Community Updates

Ride Sharing in Kingston: Ensuring Safe and Reliable Transportation Options

With the emergence of ride sharing providers like Uber and Lyft, cities all over the world have been working to implement the right mix of regulations to ensure that these platforms provide a safe and reliable experience for users. In Kingston, we have a number of regulations in place for how taxis operate, and these…
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A New and Improved Love Kingston Marketplace Coming to Downtown

Throughout the pandemic, the City has been focused on repurposing public space to open up the downtown and ensure pedestrians can physically distance and businesses can expand operations. This week City Council approved a new and improved Love Kingston Marketplace, an initiative that will once again transform the downtown core to create a safe and…
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City of Kingston Pre-Budget Submission

Introduction COVID-19 has impacted many facets of our community including amplifying existing challenges such as issues of homelessness, mental health, addiction, and access to affordable housing. It has also placed significant strain on our local post-secondary institutions, threatened the livelihood of our downtown and cultural sector, and the survival of many local businesses remains in…
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Taking Action to Advance Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Kingston

The Kingston Economic Recovery Team has been focused on several key priorities to ensure we build back in better and more inclusive ways on the other side of the pandemic. One of these priorities is to create more opportunities for underrepresented and marginalized groups. We want everyone in our city to have access to employment…
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Calling on Students to Come up with Creative Ideas: The 4th Annual Mayor’s Innovation Challenge

With all the challenges we’re facing as a community as a result of the pandemic, it’s never been more important to explore new ideas and approaches to help support our recovery and ensure we build back in efficient and innovative ways. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the 4th annual Mayor’s Innovation…
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City Support for Small Businesses, Social Services and Arts Organizations

The financial challenges facing our local businesses and non-profit agencies have been front and centre for myself and Council during this week’s budget deliberations. As mayor, I continue to press the federal and provincial governments for financial supports to help small business owners and their employees through the current lockdown. While upper levels of government…
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The City’s 2021 Budget: Supporting our Community Through the Pandemic

Next week Council will meet to make final decisions on the City’s budget for 2021. A lot has changed over the last year, and this year’s budget is meant to address and respond to the financial challenges faced by both the City and those across our community. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re projecting a…
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The New Provincial State of Emergency: What Does It Mean for Kingston?

Today is the first day of the new provincial state of emergency that will be in place for at least the next 14 days and is meant to reduce the spread of COVID-19 cases across Ontario. So what does that mean here in Kingston? First and foremost, you should avoid travel outside of the Kingston…
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From Lockdown to Vaccine Rollout: COVID and the Road Ahead for Kingston in 2021

We are now nearly halfway through the 28 day lockdown that the province imposed across Southern Ontario to try to bring down COVID-19 case numbers. During the lockdown we’ve had to close City recreation facilities and reduce transit service, but we’ve also added many online services so you can get City services and info remotely.…
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New Technology to Help Save Lives in the Current Opioid Crisis

We’ve been working hard as a community to limit the spread of COVID-19, but another serious health crisis has continued to worsen at the same time. Over the last few years, dozens of young people have lost their lives because of opioid overdoses. This year alone, KFL&A Public Health issued four different alerts warning people…
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