Cobourg, ON – August 14, 2025 – Northumberland County is pleased to unveil its 2024 Annual Report—marking a year of significant progress in advancing community priorities while navigating ongoing pressures facing municipalities across Ontario.
From housing and homelessness to early years programming, health care, and infrastructure renewal, municipalities are being asked to do more, often without corresponding resources. Guided by its four-year Community Strategic Plan and its first-ever multi-year budget, the County delivered measurable results and made key investments in long-term resilience in 2024. Some highlights included:
Strengthening operations and efficiency
- Secured $471,000 in funding from other levels of government for County and community services through competitive application processes.
- Enhanced cybersecurity for the County and member municipalities with advanced vulnerability assessments and improved alert monitoring.
- Reduced time to set Provincial Offences trials to an average of 6 months, ranking the County among leaders in the province in ensuring timely trials.
Growing workforce and economic opportunity
- Supported 2,100 businesses to grow and thrive through the BECN, including launching 65 new businesses.
- Initiated land acquisition for a new workforce housing initiative.
Improving health and social services
- Opened the Port Hope Medical Walk-in Clinic and served 600 people within the first four months.
- Paramedics responded to 25,000 9-1-1 calls and served 1,623 community paramedicine patients.
Increasing access to affordable housing
- Advanced affordable housing work by acquiring land in Cobourg and existing units in Trent Hills, progressing construction on new units in Cobourg, and moving forward on plans for construction of new units in Cobourg and Colborne.
Expanding pathways out of homelessness
- Modernized emergency shelter services with the opening of 310 Division Street, Cobourg.
Expanding services for children and families
- Opened 132 new licensed childcare spaces in 2024, on track to providing a total of 245 new spaces by the end 2026.
- Delivered over 2,000 EarlyON programs, attracting more than 18,000 family visits.
Building and maintaining infrastructure
- Completed Phase 1 of County Road 64 reconstruction in partnership with the Municipality of Brighton.
- Completed rehabilitation of the Burnley Creek Bridge.
- Progressed construction of the Golden Plough Lodge and Northumberland County Archives and Museum, preparing for a 2025 opening.
- Surface-treated 109 km and paved 19.8 km of road.
Protecting the environment and responding to climate change
- Completed the draft Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan.
- Launched a mattress and box spring diversion program at Community Recycling Centres.
“Resilience is not just about responding to disruption; it’s about having the systems, capacity, and foresight to absorb pressure, limit impacts, and keep moving toward our goals,” says County Warden Brian Ostrander. “Even within an environment of constraint, County staff deliver value with remarkable dedication. Together with our partners, we are building a stronger, more inclusive Northumberland.”
“Our strategic vision is translating into tangible results,” adds the Warden. “By bringing together people, partnerships, and possibilities, we are ensuring Northumberland County remains vibrant and well-positioned for the future.”
To view the 2024 Annual Report, please visit Northumberland.ca/AnnualReport.
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