Focus Burlington is an Ontario-registered not-for-profit community group focused on, you guessed it, Burlington.

Our initial funding to start the organization came from the founding members. We do not accept donations from any level of government or partisan organization. Our Board of Directors and Advisory Committee are all volunteers..

  • Listening and promoting to our council what people say through petitions and referendums.
  • Promoting transparency, efficiency, accountability, fiscal responsibility, and a workable governance structure.
  • Clearing the roadblocks and red tape that stand in the way of economic growth and being able to operate a successful business in the city. ​
  • Ending the waste that costs everyone money.
  • Encouraging the council to say “no” to special interests and those who feel they are entitled to their entitlements.
  • Tracking entitlements and sharing them on this website.
  • Promoting good ideas from members of the community to the council, such as how to deliver services effectively and efficiently.
  • We have to live within our means, consequently, our local municipality has to live within our means. Burlington needs to focus on the core services that everyone needs and expects.
  • We are here to remind the council that they represent people who live in Burlington, not city hall staff members.

It is practically impossible to keep up with all the goings on at City Hall, especially when almost all the information comes to the public through the City and council themselves, with very little media out there doing fact checking and asking the tough questions.  We are about watching and monitoring what the City and Council puts out to the public, and sharing and informing on the full picture and the facts, where necessary.  We believe that an informed electorate is vital to democracy and to holding our public officials to account.

We are also about working with the local media to share articles and balance our council’s messaging.

If you have any questions use the Contact Us option (top right of the website) to send us a message. To understand why we don’t have our email addresses on the website read more here.

A Better Burlington is Within our Grasp

The Focus Burlington is deeply committed to actively promoting certain policy initiatives that align with our overall goal of promoting a safe, secure and sustainable future for all residents.  To that end, we are committed to the following ideals:

Responsible Financial Management:

  • The actual tax increases in the last 3 years have been excessive, and we believe these were too high. Consequently, we are calling for the following:
  • A clear and transparent budget process that provides for line-by-line budgets that reflect where tax dollars are being spent;
  • Establishment and management of a website that accurately depicts actual spending year to date in relation to the approved budget;
  • Municipal tax increases should not exceed the rate of inflation;
  • Funding for emergencies and extraordinary expenses should be provided through the allocation of reserve monies or time-limited tax levies that expire once the problem has been corrected;
  • Elimination of vanity projects such as Love Your Neighbour, mundialization, the upcoming trip to Japan, drones and art for public buildings;
  • More stringent funding criteria for special events, social causes and not-for-profit organizations;
  • A three year hiring freeze;
  • Prioritization of the maintenance of existing physical assets over the tearing down and reconstruction of existing facilities.
  • We strongly maintain that Council should undertake more of an effort to reign in discretionary spending.

Flood Mitigation:

  • We support the development of a comprehensive flood mitigation strategy that focuses on better advance communication of impending severe climatic events, regular inspection and clearing of storm drains and creeks, upgrades to existing storm and wastewater systems, identification and opening of release catch basins in established neighbourhoods, and more direct interaction and consultation by city staff with homeowners impacted by the July 2024 flood.
  • We believe a proactive approach to flood mitigation will be more cost-effective for everyone. Existing infrastructure must be kept free of debris and improved where required.

Environmental Sustainability:

  • We maintain that there is a direct correlation between population intensification and environmental degradation.  To that end, we believe the city should reject further massive development projects such as Appleby/Fairview and 1200 King Road on the grounds that these projects present significant flooding risks and negatively impact the surrounding greenspaces.
  • We believe that positive measures to address climate change should focus on enhanced tree planting, broader use and application of permeable concrete, and widespread adoption of bioswales.
  • We believe the expenditure of public funds on environmental conferences, seminars and such is both wasteful and unnecessary. We know there is a climate emergency, and these public funds should be directed toward addressing the city’s carbon emissions and other issues under the city’s control.
  • We believe a paperless option for our tax bills and other communications from the city is long overdue.

Traffic Congestion:

  • We support better traffic light timing measures, and not just for buses. Traffic congestion has a direct impact on the quality of our lives and the climate.
  • We support the restoration of two-lane traffic in both directions on Appleby, Walkers and Guelph Lines south of New Street.
  • We believe the city should investigate bus cut-in or queue jump lanes on Fairview Street similar to what exists in Mississauga on Burnhamthorpe Road.
  • We support the restoration of two-lane traffic on Lakeshore Road west of Brant Street.  Do we want to add that the restaurant patios on Lakeshore Road should be eliminated – they already have large patios between their doors and the sidewalk, they don’t need to take a lane of roadway as well.
  • Other cities have strict rules against developers taking over lanes of roads and pedestrian sidewalks while building their condos for years. 
  • We believe that continued intensification without road widening will result in a grid-locked and unlivable city.

Development:

  • We believe that Burlington is essentially built out.  We believe that future growth in the housing inventory should be organic in nature.
  • We maintain that the city should actively promote the creation of affordable 2-and 3-bedroom properties by private developers. We believe that new developments throughout the city should be limited to eight storeys outside of the MTSA’s.  We support the move to build a variety of housing types including townhouses, bungalows, starter-sized homes, smaller duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes similar to what exists in communities such as Montreal. 
  • We believe that the creation of additional high-rise condominiums should be rejected on the grounds that this type of accommodation has significant negative impacts on nearby residents, and is also antithetical to the housing needs of new homebuyers.
  • We propose that the city should initiate a modular housing project such as the ones developed in Peterborough and the Region of Waterloo, to address the issue of homelessness.  The target should be 50 homes.
  • We believe that the city should admit that the target of 29,000 new housing starts for Burlington by 2030 is both unrealistic and unachievable. 

Strong Mayor Powers:

We believe the Strong Mayor Powers that were adopted by the Mayor in 2023 are antithetical to the principles of a fair and democratic government, as well as community engagement.  We believe this authority should be rescinded.

We challenge all mayoral candidates in 2026 to sign a pledge that they will support a motion at council rejecting the powers granted to them in the Strong Mayor Powers Act, should they be successfully elected.

Community Engagement:

  • We believe that the city’s Charter of Engagement doesn’t need to be rewritten so much as it needs to be followed by council.  The current review of the engagement charter is taking an inordinate amount of time and money with three staff members working on this project for what is now two years and counting, multiple surveys, advertisements, public sessions, and continual delays.  We believe the Mayor and Councillors should proactively commit to following the principles of consultation, and to follow the Charter of Engagement going forward.
  • We believe the previous practice of semi-annual city-wide and monthly Ward Town Halls should be reinstated.
  • We do not consider having council members meet with members of the public – usually one-on-one – in food courts or other such places, to be proper engagement.  Council members should hold proper meetings in city facilities where the audience can hear all other attendees’ questions and the answers, and attendees do not feel like random customers in the mall are listening to what they have to say.  Meetings should have an agenda and an open question and answer period, and the council member should be accountable for the answers he or she provides to the group at large.
  • We believe that all engagement must include associated costs, including the cost of staff time.
  • We believe tax increases must be stated in terms of the Burlington portion of the tax bill and the overall impact on the total bill when combined with the Halton and Education. The council’s current practice of stating the “impact” is misleading and doesn’t match the actual increase that people are seeing on line 1, the municipal line, on their tax bills.