The City has developed a COVID-19 Transition Plan to guide us over the next 12-18 months as we follow a strategic path towards a new normal.
This plan is in line with the Province of BC’s Restart Plan and it responds to the Province’s direction to municipalities to prepare a plan outlining a gradual return to modified operations. The City will focus on keeping the number of contacts low by enabling physical distancing, limiting the number of people in City buildings, providing onsite modifications as needed, and continuing with enhanced cleaning protocols.
While it’s important to suppress the transmission rate of COVID-19 and to protect the health care system, it’s also important to get people back to work, to support the economy, and to support local families and our community as we transition through this next phase.
Here is the City’s COVID-19 Transition Plan and the presentation to Council.
+ The City's Response to COVID-19
The City continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our community’s physical and economic health. We’ve restructured how City Hall operates so that we can continue to provide core services. The City communicates regularly with its agencies, partners, neighbouring communities and health authorities regarding ongoing adjustments and health and safety guidelines.
Municipalities are guided by local, provincial and federal health authorities on health matters. Vancouver Coastal Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control advise the risk of transmission in the region remains low, yet active measures are required to address the spread of the virus. The City coordinates its response to COVID-19 based on advice and direction from public health officials and the provincial health authorities.
At the April 20th Regular Council Meeting Staff presented updates on:
- The City’s response to COVID-19 and the delivery of essential services.
- The City’s regional response as part of North Shore Emergency Management office.
- The potential economic impact of COVID-19 on our community & what recovery may look like.
In Response to COVID-19 the City has created three working teams focussed on:
- Internal Coordination (City Hall and all Departments and Services)
- Regional Response (coordinated through North Shore Emergency Management)
- Future Scenario Planning
Tailoring our response this way ensures we remain focussed on delivering essential services to our residents; working with our municipal and regional partners for a coordinated approach; working with the Federal and Provincial governments in response to regulations and guidelines; as well as planning for the City’s future.
Review the staff presentation on the City’s strategic response to COVID-19: Download Report - PDF | View Council Presentation
North Shore Emergency Operations Centre
The City is working with the Districts of North Vancouver and West Vancouver at the virtual Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). This approach allows us to be consistent and to strategically coordinate emergency planning related to COVID-19 across the North Shore.
The virtual EOC is staffed by employees from all three municipalities and offers operational, logistic, planning and financial coordination and support. Social and community impacts are another area of focus in the virtual EOC.
See staff presentation on the North Shore Emergency Management Office’s Role: Download Report - PDF | View Council Presentation
The City’s Future Planning
We’re looking ahead and planning for the possibility of a future that may be quite different from the present. Staff are looking at scenarios based on virus progression and economic factors. By analyzing potential impacts and outcomes based on these scenarios we can better prepare for the City’s future.
Preparing our resiliency involves projecting:
- Social and household impacts
- Economy and business impacts
- Growth and development impacts
- Corporate impacts
We identify our risks and strengths in the context of these scenarios and look at how they may impact prioritization of city work, corporate business planning, service delivery models etc.
See staff presentation on Scenario Planning and Impact Assessment: Download Report - PDF | View Council Presentation
+ About the Transition
The CNV Covid Transition Plan consists of four levels of service delivery, ranging between critical to enhanced. The City’s transition plan has been informed by a number of documents from the senior levels of government and WorkSafe BC. We’ll continue to monitor and adhere to these directions as well as guidelines from public health authorities.
For more information and details on the levels of service delivery, please consult our COVID-19 Transition Plan
+ Guiding Principles of the Transition Plan
As we move through the coming months we’ve identified three principles which will help guide our service changes:
Health & Safety
The Plan will adhere to provincial health orders and occupational health and safety requirements to maintain a safe workplace for employees, promote staff wellness and to protect the health and safety of the public.
Community Focus & Public
The Plan will recognize the need to provide core public services to support community members and the business recovery efforts while ensuring the public has confidence in the adequate safety measures are in place for their own personal safety.
Flexible & Scalable
The plan must be flexible to enable service changes in the most efficient and adaptable manner. The plan must allow response in either direction through stages.