Press Releases

Chilliwack, BC - On March 1, 2022, Chilliwack City Council received an update on progress to date implementing the Chilliwack Community Safety Plan, presented to Council last June. Following the development of the Plan, the Community Safety Governance Committee was established and has met regularly to evaluate and advocate for the work of stakeholders in addressing the Plan’s priorities for improving community safety.

The Chilliwack Community Safety Plan has several main focus areas, including increased community engagement to report and address safety concerns; stigma reduction; establishing increased supports to address homelessness, mental health, substance and justice system challenges, and increased efforts to support early interventions. An easy to read “traffic light dashboard” was presented for Council’s information, which showed progress on these items in terms of green, yellow, and red. The green items represent areas in which progress is currently being made, but not yet completed. Yellow items have some action starting, and red items have not yet been addressed by the relevant partner organizations.

Committee Chair, Councillor Bud Mercer, and Vice-Chair, Clint Hames, continue to seek support from all levels of government. The Chilliwack Community Safety Plan was developed with extensive stakeholder engagement, spanning over 18 months, and features goals that are a priority for Chilliwack.

“I am proud of the progress made to date by the City of Chilliwack and many of our partners,” said committee Chair Councillor Bud Mercer. “There is still a lot of work to do and we need our community partners, especially those organizations who oversee items still showing red, to continue to work towards the important goals outlined in the plan that we developed together.”

Some “green light” initiatives that are progressing well include increasing the supply of affordable housing (including the Paramount Project, the Interchange Supportive Housing, and a new shelter and supportive housing project); increased outreach case management coordination and service navigation through the Community Outreach and Integration Project; and supports for food security.

Some “orange light” actions include ongoing discussions to improve police communications, to expand overdose prevention services, to reduce stigma, to increase supports for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness, and the expansion of street-based outreach. Some of the “red light” initiatives require additional work to acquire funding, or realignment of existing resources to meet community priorities, from the Province and Fraser Health for items such as establishing an Assertive Community Treatment Team, residential treatment beds, expanding Crown Counsel, and increasing counselling for children and families.

To learn more about the Chilliwack Community Safety Plan, please visit chilliwack.com/communitysafety.

Download the PDF presentation to Council here.