Council priorities
2023-2026 Council Priorities
Council Priorities 2023–2026 identifies the strategic shifts, improvements and changes that are important to Council, the community and organization. The approach is designed to take immediate action on what is important to residents and guide the City’s business planning and investment decisions. It outlines six priority areas and 22 actions to increase citizens’ quality of life. Council will receive a public progress report on the priorities every six, 12 and 18 months.
- Download the Council Priorities 2023-2026 overview
- Read the complete Council Priorities 2023-2026 document
Working alongside other pivotal city strategies—such as the Official Community Plan, 10-Year Capital Plan, 20-Year Servicing Plan, and Imagine Kelowna—the approved council priorities are:
- Strategy to address property crime; including break and enters and theft
- Provide local Business Improvement Areas support for urban centre safety issues
- Establish a safety task force with stakeholders
- Partner with Provincial ministries responsible for mental health and problematic substance use on initiatives that improve local conditions
- Acquire city owned land to build affordable housing
- Increase number of rental units with below market rents
- Partner on the creation of a low-cost affordable housing pilot project
- Advocate for additional Complex Care Centre
- Explore partnership opportunities for alternative forms of sheltering
- Advocate for purpose-built permanent shelter with ‘wrap-around’ supports and graduated housing options
- Develop an emergency winter shelter program
- Explore alternative modes of transportation between UBCO/YLW and downtown
- Improve transit service including expanding the transit pass program
- Improve traffic flow and capacity on major road networks
- Complete the functional design of the Hwy 33 multi-modal traffic corridor
- Enhance traffic safety presence
- Facilitate the creation of a permanent home for the farmer's market
- Review the Agriculture Plan with respect to secondary uses
- Expand enforcement/bylaw officers
- Include ‘climate lens’ in decision making to assess mitigation and adaptation
- Increase urban tree canopy
- Pilot energy concierge program to enable retrofits in buildings
As Council, we commit to working together as a team to make advancements in the areas that are important to residents in the community.
Multiple perspectives and productive dialogue make for better outcomes. Involving our diverse residents and communities in decision-making, alongside subject-matter experts, is important to create a community for everyone. Increasingly, the issues we face are part of complex systems that require us to work together with organizations across the community.
Council wants to have constructive conversations through a variety of channels. Information is readily available to enable productive debate, and our work is presented in plain language. Meaningful engagement is a foundation to empowering residents to be part of building solutions.
Most decisions require trade-offs. We will seek to create a resilient and sustainable community by balancing economic, financial, social and environmental considerations to achieve the short- and long-term goals of the community. We will focus on concrete actions and increase advocacy with other levels of government and organizations.
Clear expectations and consistency help businesses make investment decisions. This will be important as Kelowna continues to grow. Council will set the tone for these conversations through respectful and constructive dialogue.
Council is united by its pragmatic leadership style and a desire to continuously improve beyond the status quo. Decisions grounded in evidence empower Council to be adaptable and open to adjusting the way forward as new information becomes available.
