Community Services coordinates 16 facilities and numerous programs through five divisions: Arts and Culture, Library Services, Fire Services, Recreation and Park Services, and Social Services. The Community Services Department also administers the Community Grants Portfolio. The Community Services Department also houses the Community Development Program and administers the Community Grants Portfolio as well as coordinating a number of special events and projects. The Parks function was transferred to the Recreation Division in 2024, and the 2025 budget has been updated accordingly. New in 2025 is the incorporation of Tourism activities in the Recreation and Parks Services division which were previously provided for the City by Peterborough Kawartha Economic Development.

Highlights

The Community Grants program, and the Community Service Agreements provide funding to non-profit, community-based organizations that deliver direct programs, services, or activities that improve the quality of life for residents. 

The Community grants support activities in the areas of social services and health, arts, culture, heritage, recreation, and the environment. These activities can range from small special events to operations for larger organizations. All grant programs are proposed to be funded at 75% of their 2024 budgeted amount except for Sustainable Peterborough whose funding is being eliminated.

In 2024, through the various levels of community grants awarded, a total of 75 organizations were supported.

The Community Development Program (CDP) continues to improve the well-being of residents in the City and County through building capacity, developing policy, and delivering projects and programs for improved information, training, referrals, and supports to enhance social development and to fill service gaps.

The Peterborough County Hubs Program expanded in September 2024 for a one-year pilot to have drop-in services in select locations in partnership between Social Services and several local service providers. All costs are covered by the existing budget.

Age-friendly Peterborough (AFP) continues to expand programs through creative partnerships to local organizations to improve access to services and educational opportunities for older adults. In 2023 there were 2,148 participants in educational events lead by AFP. 2640 people are forecast in 2024 and growth to 3040 people in 2025 are projected to participate.

The Homemakers program expanded in 2024 with an increase of annual funding of $31,500. This will allow for more clients and expanded access to dwelling deep cleaning for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. This increase will allow approximately 20 more clients into the program. The 2023 client capacity had been 85 clients.

Responsibility for funding agreements with Activity Haven and Mapleridge senior activity centres has been transferred from Recreation to the CDP as they are better tied to Age-friendly Peterborough objectives. This transfer resulted in $225,899 being added to the CDP in 2025.

$38,208 in funding to Community Care and the New Canadians Centre is being transferred from CDP to the Community Grants Program. This shift will better align City funding with the new Community Service Agreement being established for 2025. $22,526 for Kawartha Food Share and $23,149 for 211Ontario will remain in the CDP as they are a 50/50 cost share with the County.

Recommendations

That any surplus funds at the end of 2025 for Market Hall be transferred to the Market Hall Capital Reserve for unanticipated maintenance expenses or small capital improvements. 

That any unused Community Development Program net budget at the end of 2025 be transferred to the Social Services Community Social Plan Joint Reserve for future program development, subject to the overall year end position and that, if actual 2025 Community Development costs exceed the 2025 Budget, funds may be drawn from the Reserve.

Interactive Budget

Explore the City's budget using the interactive OpenBook feature, including expenses by department and division as well as a breakdown of what a typical residential property taxpayer pays per $100,000 of assessment.

The full budget information is available in the Draft 2025 Budget book.

The OpenBook budget tool enhances the transparency of the City's Budget by allowing us to share financial information visually in accessible and easy to understand formats. View our budget data using charts, tables, and graphs. We hope you find this helpful.

Through our OpenBook reports, you can start at the organizational level then click on a department to go down to the division/section/service level as you explore the financial information for the City. Flip between charts, tables and graphs to display the data in a way that visualizes the information based on your preference.

In OpenBook tables, all column headers labeled as "Current Year" refer to 2025; "Previous Year" refers to 2024.

Please note: The 2025 Budget is the first year that the City has used this budget tool to enhance how it shares information with residents. We're learning how to use the new platform and will be adding features and reports as we explore the tool's capabilities.

OpenBook budget tool