Lanark County Council Highlights – November 12, 2025

Press Release – Lanark County 

Here are the highlights from the Lanark County Council meeting held November 12, 2025.  

Tourism Action Plan Approved

Lanark County Council has approved the 2026-2028 Tourism Action Plan, which communicates the strategic priorities of the Lanark County Tourism Department. At the economic development committee meeting last month, Tourism and Corporate Communications Coordinator Vanessa Dow explained the plan enhances collaboration with municipal partners, provides strategic direction for staff and informs the annual budget.

Dow said the department collected direction and input from council, municipal partners and tourism operators. Identified themes and values include focusing on physical and cultural assets that make the region unique, prioritizing community benefit, supporting local businesses, collaborating with local and regional tourism partners, growing tourism and community well-being sustainably, and creating a flexible plan that can change with new developments.

Core principles of the new plan are:

• Put community first – Tourism should enhance, not disrupt, the character and charm of local communities.
• Prioritize people – Tourism is a tool for strengthening residents’ connection to their communities.
• Flexibility and resilience – The plan must adapt to changing circumstances.

The principles will be supported by five strategic pillars, including strengthening Lanark County’s unified identity, supporting business readiness and resilience, advocating for tourism-supporting infrastructure and policy, fostering strategic partnerships and communication, and building community connections through tourism.

For more information, contact Vanessa Dow, Tourism and Corporate Communications Coordinator, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1701.

County to Submit Delegation Requests

Lanark County Council has approved recommendations from the Government Relations Working Group to submit requests for delegations at the 2026 Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in January.

The three suggested delegation requests include meetings with:

• The Ministry of the Solicitor General to request continual, predictable and increased funding for the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) program, rather than managing it through short-term conditional grants. This aligns with council priorities around municipal shared services and cost control.
• The Ministry of Transportation regarding their plan to install a stoplight at the intersection of Hwy. 7 and Townline Road, pending input from the MPP’s office. This aligns with council priorities around roadside safety and municipal shared services.
• The Ministry of Health to thank them for implementing the new Medical Priority Dispatch System and to discuss paramedic models of care to reduce numbers of non-urgent calls and the use of alternative solutions for non-urgent patient transfers between hospitals. This aligns with the council priority around cost control.

The county will receive confirmation on any approved requests prior to the conference.

For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

Warden Proclaims National Housing Day

On behalf of council, Lanark County Warden Toby Randell (Carleton Place Mayor) has declared November 22, 2025 to be National Housing Day in Lanark County. 

The day has been designated by the federal government to remind Canadians of the importance of access to safe, adequate and affordable housing. The proclamation recognizes many partners play an important role in providing safe and affordable housing opportunities to those in need.

“Housing plays a critical role in our lives and has a profound impact on our overall well-being,” Randell stated. “Lanark County continues to invest in housing solutions that support vulnerable populations, promote affordability and foster innovation in housing development and service delivery. We honour the lived experiences of individuals and families impacted by housing insecurity and commit to ongoing collaboration to ensure everyone in Lanark County has a place to call home.”

The proclamation encourages residents, businesses and community organizations to recognize the day and to be ready to collaborate with provincial and federal partners to create a future where housing is safe, affordable and accessible to all.

For more information, contact Emily Hollington, Director of Social Services, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 2101.

Alto High-Speed Rail Update Received

Lanark County Council received an overview of the Alto High-Speed Rail Project, which was announced by the federal government last year.

At the economic development committee meeting last month, Alexis Doyle, Manager of Community Relations-Ontario, explained Alto is a federal Crown corporation mandated to deliver a high-speed rail corridor in Ontario and Quebec. It is led by Cadence, a consortium of Canadian and international private partners experienced in delivering transportation projects on a global scale. 

Doyle said economic growth is stagnating in the intercity travel corridor between Ontario and Quebec due to escalating transportation costs, network capacity constraints and disconnected communities. The Alto project would be 1,000 km of dedicated, electrified track with trains reaching speeds of at least 300 km/hour. They are targeting 20 to 30 daily departures. 

The project proposes to connect seven cities: Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto. Travel times would be reduced by half in some instances. Doyle said this is expected to be an incentive to transition away from cars and planes and is expected to increase productivity, workforce participation and tourism, and stimulate demand for Canadian goods and services and internal trade while broadening access to the job market. 

Doyle said the procurement phase of the project was completed last year, and the project is now at the start of the development phase, which will include identifying the alignment in the corridor and is expected to be completed in about four years. At that point there will be an accurate cost and construction timeline to be presented to the federal government before moving to the construction phase.  

Doyle said because not all communities will be part of the corridor alignment and will be farther away from stations, a community benefit plan is being created. Community engagement is planned for 2026/27, as well as preliminary consultation with municipalities this year. Issues raised by councillors included challenges for farmers on the rail corridor, economic impacts on small communities, access to stations for rural eastern Ontario, and environmental impacts.

For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

Xplore Lease Agreement Approved

Lanark County Council has passed a by-law authorizing a ground site lease agreement with Xplore Fibre Ahsip Network L.P. for the installation of a fibre network hub shelter to support fibre deployment as part of Ontario’s Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program. 

At the public works committee meeting last month, Director of Public Works Sean Derouin explained Xplore is proposing to lease county property on County Road 511 between Balderson and Lanark Village to install an 8- by 8-foot shelter, which is part of fibre deployment in the area.

Adjacent property owners have been notified, and there was no feedback nor objections.

For more information, contact Sean Derouin, Director of Public Works, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 3194.

Upcoming meetings:

• Special Corporate Services (Budget), November 21, 9 a.m.
• Inaugural Meeting, Tuesday, November 25, 2 p.m.
• County Council, Wednesday, November 26, 5 p.m.
• Public Works, November 26 (following County Council)
• Economic Development, November 26 (following Public Works)
• County Council, Wednesday, December 3, 5 p.m.
• Community Services, December 3 (following County Council)
• Corporate Services, December 3 (following Community Services)

Watch for details about public access to meetings on agendas and through online notifications. For more information, contact 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502. Like “LanarkCounty1” on Facebook and follow “@LanarkCounty1” on Instagram.