INNISFIL — With great growth comes great responsibility for maintaining municipal infrastructure.
Innisfil town council is undergoing deliberations for its two-year operating and capital budget.
While the operating budget covers the day-to-day expenses of the municipality, it’s the capital program where you often see the tangible impact of spending — the road paving, new buildings such as fire halls and recreation centres, and purchases of equipment like trucks, ice resurfacers and snowplows.
The draft 2025-26 budget currently projects about $169.4 million in capital spending over the next two years — including $91.1 million this year alone.
So let’s take a look at what’s specifically planned in 2025. Here are seven of the big-ticket items under consideration by town council:
Big Bay Point Road reconstruction and active transportation works — $33.7 million
This project includes all pre-design, design and construction work for the road and sections of multi-use trail and paved shoulder.
Once complete, it will include a trail from the 25th Sideroad/13th Line to Lake Simcoe, reconstruction from the 20th Sideroad to the 25th and the 25th/13th to the lake, and a paved shoulder from 20th to West Street.
According to the draft 2025-26 budget document, the work is necessary to meet the projected growth in the area caused by Friday Harbour.
“Increased traffic volumes will result in the need for reconstruction to support higher traffic volumes and the increased need for active transportation,” the document states. “Through both of these master planning exercises, residents consistently cited the Big Bay Point area as an area where active transportation infrastructure is already desired; this need is only expected to increase in the future.”
About $23.2 million of the project is covered by development charges, with the remaining paid for by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation revenue.
Aerial ($3.2 million) and pumper/rescue ($2.2 million) trucks for Innisfil Heights fire hall
Both of these pieces will be required once the town opens Station No. 6 in the Innisfil Heights area, near the Highway 400 and Innisfil Beach Road interchange.
“A reliable pumper/rescue truck is required at each fire station to allow for a rapid response to emergencies in the area … this vehicle is the main apparatus used at fires and motor vehicle collisions. It supplies water to the firefighters for suppression operations,” the town says.
The aerial truck, meanwhile, is used for firefighting at high elevations in industrial, commercial and residential incidents and is required due to the increasing numbers of multi-storey buildings in the area.
Council is scheduled to allocate about $29 million in funding toward the new 20,000-square-foot station over the next two years. It would serve the area west of the 400 as well as Stroud and Alcona, and is tentatively scheduled to be in operation by 2027.
ERP System replacement — $5.2 million
This project will see the replacement of the town’s financial management software systems.
“Current system(s) were initially implemented in 2003 and 2004,” the municipality says. “Although regularly updated, they still use the same operating model. Over the years, the town has grown substantially … staff are finding that working in the system is no longer efficient as the town has moved to more paperless and remote work over the last few years.”
Complicating that is a decision by Microsoft to end support and regulatory updates in September 2029.
“This would mean no vendor support if something doesn’t work and no updates to keep current with legislative changes … and changing technology,” the town says. “Additionally, security updates will discontinue in 2031.
"By not starting early on replacement strategy, the town may be forced to work to the current vendor's schedule and replacement system which may not align with our schedule, needs or funding resources.”
Operations building expansion — $2 million
The work is required to accommodate the municipality's projected staff growth for the next 20 years. The Yonge Street building supports the roads, fleet, stormwater, facilities and parks and community spaces divisions. A space management exercise determined a one-storey expansion at the southeast end of the facility could meet growth requirements.
“If we do not complete this reconfiguration, operations will not be able to support the ‘everybody has a seat’ model where each staff member has their own space,” the town says. “Currently, this facility is at capacity, and without an expansion, operations staff would have to be accommodated at other town facilities.”
Traffic signal/roundabout at the 6th Line and 20th Sideroad intersection — $1.7 million
This new signal or roundabout is necessary to accommodate traffic increases associated with the draft plan-approved Sleeping Lion development.
Projected traffic volume for the area can only be accommodated by a signalized intersection or roundabout, the town says.
Town hall space redesign — $800,000
A reconfiguration of the current floor plan is required to accommodate Innisfil's projected staff growth for the next five to 10 years.
Work slated in the redesign includes electrical and plumbing upgrades.
However, a building condition assessment also identified several items that have reached the end of their lifecycle and will need to be addressed, including carpets, windows, sealants, vinyl tile and plank flooring.
The town anticipates its staffing contingent will grow by 55 people — a 48-per-cent increase — over the next five years. Staffing will jump by 75 per cent (or 86 employees) within a decade, and 142 per cent (162 people) within 20 years.
“Reconfiguring the existing interior layout, before looking to expand the building’s footprint, can be an effective way to gain square footage and plan for growth in a cost-conscious way,” the town said. “Vacant areas, shared amenity spaces, corridors, private offices, and workspaces can be re-purposed, re-sized and/or re-allocated to gain spatial efficiencies. Maximization of space can be achieved by creating smaller workspaces that are consistent throughout the facility.”
Pedestrian crossing near the Maple and Spooners intersection — $636,000
This will cover the pre-design, design and construction work. A temporary pedestrian crossing was installed at this location as part of the town's traffic-calming pilot project.
“The crossing at this location was well-used; there is a small community beach on the east side of Maple, and few opportunities for residents from the neighbourhood to the west to safely cross this busy roadway, which has a pedestrian and bicycle facility only on the west side of the road,” the town says.
Following the removal of the temporary crossing, there were numerous requests from the public to reinstate it. And a review undertaken by staff in summer 2023 demonstrated the need for a crossing.
Council is scheduled to consider final approval of the budget at its Jan. 15 meeting. Get more details at innisfil.ca.
