Council Workshops: Summary

City Council and staff attend the first Grand Trunk workshop on January 27, 2006. In early 2026, Councillors attended three comprehensive, open workshops to deepen their understanding of municipally led development projects and explore options for advancing the Grand Trunk redevelopment. Topics covered included:

• General land development practices
• How communities define desired outcomes for major building sites and balance community benefit, feasibility, and risk
• Brownfield redevelopment
• Overview of the project vision and guiding principles
• Updates on the shared facility partnerships with the Stratford Public Library and YMCA
• Costing for superstructure options
• A long-term city financial plan update
• Partnership modelling for the shared community facility
• Parking and housing options for the site

The material and recordings of the public series are available for review. Note that no decisions are made at these sessions.

• Workshop #1 on January 27. Project foundation topics, including municipal development and Brownfields.
• Workshop #2 on February 26. Discusses partnerships, financial context, and investment since 2009.
• Workshop #3 on April 9. Summarizes the earlier workshops, presents the long-term municipal financial outlook, and provides management recommendations for Council’s consideration.

The information shared in these workshops will inform decision-making and help the Council confidently move from a conceptual/visioning phase to the next phase of this project.