County of Brant withdraws participation from the Joint City-County Shared Services Committee

County of Brant, ON – After extensive deliberation, the County of Brant Council has decided to withdraw its participation from the Joint City-County Shared Services Committee (JCCSSC), which was conducted in partnership with the City of Brantford, the county announced this week. "Through our joint initiatives, we have achieved successes that have positively impacted our residents," said Alison Newton, Chief Administration Officer for the County of Brant. "We value the relationship and partnership that we have with the City of Brantford and look forward to future opportunities outside of the committee platform."

As the County of Brant and the City of Brantford continue to grow, both entities recognize the need to prioritize and allocate resources efficiently Due to staff capacity constraints, the County of Brant will suspend its participation in the Joint City-County Shared Services Committee to focus on ongoing projects and current commitments, according to a county-issued press release This strategic decision will ensure that existing initiatives are completed effectively and continue to meet the needs of our communities.

The County of Brant and the City of Brantford currently collaborate on several services including Social Services, that are delivered through the City of Brantford, and Paramedic Services which are provided by the County of Brant Through the Joint Services Committee a number of joint initiatives have been identified and are currently being looked at by staff, these include household hazardous waste, organics, public transit, Transportation Master Plans, sports & recreation facilities and economic development

“Despite the dissolution of the committee, the County of Brant remains committed to exploring future collaborative opportunities and is optimistic about the potential for new initiatives that will further strengthen the bond between the two communities,” said Newton.

The County of Brant announced on May 28th that it will withdraw from the Joint City-County Shared Services Committee. In September 2023, the Councils of the City of Brantford and the County of Brant adopted resolutions to re-establish the Joint City-County Shared Services Committee (JCCSSC) to investigate and collaborate on opportunities for both municipalities to make improvements, find efficiencies and implement strategies to improve service delivery and possible tax ley savings for constituents.

The County hopes to look at other opportunities, such as ad hoc committees and working groups, to maximize the impact of available resources on various projects.

During a March 2024 County of Brant Council meeting, signs of a split were evident Councillors discussed a proposition to shorten the list of shared services between the county and city. During that meeting Newton said, “What I do want to stress to this Council is that there are very limited resources within the County right now to take on additional work, so I approached it maybe a little bit differently than the City and their CAO had envisioned That is not to judge the merit or not of any of these items, it’s more to look at it through the lens of what our resources are, and what we can practically actually accomplish this year,” she said. “I believe that looking at a shorter list of items with a much more limited scope, would allow us to develop some goodwill and trust on this committee, as well, maybe some process where we could maybe look at other initiatives That being said, were the committee not there, would staff stop speaking to each other and trying to find efficiencies? No, I don’t think that would happen.”