lead to Well-Being?

The June 23, 2026 meeting of Greater Sudbury City Council received an update on the city’s ongoing Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CSWBP) from Police Chief Sara Cunningham and General Manager of Community Well-Being, Tyler Campbell. The latest iteration of the plan takes a data-driven and community service approach to the overall well-being of the population, and is, according to Sudbury Mayor Paul Levebvre, already showing some results.

Municipalities in the province have been mandated to run CSWBPs since passage of 2018’s Safer Ontario Act, one of the last pieces of legislation from the former Liberal government under Premier Kathleen Wynne. The plans draw into focus a range of community challenges such as homelessness, intimate partner violence, addiction, traumatic event response, youth and elder issues, and indigenous safety and well-being, and provide a designed workflow toward better outcomes.

The June 23^rd update showed positive indications that planning does indeed lead to improvement. According to Tyler Campbell, the city can be “encouraged by the downtrend” on homelessness and unhoused encampments, with now 151 individuals occupying 25 encampment locations around Greater Sudbury, which is markedly down from 199 individuals at 34 locations a year ago. This may indicate a positive result for the city’s recent transitional housing efforts.

As well, Chief Cunningham detailed the city’s intention to create an Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) “safe centre,” with a steering committee assembled for that purpose in March 2026. The Greater Sudbury Police Service will be “at that table,” according to the Chief, who sees great efficiency in centralizing the service response to IPV. Responding to follow-up queries from Council, Chief Cunningham stated it would be very beneficial to “walk victims down the hall” to the appropriate services, after they’ve reported IPV to the police.

Planet Youth Up North, the cooperative youth resiliency and substance abuse prevention project established in 2025 is also well underway, with 9 individuals identified as at risk, and a voluntary survey currently in the field of the community’s Grade 10 students for further identification and outreach. Planet Youth runs on the Icelandic Prevention Model, designed in Reykjavík, Iceland, and takes a whole-community, data-driven approach to keeping youth heading in the right direction.

Shore Report will continue to follow Sudbury’s CSWBP.

Shore Report acknowledges the North Shore of Lake Huron is the traditional land of the Anishinabek and the Métis Nation. This is Treaty 61 (Robinson-Huron) territory. Anishinabek have lived in the Great Lakes region for thousands of years. Shore Report is very grateful to live and work here.

All written content in this issue is © Shore Report 2026

Advertisement

John Degen’s mystery novel, Seldom Seen Road — set on Lake Huron’s North Shore — is making national headlines.

Online, direct from the publisher, and wherever fine books are sold.