Platform
What Burlington Needs Now
01
Straight Talk on Tax, and Value for Your Dollar
You deserve honesty, transparency and value for the dollars you entrust to us – not vague promises of savings without naming cuts. The city’s financial foundation is strong, the envy of our neighbours while delivering one of the lowest overall tax burdens.
Our budgets will continue to be focused on your priorities and needs not wants, including:
- state of good repair with a dedicated 2% infrastructure levy that ensures roads and community centres stay open and safe, without deferring repairs which cost up to 10 times more later
- inflation, so services are maintained at current levels without requiring cuts
- efficiency review every budget – saving up to $1 million each year, along with targeted reductions – each year I have brought more than any other member of council
- public safety – police budgets are expected to continue to rise by up to 9%
- advocacy – we’ll continue to advocate for our share of provincial and federal dollars, and an end to provincial downloading of costs that should not be borne by taxpayers. So far, we’ve achieved record investments through trusted relationships. Let’s not lose that momentum.
✓ Most budget amendments to reduce increases. Reserves at highest levels ever. Budgets focused on your priorities: infrastructure, safety, community amenities. Two terms of disciplined stewardship.
02
Right Development, Right Scale, Right Place
I’ve always run on a philosophy of development that remains consistent: the right development, right scale and right place, that protects waterfront and greenspace and respects Burlington’s character. We’re also in a housing affordability crisis that demands action from all levels of government. I have built the relationships and the track record of innovation and partnerships to deliver:
- High density growth directed to GO stations, coupled with jobs, community amenities, and parks, achieved through consultation with community and in partnership with landowners.
- Innovative collaboration through the Pipeline to Permit committee which brings together residents, agencies, non-profits, builders, and council members to speed permits, cut costs, and improve service to deliver the right housing in the right place.
- Continued partnerships with non-profits like Indwell, Habitat for Humanity and Wesley, along with other levels of government to deliver supportive and affordable housing
- Implementation of the Community Improvement Plan using federal Housing Accelerator Fund dollars to deliver missing middle, affordable, and supportive housing in our community.
✓ Official Plan updated to direct growth where it belongs, growth centre moved to GO station—the only time in Ontario-which delivered historic victory at land tribunal to protect waterfront from 30- and 35-storey towers; innovative Pipeline to Permit committee delivers action on housing; federal funding secured for affordable, supportive and missing middle housing.
03
Safe Communities—Sustained
Residents deserve to feel safe in their homes and on their streets—and when we don’t feel safe, it demands immediate response.
Halton remains the safest large community in Canada almost 20 years in a row. Crime is down due to sustained investment in smart policing, community action, partnerships and upstream prevention. Results: Auto theft down 22%; break and enter down 8.5%; violent crime down 2.3% in Burlington.
But safety is never finished, and recent break ins and home invasions have created understandable fear and concern. You deserve action and answers from the city on what is within our jurisdiction, and from others on what is within theirs.
That’s why I’ve brought together community members, police, Crime Stoppers and other levels of government, for multiple community sessions—town halls, a Speakers Series dedicated to Community Safety and Wellbeing—to provide answers and accountability. I will continue to rely on those trusted partnerships to get action for you and meet these challenges together.
When local tools are not enough, I am at every table bringing your voice and priorities. Through advocacy by Halton Region, Association of Municipalities of Ontario, where I serve as a board member, and Ontario’s Big City Mayors, which I chair, we’ve helped move action on bail reform, a new courthouse for Halton, funding for housing and mental health, and more. That advocacy relies on trusted relationships built over time, and will continue to be necessary through the next term.
✓ Significant investments in safety have delivered results: Auto theft down 22%; break and enter down 8.5%; violent crime down 2.3% in Burlington. Halton remains the safest large community in Canada almost 20 years in a row, due to sustained investment in smart policing, community action, partnerships and upstream prevention.
04
Infrastructure That Keeps Pace
Across Ontario, communities that deferred infrastructure investment for years are now facing the consequences—crumbling roads, closed facilities, and repair bills that dwarf what maintenance would have cost. Burlington chose a different path. The long-term infrastructure funding plan is in place to close the infrastructure gap between needs and funding available. Reserves are protected—and at their highest levels.
Through our existing dedicated and transparent levy we’ll continue to invest in infrastructure state of good repair—with the right repair at the right time, to keep roads, parks, community centres open and safe, without saddling future generations and facing a bill 10 times greater down the road.
I will also continue to champion investments in flood mitigation to address the impacts of increasingly severe and unpredictable weather.
✓ Long-term infrastructure plan in place. Investments in flood mitigation. Reserves protected. Burlington choosing the responsible path.
05
Protecting What We Love About Burlington
Burlington’s waterfront, heritage buildings, Greenbelt, urban greenspace, and neighbourhood character are what draw residents, like our family, to Burlington. Protecting these special attributes requires someone willing to stand firm on the right scale of development, fight for what matters at the Ontario Land Tribunal, and win. Over 16 years, I’ve delivered and not wavered in my commitment.
Burlington is half rural, and our rural hamlets and homesteads are more than beautiful landscapes—they are working farms, vibrant businesses and essential ecosystems. We’ve protected them with a firm commitment to preserving our urban boundary, opposing greenbelt expansion at the Region through a motion I co-sponsored, working with community to fight the Nelson Quarry expansion at the Ontario Land Tribunal, and working with residents through our Agricultural and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee on actions to support our rural areas. That commitment carries forward.
✓ Greenbelt protected. Rural farms and hamlets supported. Rural residents voices heard and respected with action plan.
06
Bringing Your Voice To Every Table—Inside City Hall and Beyond
The Mayor’s responsibilities extend well beyond City Hall. In this moment of national and international uncertainty—tariffs, trade disruption, global conflicts, rising cost of living—Burlington needs a Mayor who has developed trusted relationships and credibility over many years to protect the city’s interests at every level of government, and through partner organizations. Housing funding, transit investment, infrastructure dollars, homelessness, bail reform—these decisions are made at Queen’s Park and in Ottawa. Getting Burlington’s fair share requires someone who respects the value of advocacy and is willing to go to bat bringing your priorities to these tables. I chair the Ontario’s Big City Mayors caucus—elected by 29 fellow mayors who extended my term to keep stability and momentum in a time of global instability; I’m a board member of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and advocate directly to provincial ministers every year on behalf of the city at the AMO and Rural Ontario Municipal Association conferences—an unbroken track record no other member of council can claim.
Relationships that deliver results are built over years—let’s not put our progress and momentum at risk.
✓ OBCM Chair—elected by 29 peers, term extended. Record federal and provincial investments in Burlington. Advocacy delivered action: homelessness, bail reform, justice, auto theft, mental health.
Steady Hands in Unsteady Times
Forward together, Burlington.
Email: marianne4mayor@gmail.com · Phone: (289) 204-1848
Office: 1440 Grahams Lane, Unit 3, off Brant Street, just south of Fairview Street.
Authorized by the campaign to Re-elect Mayor Marianne Meed Ward · Burlington, Ontario · 2026