The Business Case for a Dedicated Municipal Leaders’ Advisory Team Coordinator

August 2025

Gratitude

Thank you to our generous sponsors.

Contents

1. Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. 1
2. Background and Context...................................................................................................................... 2
3. Problem Statement............................................................................................................................... 4
4. Proposed Solution................................................................................................................................. 5
5. Evidence and Rationale ........................................................................................................................ 6
6. Benefits.................................................................................................................................................. 7
7. Cost Estimate........................................................................................................................................ 8
8. Funding .................................................................................................................................................. 9
9. Governance and Oversight................................................................................................................. 9
10. Contributions from Other Key Partners ............................................................................................. 9
11. Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies........................................................................................ 10
12. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 11 Appendix 1: Draft MLAT Coordinator Job Description .......................................................................... 12 Appendix 2: Opportunities for West Shore-Sooke Municipalities to Collaborate to Improve Youth Well-Being ............................................................................................................................................... 16 Appendix 3: Rationale for Community Social Planning Council (CPSC) to Serve as the Host Organization ............................................................................................................................................ 22
13. References ........................................................................................................................................ 24

1. Executive Summary

The Municipal Leaders Advisory Team (MLAT) is a joint, collaborative initiative of seven municipalities— Colwood, Langford, Sooke, Highlands, Metchosin, Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, and View Royal—with active participation from Sooke School District (SD62), The Village Initiative, and the Island Health Population & Public Health Team. The overarching MLAT objective is to work collaboratively across the West Shore-Sooke region to advance the best possible outcomes for children, youth, and families in the Region.

The MLAT is a bold, collective leadership initiative that recognizes that the well-being of West Shore-Sooke children, youth, and families is a shared responsibility that transcends municipal boundaries. Given the inherent challenges in establishing and maintaining collaborative actions across these seven municipalities, the MLAT’s success will depend on a shared resource that provides the clear and consistent mechanism to coordinate, align, and sustain regional action.

This business case proposes that the seven participating MLAT municipalities agree to hire a dedicated MLAT Coordinator to serve as the central resource required to sustain regional action and lead staff support for the MLAT. This individual would play a pivotal role in driving the MLAT’s work forward—ensuring consistency, accountability, and strategic follow-through on the regional actions established by MLAT. Responsibilities would include liaising with municipal staff across the Region, maintaining strong relationships with community partners, preparing meeting agendas and supporting information, identifying opportunities for collaboration, securing funding for MLAT initiatives, tracking and evaluating outcomes, and ensuring progress on shared priorities. A full draft job description can be found in Appendix 1.

The estimated cost for the position is $105,000-115,000, inclusive of employee benefits and employer costs. The Sooke School District has generously committed $15,000 annually for three years to this position. It is proposed that the remaining $100,000 be funded by the participating municipalities, with contributions allocated proportionally based on population size. A three to five-year funding commitment is recommended to ensure the long-term sustainability of the regional collaborative initiatives and allow for the opportunity to evaluate the MLAT’s impact. It is recommended that the position is hosted by the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria, a neutral body whose mission is aligned with the objectives of the MLAT and is strongly interested in providing such backbone support.

Investing in this role now represents a strategic opportunity to enhance child and youth well-being in the West Shore-Sooke region—laying the foundation for young people to thrive, succeed in school, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. This dedicated position will help the Region move from the spirit of collaboration to coordinated action—turning shared priorities into measurable positive outcomes for children, youth, and families.

2. Background and Context

Well-Being of Youth and Children in the Region

The well-being of children and youth is a shared and urgent priority across West Shore-Sooke communities. Consultation with community partners and recent data has illuminated that children, youth, and families living across the Region are struggling in several key measures of well-being. These include:

• Social Connection: Youth in grades 7-12 in the South Island (SI) have experienced a declining sense of belonging to their community, schools, and peers in recent years.¹ One in four SI youth report feeling lonely often or always.¹ These challenges are also being experienced by younger children. For example, grade 6 students in SD62 report lower levels of peer belonging than the provincial average.² Moreover, data from the Early Development Instrument (EDI) indicates that there have been meaningful declines in social competence for kindergarten children in the Sooke School District over the period of 2004-2022.³ Amongst youth, social isolation and loneliness has been linked to poor mental health outcomes such as depression and suicide.⁴⁻¹³ On the other hand, positive social connections and feelings of belonging promote psychological well-being.¹⁴⁻¹⁹
• Mental Well-Being: In 2023, SI youth in grades 7-12 self-rated their mental health as worse than youth did in 2018 and 2013, indicating a need for urgent action to support youth in fostering strong mental health.¹ One in four SI youth (26%) report having an anxiety disorder, which is higher than the provincial average (22%).¹ Engagement in self-harm has increased over the last decade, with a quarter of youth reporting self-harm within a period of 12 months.¹ Moreover, in 2023, 20% of SI youth did not (or could not) access the mental health supports they felt they required. On average, grade 6 students in the Sooke School District have lower levels of optimism, self-esteem, happiness, and self-regulation (i.e., impulse control) than students of the same age across British Columbia.² EDI data also indicates increases in anxious, aggressive, and inattentive behaviour for kindergarten children in the Sooke School District over the period of 2004-2022.³
• Hope for the Future: The majority of SI youth in grades 7-12 (64%) are experiencing at least some feelings of despair.¹ SI youth were less likely to feel hopeful about their future in 2023 than they were in 2018, with 17% feeling not at all or only a little hopeful.¹ Almost one third of students in grade 6 in the Sooke School District disagree with the idea that they can make a difference in the world.² Importantly, higher levels of hope in youth have been linked to better academic performance and stronger psychological well-being.²⁰⁻²⁴

There are viable solutions to help address these challenges and improve youth well-being in the West Shore-Sooke Region. Local youth have specifically asked for improved transportation networks across the Region to increase access to key services, schools, and employment opportunities. Youth in the Region have also requested an increase in the number of affordable programs and services, and access to safe and accessible community spaces to connect with their peers.²⁵

The Municipal Leaders Advisory Team (MLAT) Initiative

Municipalities have many tools at their disposal to help improve child and youth wellbeing. These tools include providing welcoming spaces for youth to gather, developing a built environment that is conducive to play, creating opportunities for youth to connect with nature, offering robust, youth-friendly transportation options, facilitating opportunities for youth employment, and providing opportunities for youth to engage in community building and planning.²⁶ West Shore-Sooke municipalities have already prioritized numerous efforts to improve child and youth well-being in areas such transportation, civic engagement, youth-friendly spaces, and recreational opportunities.²⁷⁻³⁵

The MLAT initiative was launched in partnership with The Village Initiative to build on this work and the efforts of numerous local health and social service agencies. Its primary goal is to identify and act on strategic opportunities where regional collaboration can accelerate progress and deepen impact. Collaborative opportunities available to West Shore-Sooke municipalities for advancing youth well-being in the areas of transportation, employment, civic engagement, access to youth-friendly spaces, physical activity and recreation, and arts and culture are provided in Appendix 2.

In addition to the seven local municipalities, the MLAT initiative benefits from the active engagement of:

• The Village Initiative (TVI): TVI is a regional network of over 70 community service organizations dedicated to improving the lives of children, youth, and families living in the West Shore-Sooke region. Having served the Region for many years, these organizations bring deep insight into local needs and possess a current, nuanced understanding of evolving priorities. They are not only well-versed in available local resources but also serve as assets that can be strategically leveraged to advance the goals of the MLAT.
• Sooke School District (SD62): a co-founder of TVI, serves more than 13,000 students across West Shore-Sooke³⁶, SD62 brings a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing local children, youth and families. Their participation ensures that MLAT efforts are aligned with the needs of students and schools.
• Island Health, Population & Public Health (PPH): the other co-founder of TVI, works to promote health, prevent disease, and address the social determinants of health at the population level.³⁷ PPH is highly committed to improving child and youth well-being across its various geographic areas, including the West Shore-Sooke region. The PPH team is actively providing support and expertise to the MLAT initiative through direct involvement of their Community Development and Healthy Public Policy teams.

With active involvement of the seven municipalities, Sooke School District, Island Health’s PPH team, and other members of TVI’s wide membership of community service organizations, the MLAT initiative provides an important opportunity to transform the state of child and youth well-being in the West Shore-Sooke region.

3. Problem Statement

Initial meetings and mayoral support demonstrate that momentum for the MLAT initiative is strong. Maintaining this momentum and moving toward measurable impact will require the establishment of a common vision, mutually-reinforcing activities, regular communication, and shared measurement and evaluation frameworks.³⁸ Achieving these conditions requires dedicated coordination support.

A critical component of successful multi-stakeholder teams is the presence of a dedicated staff person who acts as the central point person— responsible for keeping work aligned with shared priorities, maintaining consistent communication amongst partners, ensuring that implementation stays on track, and evaluating outcomes.³⁸'³⁹

This central coordination role is not simply administrative—it is the engine that drives progress, strengthens relationships, and enables accountability across jurisdictions. Without it, communication can become fragmented, priorities may drift, and opportunities for collaboration and learning may be missed.

4. Proposed Solution

A dedicated MLAT Coordinator will provide the critical backbone functions that will allow the MLAT to effectively and efficiently achieve its objectives. Key job functions of the MLAT Coordinator would include:

1. Act as the central point of contact and trusted liaison for all aspects of the MLAT actions—ensuring alignment across partners, keeping work on track between meetings, and providing continuity through election cycles or staff changes.
2. Monitor existing and proposed municipal policies, explore opportunities for collaboration, and advance potential regional actions.
3. Establish and maintain strong relationships with other MLAT partners —including local community service providers, The Village Initiative, the Island Health PPH team, and Sooke School District — to harness the full power of collective cross-stakeholder impact.
4. Secure ongoing financial support for MLAT initiatives and enhance the Region’s capacity to act on shared priorities.
5. Coordinate with staff across municipalities, which will eliminate duplicative efforts and create efficiencies that directly support the implementation of MLAT action items.
6. Establish a shared measurement and evaluation plan to capture the success of MLAT actions and use new data to inform adjustments to the MLAT’s strategy.
7. Prepare meeting agendas and supporting material for senior management, municipal staff, and members of Councils at the direction of the MLAT.

To ensure that the MLAT can effectively identify, enact, and evaluate the effectiveness of its regional initiatives, we recommend that the MLAT Coordinator is funded as a multi-year 1.0 FTE position, optimally for five years. Appendix 1 provides a detailed draft job description.

5. Evidence and Rationale

There is convincing evidence that hiring a dedicated Coordinator is essential for the success of regional collaborative efforts like the MLAT.

Analyses of prior multi-stakeholder initiatives highlight that backbone support—provided by a full-time staff member with coordination, facilitation, and relationship-building skills—is a key element of successful multi-partner initiatives.³⁸ Reviews of these initiatives caution that failing to adopt this necessary infrastructure is major reason why some collaborative initiatives are not able to achieve their objectives.³⁸

Further research shows that a well-supported coordination role helps drive progress across several domains: creating a shared vision and strategy, engaging in effective coordination activities, establishing shared measurement practices, building public will, advancing policy, and mobilizing funding.³⁹ Dedicated coordination also improves accountability by enabling regular goal setting, progress tracking, and transparent reporting to partners and decision-makers.⁴⁰

For example, the Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region (CYPT) is a long-standing partnership of service providers, researchers, planning bodies (including the cities of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge), and funders dedicated to improving child and youth well-being in the Waterloo area of Ontario.⁴¹ To coordinate and advance their work, CYPT employs dedicated backbone staff that “drive initiatives forward and strategically knit efforts together.”⁴¹' ᵖˑ³⁴ These staff play a critical role in facilitating communication between partners, chairing working groups, leading community engagement, guiding the strategic direction, mobilizing resources, and managing administrative needs.⁴² As noted in the CYPT’s 2024 Annual Report, these backbone staff provide “essential support for the work of the collective.”⁴¹' ᵖˑ³⁴ With this dedicated support, the CYPT has been able to collect and provide actionable data on youth well-being to key member organizations (e.g., Waterloo Regional Policing Services), fund numerous youth-led projects, engage youth voices to identify priorities, and bring together stakeholders across sectors to advance youth-identified priorities such as free transportation.⁴¹'⁴³

In summary, research and real-world examples highlight that backbone support staff are not optional – they are foundational to achieving results and sustaining multi-partner initiatives like MLAT.³⁸'³⁹'⁴⁴

7. Benefits

In the context of the MLAT, hiring a MLAT Coordinator to serve as the central point person will generate a range of high impact benefits:

Enhanced Collaboration: A dedicated Coordinator will ensure that opportunities for collaboration are systematically identified, discussed, and acted upon. This will enable the participating municipalities in the MLAT to engage in meaningful action that leads to tangible outcomes for their constituents.

Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Centralized coordination will reduce duplications across municipalities and streamline communications. This will ease burdens on senior municipal staff members and local Council members.

Improved Sustainability: As a dedicated, shared staff member, the MLAT Coordinator will add value to each municipality by providing consistency during election cycles and staff turnover. This will allow Council members and staff to easily stay up to date with the MLAT initiative, preventing lost time.

Stronger Relationships with Community Partners: A dedicated Coordinator will have the capacity to develop strong and sustainable relationships with key community partners, including the Island Health PPH team, Sooke School District, and other Village network members —ensuring effective alignment across sectors, which is necessary for the implementation of MLAT priorities.

Cost Savings: Sustaining progress on child and youth well-being through a successful MLAT process could generate long-term savings for the Region by reducing demand on costly social services.⁴⁵⁻⁴⁷

Stronger Accountability: the MLAT Coordinator will facilitate regular goal setting, performance tracking, and outcome reporting. This will ensure that all municipalities remain accountable to their MLAT commitments, which will improve the impact of regional collaborative initiatives. Outcome reporting will also allow municipalities to transparently report on progress to their constituents and celebrate successes.

Improved Child and Youth Well-Being Outcomes: Most importantly, investing in the success of the MLAT by hiring a MLAT Coordinator provides the best chance of achieving meaningful progress on key child and youth well-being priorities across the Region.

8. Cost Estimate

The estimated cost for the MLAT Coordinator is $105,000-115,000 per year, including salary, benefits, and overhead. A general breakdown of these costs is presented below.

Estimated Total Annual Cost:

The Sooke School District has generously committed $15,000 annually for three years to this position. It is proposed that the remaining $100,000 be funded by the participating municipalities, with contributions allocated proportionally based on population size. This results in the following contributions should all participating municipalities support the proposal:

Investing in the MLAT Coordinator now represents a strategic opportunity for municipalities to foster long-term community well-being and economic vitality. Youth who are socially connected, hopeful, and supported through coordinated services are more likely to be academically engaged, emotionally resilient, and active contributors to their communities.²⁰'⁴⁸'⁴⁹ These positive outcomes can translate into reduced demand for municipal services such as policing, bylaw enforcement, and public space maintenance, while enhancing community safety and cohesion.⁵⁰'⁵¹

By supporting the success of the MLAT initiative through the hiring of a dedicated Coordinator, municipalities can proactively strengthen cross-sector collaboration, promote early intervention, and ensure that children and youth have access to the supports they need to thrive. This investment not only improves outcomes for young people but also helps municipalities make efficient use of public resources and avoid the higher costs associated with reactive service delivery.

¹ Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

9. Funding

The Coordinator would be funded through all seven involved municipalities based on a calculation of 50% population size and 50% property assessment value.

10. Governance and Oversight

It is recommended that the Coordinator be embedded within a neutral organization that has agreed to host the role: the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria (CSPC). CSPC is a non-partisan, regionally focused organization with over 90 years of experience working collaboratively with all levels of government, the health and social services sectors, and individuals with lived experience across the Capital Region. The Council is community-led and dedicated to advancing social and health-related priorities. Its deep connections and proven track record in leading community initiatives make it a well-positioned and mission-aligned host for the MLAT Coordinator role (Appendix 3 provides more detail).

The Coordinator would act on the guidance of the MLAT. On a day-to-day basis, the Coordinator would report to the Executive Director of the Social Planning Council. Updates to all Councils would be delivered bi-annually.

11. Contributions from Other Key Partners

As described, there are several key partners that are invested in the success of the MLAT initiative. These include The Village Initiative network of community organizations, including Sooke School District and the Island Health Population & Public Health team. One example of tangible contributions of these partners include:

Island Health Population and Public Health Team, from whom the following in-kind support will be provided:

• 15 – 20 hours per month of dedicated capacity and support from the Community Health Promoter for the Capital Region (valued at ~$10,144 per annum)
• Additional support as needed from other Island Health colleagues

Specific contributions from the Island Health PPH team may include providing and interpreting local health data, offering evidence and assistance with policy development, reviewing the potential equity impacts of new policies and programs, navigating PPH resources and services, and providing other support as requested by the MLAT.

12. Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies

The impact of the MLAT Coordinator will depend on a thoughtful and well-defined governance structure. One key risk is financial instability, particularly if one or more municipalities withdraw support in future years. To mitigate this, a multi-year funding commitment should be ratified by all participating councils, with supplementary funding sources—such as grants—explored to provide contingency support. A related risk is staff retention. Embedding the position within the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria helps address this by offering a stable work environment, mission-aligned colleagues, defined benefits, and a clear reporting structure. These elements contribute to the long-term sustainability and attractiveness of the role.

Another risk involves differing expectations among municipalities regarding the Coordinator’s scope and responsibilities. To ensure alignment, a detailed job description (Appendix 1) and work plan will be developed under the direction of MLAT, with oversight and regular performance reviews conducted by the host organization. Bi-annual updates will be provided to the MLAT to maintain transparency and accountability.

Finally, the Coordinator may face challenges navigating the diverse priorities of the seven municipalities. Hosting the position in a neutral organization, rather than within a single municipality, allows the coordinator to maintain impartiality. A Memorandum of Understanding will further support this neutrality by outlining shared objectives, decision-making protocols, and conflict resolution mechanisms.

13. Conclusion

Municipal governments play a critical role in supporting the well-being of children, youth, and families. They deliver essential services, promote equitable access to resources and opportunities, and help create safe, supportive environments for young people to thrive. Through regional collaboration and engagement with the Sooke School District, Island Health’s Population & Public Health team, and other members of The Village network, the MLAT initiative offers an important opportunity to strengthen child and youth well-being across the Region. To realize this potential, hiring a dedicated MLAT coordinator is essential. This central coordination role will provide the leadership, alignment, and continuity required to transform shared priorities into meaningful, lasting outcomes for children, youth, and families throughout the Region.