City of Owen Sound Launches Work on Its First External Communications Strategy
Owen Sound plans its first communications strategy, led by a growing City Manager’s office that says it aims to build trust and improve communication by having people come 'directly to the source.'
The City of Owen Sound is developing its first-ever External Communications Strategy, a guiding document staff say is intended to strengthen how the municipality shares information with residents, businesses, and community partners.
City Council’s Corporate Services Committee received a staff report on October 9 outlining the project plan and timeline.
According to the report, the strategy will establish clear communication goals and directions to help improve consistency, build public trust, and support staff and elected officials in their communications with the public.
Public engagement on the project will open on October 17 through the City’s Our City online platform, with in-person engagement planned during the community open house on October 20. A draft strategy is expected to be finalized in early 2026.
The report describes the strategy as a “playbook” for how, what, and when the City communicates. It will focus on corporate communications related to city-wide services, programs, and projects, rather than tourism or marketing activities.
The City does not currently have a coordinated communications plan. Staff told the committee that this absence has led to “reactive communications” and occasional inconsistencies in messaging. The work will be completed internally, with no additional budget allocation.
Councillors Cite Misinformation Concerns
Speaking to the motion, Deputy Mayor Scott Greig said he thinks the project is important and overdue.
“I think that it’s a frustration on both sides — on the public side and on council’s side — that we maybe aren’t doing the best communicating on why and how we do things,” Greig commented. “It leads to misinformation and then frustration on all sides. So this will help in some way.”
Councillor Travis Dodd also voiced support, saying he was “excited to see this come to fruition.”
Overall, committee members expressed support for the project, calling it a needed step to clarify how the City communicates with residents and to reduce what they characterized as ‘misinformation’ about the City of Owen Sound being shared online.
City Wants to Become the ‘Trusted Source’
In presenting the report, Communications Advisor Carly McArthur said the strategy’s goal is to rebuild confidence in City Hall.
“A key part of this work is building public trust, which we know strong and clear communications can do,” McArthur said. “We want the City of Owen Sound to be the place where people turn to for information about city services. We want them to come directly to the source and let them know that they can rely on it with a high degree of confidence.”
That emphasis on directing residents “to the City as the trusted source” for information raises important questions about how municipal government balances direct communication with the role of independent media in a democratic society.
Local outlets — including Owen Sound Current — have repeatedly faced barriers in obtaining timely or complete information from the City. While requests for clarification or background are typically acknowledged, the information provided is frequently limited or delayed.
At times, data that should be accessible for verification has required formal Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to obtain.
McArthur added that the communications team has surveyed more than 20 municipalities to benchmark best practices and identify opportunities. She described the initiative as “kind of innovative,” noting that “a survey like this hasn’t been done before, to the best of my knowledge.”
The results, she said, will help the City better understand how similarly sized municipalities manage communications in an increasingly fragmented information landscape.
Why third-party access matters
Independent local media are a core part of the public information ecosystem: they verify claims, add context, and help make complex decisions understandable to residents.
Best practice in municipal communications supports this role through proactive disclosure. That means the timely posting of reports, source documents, data tables, and presentations, so information can be scrutinized, compared, and independently verified.
Ensuring that the information used to shape municipal decisions — from reports and data to background briefings and updates — is publicly accessible is not simply a service to journalists. It is a basic element of open, accountable governance.
Transparency of this kind enables residents to understand, question, and see how their concerns are reflected in the City of Owen Sound’s response.
Communications Inside the Growing City Manager’s Office
The staff report was created by two Communications Advisors. That represents a significant change from earlier years, when Owen Sound had a single communications role, and also reflects the growing scope and size of the City Manager’s office.
The first Communications Advisor, a bilingual specialist in political communications with extensive provincial-level experience, was hired in November 2015. He left after 20 months without a public announcement.
In 2017, his responsibilities were folded into a newly created management position, Manager of Community Development and Marketing, which combined communications with economic development and tourism duties. That position was awarded internally to the City’s Facilities Booking Coordinator. It is unclear when that employee left the role.
In 2021, the City Manager’s office created the position of Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Operational Effectiveness, to whom the two communication advisors now report. That was also awarded internally, to the Manager of Purchasing, Risk and Asset Management.
In 2024, the City created a Community & Business Development Advisor role. That staffer has since been promoted to another newly created role, Senior Advisor of External Relations and Investment Attraction.
Overall, the City Manager’s Office budget has grown sharply in recent years — from $255,010 in 2019 to an approved $765,281 for 2025, of which $699,971 is allocated to salaries and benefits.
According to Ontario’s Public Sector Salary Disclosure for 2024, the City Manager of Owen Sound and Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Operational Effectiveness account for close to half of that, having received over $219,000 and $130,000 in salary and benefits last year, respectively.
Public Pressure for Greater Transparency
Calls for improved communication from City Hall have been consistent for more than a decade.
Residents and local media have repeatedly raised concerns about limited opportunities to communicate directly with elected officials, difficulties in accessing timely or detailed information, and an environment in which public feedback often appears to have little influence on decision-making.
Despite an increasing number of public consultations, open houses, and surveys, there is little visible evidence that staff or council have made meaningful changes in response to recurring complaints about transparency or responsiveness.
Requests for greater openness — from clearer explanations of decisions to easier access to reports and data — have remained largely unchanged year after year.
In 2023, the City declined to release the full results of an $80,000 community survey until the data was obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. That episode reinforced perceptions that the City’s communications are more focused on controlling the message than on dialogue.
The City’s communications team says the new strategy is about consistency and trust. Its success may ultimately depend on whether that trust is strengthened not only within City communications, but across the broader public conversation.
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