Horizon 50

By Pepper Parr

March 4^th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

Horizon 50 is the name given to the Strategic Plan that is currently being fashioned by Deloitte, an accounting and consulting company that was brought in to advise on Burlington’s Strategic Plan when James Ridge was the City Manager.

Stephanie Venimore, Manager, Corporate Strategy & Business Improvement.

Andrew Scott, Chief Transformation Officer oversees the day-to-day tasks, while Stephanie Venimore, Manager, Corporate Strategy & Business Improvement works on the document Council is being asked to endorse.

Critical to the direction the city takes in terms of the next 25 years, there wasn’t all that much involvement from Council members.  Venimore took them through the stages and looked for comment.

Horizon 50 covers 2026 to 2050;  it’s reviewed revised and updated every five years.

Council is being asked to endorse the Horizon 2050 Strategic Plan as a replacement for Vision 2040

Council is expected to instruct staff to consider Horizon 2050 in future land planning policy, service delivery, advocacy and budget planning; and to share the Horizon 2050 strategic plan and supportive research with community partners for consideration in their future service planning.

Quality of life across all ages and stages is established as the City’s central strategic outcome.

With projected population growth, shifting demographics, economic change, and increasing climate pressures, Horizon 2050 sets out four strategic directions with measurable outcomes to guide City decisions. It treats growth, land use planning, infrastructure investment, and service delivery as the “how”—tools designed to deliver the “why”: complete communities, strong environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and modern, accountable municipal services.

If endorsed, Horizon 2050 will guide future budgets, business planning and partnerships.

The plan and the approach are set out in a series of graphics set out below:

If Council endorses Horizon 2050, staff will embed it across municipal operations through enterprise-wide business planning, and will share the community vision broadly with residents and key program and service delivery partners through a comprehensive communications plan. Budgets and divisional business plans will be realigned to advance Horizon 2050’s strategic objectives and measurable outcomes.

Each of our Boards and Committees will be undertaking independent strategic planning over the next 18 to 24 months. This creates a timely opportunity to align priorities and investments across the organization in support of Council’s endorsed vision for Burlington.

Following the election, staff will work with the new term of Council to develop a multi-year operating plan that aligns municipal priorities and activities with Horizon 2050. Staff will also launch a set of measurable community indicators through a public-facing dashboard, updated as data becomes available, so community members can track progress toward the shared community vision.