Investing in your City: Implementing Updated Red Tape Red Carpet Recommendations

Burlington Investments
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Our weekly "Investing in your City" series continues, highlighting some of the significant investments being made in Burlington and that our community will benefit from.

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The City is continuing investments to implement updated recommendations to help reduce red tape at City Hall and lay out the red carpet to encourage business and investments in Burlington.In November 2023, Burlington City Council unanimously approved updated Red Tape Red Carpet (RTRC) recommendations provided by City staff and Burlington Economic Development, and at our March 2024 Council meeting, we unanimously approved having Burlington Economic Development report back semi-annually to the Pipeline to Permit Committee on progress of the RTRC objectives along with regular updates to members of Council on high impact files.You can read a copy of the updated RTRC recommendations here.Following the approval of the updated recommendations by Council, City and Burlington Ec Dev staff have worked to integrate them into corporate strategic initiatives and the updated Vision to Focus (V2F). Key actions since approval of the updated Red Tape Red CarpetRecommendations in 2023 include:

  • Implementation of High Impact Criteria to allow applicants to receive tailored service to support applicants through the development process;
  • Refocusing of Customer Experience – Business Development Role on High Impact Files, process improvements and customer engagement and education;
  • Redevelopment of the Special Business Area Coordinator Role to focus on strategy development for main street business and Business Improvement Areas (BIA) and customer experience. This role will be retitled to Specialist, Business and Economic Development, with services designed to complement the Customer Experience Manager – Business Development role;
  • Joint engagement of the development community by Community Planning and Economic Development. This has included integration of Red Tape Red Carpet update on the Housing and Development Liaison Committee (HDLAC) Agenda and joint events with the West End Homebuilders Association (WEHBA) and Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD);
  • Burlington Economic Development has continued its focus on investment attraction and promoting Burlington as an investment destination. This included joint business development missions with Toronto Global to Medtech and Websummit to attract technology companies aligned with our industry cluster focus;
  • One Brand project was reinitiated in Q4 2023 to create an integrated brand and value proposition for residents, business and visitors;
  • Landscape Ontario update;
  • Ongoing refinement of the Community Planning Permit System, which will establish a rapid and predictable planning approval process, including flexibility that supports increased housing and amenities and mitigating cost barriers such as Parking standards in Major Transit Station Areas; and
  • Successful awarding of approximately $21 million dollars of the Federal Housing Accelerator Fund that will implement 7 key initiatives to support the development of housing.

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