Design Your Outdoor Community Hub

Fall 2025 Update

We are excited to share the final design of the Community Resilience Hub, shaped by the thoughtful contributions of community members and partners. The design reflects your vision for an inclusive, community-oriented space that fosters connection and provides access to wellness and emergency resources.

To bring this vision to life, the Project Team is pursuing a funding opportunity in 2026. If successful, this funding will cover construction costs, support a guidebook to help build more hubs in the future, and provide resources to hire a Hub Activator to lead workshops, events, and programming in the first few years.

Although this means construction will take place later than originally planned, it will help us grow the project and set it up for long-term success. In the meantime, our team will be working on the funding application and planning for operations and programming.

We are grateful for your input and look forward to keeping you updated as the project moves forward.

The County of Dufferin is seeking input on the design of a pilot Community Resilience Hub, an outdoor structure designed to meet the everyday needs of residents, while also building our capacity to prepare for and respond to climate change impacts and emergencies.

What is a Resilience Hub?

Imagine an outdoor community space that’s more than just a place to sit — it's a place that reflects our local character where you can come together with neighbors, access wellness resources, attend a workshop, or rely on for help in times of need.

A Resilience Hub may offer everyday features like shaded seating, emergency supplies, drinking water, local art, pollinator gardens, community bulletin boards, and charging stations for devices. In times of disruption and recovery, like a storm or power outage, a Resilience Hub becomes a place where people can find essential resources and stay connected to emergency services.

Why Are We Creating a Resilience Hub?

“If you’re going to get saved in a disaster, it’s most likely not going to be the hero with the cape, it’s going to be your neighbour”.

Resilience is our ability to respond, adapt to, and recover from challenges and is strengthened when we have strong ties to our community. Our neighbors are often the first we turn to during times of crisis. A Resilience Hub acts as a trusted and vibrant neighborhood location where you can access physical resources and strengthen social connections.

How Can I Participate?

There are two phases of engagement for the project.

Phase 1 (Completed in 2024)

Throughout 2024 we listened to and gathered your ideas about what features, programming, and design elements we should use to create the hub.

• Discover “What We Heard”
• Read the Full Phase 1 Engagement Report

Phase 2 (Current)

Drawing inspiration from your ideas, a team from Toronto Metropolitan University will create designs options for the Community Resilience Hub. During this phase, we will need your support during two important touch points:

Between March 7 and March 28^th 2025 explore our draft designs and share with us what you love, what is missing, and what needs to be changed. The design team will take your feedback and update the hub sketches.

2. Vote for Your Favourite Design

In Spring/Summer 2025 the community will take a vote to decide which design will move on to construction!