York Region missing mark on key performance metrics

Transit ridership, paramedic response times among areas of issue, but region succeeding in most strategic targets

Newmarkettoday.ca
May 5, 2023
Joseph Quigley

York Region says it is faring well overall but is trending downward in performance measures on transit ridership, sidewalks, paramedic response times and keeping people out of homelessness.

A progress report on the region’s official plan shows it is trending positively in 68 per cent of its performance measures. But six areas were not faring as well for the region, representing 19 per cent, either declining or not increasing to the degree the region sought compared to 2018. The report was presented to council May 4.

Areas of issue also include decreasing water consumption and increased operating costs for services. But CAO Bruce Macgregor said council and the region have addressed these areas in planning for the term ahead.

“We have taken into account all these metrics,” he said, adding that the region’s new budget and strategic plan for the term will “remedy many of these concerns.”

The region has had 31 metrics in its strategic plan for the last four years. The bulk of them, 21 in all, were proceeding in their desired direction. Four had data issues that made them unavailable for reporting.

Many of the failing measures relate to the challenges of the pandemic, Macgregor said. The region sought to maintain transit ridership per capita from 2018 onward, but it has gone from 20 to 8.9 as the pandemic hit public transit services. They do not expect to recover until about 2026, Macgregor said.

The region has also not increased regional roads with sidewalks and/or bike lanes, falling from 88 per cent coverage to 86 per cent.

Paramedic response times missed the council-approved target by one per cent, coming at 74 per cent of calls making it within eight minutes.

The region also started tracking the percentage of people remaining stably housed six months after intervention because they were homeless or at risk of homelessness. It hoped to increase that percentage, but it fell slightly from 83 per cent to 81 per cent on that measure.

“We really try to focus on helping people avoid losing their home,” community and health services commissioner Katherine Chislett said. “Because it’s so hard to find another palace to live. Really, really difficult to find affordable housing right now.”

Water consumption went up despite the region wanting to counter that. It said more people working from home during the pandemic likely impacted it, along with a drier summer in 2022.

But the report also highlighted the many areas that the region has maintained its targets, including maintaining water quality, decreasing children waiting for child care and decreasing per capita greenhouse gas emissions.

“Despite COVID-19’s impacts on much of the operating environment, York Region accomplished a great deal in 2022,” the report said.

You can view it on the York Region website.