Healthy City Strategy

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Consultation has concluded

The Healthy City Strategy is about making small changes in our city, and neighbourhoods, that work to promote healthier people and healthier places that support a healthier future for everyone.

What is the Healthy City Strategy?

The Healthy City Strategy is designed to bring 'health' to our decision-making and improve our ability to consider the health impact in everything we do. This follows what's called, a 'Population Health Approach'. Population Health is an approach that works to improve the health of everyone equally, while reducing the inequities (or differences) in health between groups of people (or neighbourhoods). The Healthy City Strategy will be our long-term (10-year) plan to improve the physical, mental, social and environmental conditions that impact people’s health.

How will we create a 'Healthy City Strategy'?

There is no one framework for a healthy city as each is based on what's already happening in the city, input from experts, and the concerns of residents. The Healthy City Strategy works to integrate:

  • Existing municipal plans, strategies, and initiatives
  • Best-practices from other jurisdictions and emerging evidence
  • Public engagement

This improves our ability to work across departments internally and engage with stakeholders and experts externally. It helps us find out what is important to residents, so that collectively we all put the health of people first.

Through our internal and external engagement to date, we have identified six 'pillars' of a healthy city and a series of healthy city 'assets'. To address some of the pillars and assets in the healthy city strategy, it requires a supportive role from all 3 levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal). The City of St. John's with Eastern Health are committed to taking a leadership role to launch this project.


Learn More:

To learn more about the 'pillars' of the Healthy City Strategy, click on the links (below) that interest you:


Click on the Tools below to:


  • Get News and recent updates
  • Go to the Map to share what Healthy City Assets you would like to see in your neighbourhood.
  • Fill out the survey to provide your opinions on how we can support health and wellness in your neighbourhood.
  • Ask questions about the Healthy City Strategy.



The Healthy City Strategy is about making small changes in our city, and neighbourhoods, that work to promote healthier people and healthier places that support a healthier future for everyone.

What is the Healthy City Strategy?

The Healthy City Strategy is designed to bring 'health' to our decision-making and improve our ability to consider the health impact in everything we do. This follows what's called, a 'Population Health Approach'. Population Health is an approach that works to improve the health of everyone equally, while reducing the inequities (or differences) in health between groups of people (or neighbourhoods). The Healthy City Strategy will be our long-term (10-year) plan to improve the physical, mental, social and environmental conditions that impact people’s health.

How will we create a 'Healthy City Strategy'?

There is no one framework for a healthy city as each is based on what's already happening in the city, input from experts, and the concerns of residents. The Healthy City Strategy works to integrate:

  • Existing municipal plans, strategies, and initiatives
  • Best-practices from other jurisdictions and emerging evidence
  • Public engagement

This improves our ability to work across departments internally and engage with stakeholders and experts externally. It helps us find out what is important to residents, so that collectively we all put the health of people first.

Through our internal and external engagement to date, we have identified six 'pillars' of a healthy city and a series of healthy city 'assets'. To address some of the pillars and assets in the healthy city strategy, it requires a supportive role from all 3 levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal). The City of St. John's with Eastern Health are committed to taking a leadership role to launch this project.


Learn More:

To learn more about the 'pillars' of the Healthy City Strategy, click on the links (below) that interest you:


Click on the Tools below to:


  • Get News and recent updates
  • Go to the Map to share what Healthy City Assets you would like to see in your neighbourhood.
  • Fill out the survey to provide your opinions on how we can support health and wellness in your neighbourhood.
  • Ask questions about the Healthy City Strategy.



Consultation has concluded

  • What We Heard on City’s Healthy City Strategy: Final Report to be Presented to Committee of the Whole

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    On Wednesday, August 11, Council will get an overview of “What We Heard” from the public engagement on a Healthy City Strategy.

    The Healthy City Strategy, developed in consultation with Eastern Health and other key stakeholders, will bring a health-in-all-policy approach to municipal decision-making. Using a population health methodology, the strategy will identify the City’s long-term (10-year) plan to improve the physical, mental, social, and environmental conditions that impact people’s health.

    In May and June, the team engaged with over 600 individuals and groups through meetings, a public survey, virtual public engagement sessions and online discussion. Additionally, City staff encouraged harder-to-reach populations to participate by collaborating with neighbourhood community centres, youth, senior, and inclusion groups.

    The top five ranked issues for participants were:

    • safety,
    • mental and physical health,
    • access to food,
    • parks and green spaces, and
    • affordable housing.

    The data collected validated the draft implementation strategies and provided valuable neighbourhood-level information that will inform actions. Read the full “What We Heard” here.

    Following the discussion at the Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, staff will incorporate feedback and finalize the goals and implementation strategies for approval by Council at a future meeting. The goals and implementation strategies will provide staff and partners with a framework for development and execution of the Healthy City Strategy.

    Read the final report here.


  • Public engagement kick off and MOU signed

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    CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

    Today, Danny Breen, Mayor of the City of St. John’s, and David Diamond, President and CEO of Eastern Health, signed a Memorandum of Understanding towards developing a Healthy City Strategy and kicked off a four-week public engagement process to help inform the final draft of the strategy.

    The Healthy City Strategy is a collaboration between the City of St. John’s, Eastern Health, and key stakeholders. It aligns existing plans, strategies, and initiatives with health and wellness goals, to make St. John’s a healthier and more livable city for everyone. Considerable consultation and research have influenced the development of the Healthy City Strategy to date.

    “The health and wellness of residents has a substantial impact on their quality of life,” said Mayor Danny Breen. “The Healthy City Strategy provides Council, staff, partners, and other levels of government with a framework to consider health factors as an integrated part of the strategic planning process, budgeting process, and in the delivery of programs and services. Through this important partnership with Eastern Health, we will collaborate with health experts who will help guide the development and implementation of the strategy and resulting programs and services.”

    The Healthy City Strategy dovetails with the work being done at the provincial level by Dr. Parfrey and Sister Elizabeth Davis through the Health Accord NL. Similar to the plan proposed by the Health Accord NL, the Healthy City Strategy is a 10-year plan that will guide the decision-making process to promote change at the neighborhood level, while aligning efforts of community partners and government.

    “By partnering with the City of St. John’s on this 10-year strategy, we are committing to working together to find solutions that will improve health outcomes for residents and enable them to take steps to improve the overall health of the population,” said David Diamond, President and CEO of Eastern Health. “This strategy is aligned with Eastern Health’s vision of Healthy People, Healthy Communities which highlights our long-standing commitment to the health and well-being of individual, families and communities.”

    “Ongoing input from residents is a crucial aspect of the Healthy City Strategy. Today, we begin a four-week public engagement process to educate the public, and to ask for feedback on what a healthy city means to them. We want to ensure that everyone is represented,” said Mayor Breen.

    Public engagement focuses on assets within neighborhoods, and virtual information sessions are being scheduled by neighbourhood area.

    Public engagement is open until June 18, 2021. Help inform the strategy:

    • Participate on this page
    • Complete the survey
    • Register to attend a virtual information session for your neighbourhood
    • Call Access St. John’s at 311 or 754-CITY, to speak with the project team