Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee

Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee

The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee advises Council and Administration on City policies, strategies, projects and service design in accordance with the Social Wellbeing Principles.

The strength of the committee comes from drawing on the different perspectives of each of its members. The committee provides advice using an intersectional approach, which considers how decisions impact people who are members of multiple, overlapping population groups.

Goals and Mandate


Barriers to service can exist because of a person’s age, ability, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, socio-economic status or heritage. The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee’s goal is to provide guidance on how to reduce these barriers and improve service delivery for all Calgarians.

The mandate of the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee, as outlined in the Terms of Reference, follows the principles in the Social Wellbeing Policy​, which state that The City of Calgary will:

  • Strive to provide equitable services, including removing barriers to access and inclusion
  • Advance the shared and active process of Truth and Reconciliation in collaboration with the community
  • Seek opportunities to support and grow culture
  • Aim to stop problems before they start using a prevention approach

Membership Composition


The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee is comprised of community volunteers with insight (including lived experience) on various social needs, including representatives from other City advisory committees.

The committee is made up of:

Six public members

  • Three members who have lived experience and/or in-depth knowledge of the needs of and connections to communities that have historically experienced exclusion, discrimination and oppression; consideration will be given to those qualified applicants that fill gaps in subject matter expertise in relation to other members
  • One member with expertise in advancing gender-equity
  • One member with expertise in social innovation or social determinants of health
  • One member that is a faculty member of a post-secondary institution with experience advancing social equity

Three representatives, or designates, from existing Council advisory committees with

Four representatives, or designates, from existing Administration committees with

One non-voting member of Administration: the Director of Community Strategies or designate.

Subcommittee


The committee has a Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee, which provides advice to support the priorities of Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, as well as projects identified by the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee.

The subcommittee is also available to provide advice on City initiatives related to gender issues, and has previously consulted on The Calgary AwardsFree.Period.She Governs, Street harassment bylawSafe and Inclusive Access bylaw and Gender-Based Analysis+ (GBA+) training. 

Terms of Reference


View the Terms of Reference for the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee.

Mandate

The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee advises Council and Administration on City policies, strategies and service delivery in accordance with the Social Wellbeing Principles.

The Social Wellbeing Principles state that The City will:

  • Strive to provide equitable services. This includes removing barriers to access and inclusion
  • Advance the active and shared process of Truth and Reconciliation in collaboration with the community
  • Seek opportunities to support and grow culture in Calgary prevention approach

The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee’s main purpose is to provide advice using an intersectional approach (meaning to consider how decisions impact people who are members of multiple, overlapping population groups) by drawing on different perspectives of its membership.

Responsibilities

The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee’s responsibilities include:

  1. Develop an annual work plan detailing Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee tasks and actions.

  2. Support Administration in the stewardship of the Social Wellbeing Principles including:
    • Advising on the development of processes and mechanisms to advance the Social Wellbeing Policy
    • Supporting Administration to report progress related to advancing the Social Wellbeing Principles
    • Providing input into the revisions of the Social Wellbeing Policy in accordance with the Council Policy review schedule
       
  3. Advise Council and Administration on opportunities to advance the Social Wellbeing Principles during the development of or revisions to Administration and Council policies, strategies or service delivery. Mechanisms to have the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee provide Administration with advice include:
    • Council direction for the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee to provide advice on a given policy, strategy or plan related to service delivery
    • Administration requests support for advice on a given policy, strategy or plan related to service delivery through the chair of the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee
    • The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee and Administration collectively identify policies, strategies or plans related to service delivery that would be enriched from the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee’s advice and as identified in the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee’s annual work plan.
       
  4. Play a coordinating role with Administration committees and Council advisory committees when necessary. Activities may include but are not exclusive to:
    • Provide coordinated advice, across relevant Administration and Council advisory committees, to Administration and Council regarding how City policies (Council and Administrative), strategies and services can better meet the needs of all Calgarians
    • Identify when further consultation is required through a participating Administration or Council advisory committee with expertise on the needs of a specific population or issue
       
  5. Identify emerging social needs and trends that impact City services or may require municipal response.

  6. Identify when further community knowledge and perspectives are needed and:
    • Seek additional information through connections to existing Administration and Council advisory committees or community networks
    • Develop subcommittees, if required, that include relevant community stakeholders with expertise on a given subject or lived experience

  7. Advise Administration and Council on changes required to future iterations of the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee’s terms of reference to ensure the Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee has the correct mandate, responsibilities, or membership to be effective. The Social Wellbeing Advisory Committee will review the terms of reference and may make recommendations for modifications to the Community Development Committee with its annual report.

Contact us


If you would like further information about the committee or to receive minutes from past meetings, please email:
social.wellbeing@calgary.ca

Are you interested in joining the committee?

If you are interested in applying to sit on the committee, please review the committee's Terms of Reference. The recruitment for new members takes place in the fall each year. Please also check this Committee link regularly for more information or the Boards FAQ for how to apply.​​​​​​​​​

Equity Work


A number of teams at The City of Calgary are working to improve equity and reduce barriers to ensure that all Calgarians are represented and are able to access City services. The equity work visualization below shows how teams across The City are interconnected.

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