Success Stories

Fall 2020

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on transit ridership levels and patterns in Durham Region. While this may be due to several factors, including loss of employment or an increase in working from home, a significant factor is fear and apprehension from citizens in travelling during a pandemic.

The purpose of this project was to develop dynamic communication materials that can help make people more comfortable travelling during COVID-19, including infographics and website content.  

Project status: ongoing

In January 2020, Ontario woke to an Alert Ready message that an emergency was taking place at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. The message was sent in error but it led to a surge of potassium iodide (KI) tablet orders and raised questions about what residents should know and do in the event of an emergency at one of the nuclear generating stations. This social research project will inform public education strategy and campaigns by understanding how residents in each...

Fall 2020

The Region of Durham is currently 2 ½ years into the successful launch of its Primary Care Outreach Program (PCOP), pairing a paramedic and social worker to provide medical and social supports to vulnerable populations in Durham Region.

The purpose of the current project was to explore best practices and precedents from similar programs around the world and will help inform the direction for expansion of the PCOP program in Durham Region.

Fall 2020

Within the context of COVID-19, there is potential for new Federal and Provincial funding to Municipalities for recovery-focused infrastructure projects. Outside of COVID-19 the Finance Department at Durham Region is regularly assessing how to allocate infrastructure funding. We estimated local economic impact multipliers for different municipal infrastructure projects, including water supply, sanitary sewage, transportation, facilities, fleet, and equipment. Increased municipal...

Fall 2020

The impact of digital transformation on businesses, growth centres and the need for office space in Durham Region was an important topic of interest before COVID-19. With the impact of the pandemic on moving businesses virtually and many employees now working from home, this topic was even more relevant.

The outcome of this project was the production of a report that provides important input into understanding Durham Region's strategy with respect to commercial space availability with...