On the first Tuesday of each month, Saugeen Shores Men’s Probus Club welcomes a guest speaker.
On Tuesday, April 7th (2026), the Club welcomed Saugeen Shores Mayor, Luke Charbonneau, for his annual report followed by a question and answer period.
The Mayor, whose report was titled ‘Making Life Better’, said “It means continuing to do the work needed to improve the community, maintain our infrastructure, maintain our facilities and provide all the services that our community relies on. At the same time, it means trying to push every dollar that we receive from the taxpayer to do what we can with every dollar and get value for money.”
According to the Mayor planning is crucial to get the things done efficiently. “We have a plan and it’s one that will make life better by investing in our community to ensure that Saugeen Shores is a place where everybody can find a home and find a job. Saugeen Shores is the best place to live and that’s why people are moving here. Between 2016 to 2021 our population grew by 16 per cent and has continued to grow.”
He pointed out that, in 2025, 243 building permits were issued that resulted in 141 new residential units. “That growth gives us stability and opportunity. The world is not a super stable place at the moment and that instability affects us all, but we live in a place that is economically stable and gives us a level of stability that many other communities do not have. Growth however, places demands on our infrastructure, our services and our environment but it also offers opportunities to make life better for everyone in our community.”
He said that the Town is focused on strategic planning to deal with the increased demands and seize the opportunities. “Our 10 year Business Plan, that includes our Operating and Capital plans, sets out $250million of investments over the next decade and how we intend to pay for that. Reports are available on-line setting out what we have achieved and we have a more robust reporting system than we have ever had. On-line, you can see what intend to do, how we intend to pay for it, where we have been successful and also where we haven’t so that you can hold us accountable.”
In highlighting 2025, he said the most important aspect was affordability. “One of the most important aspects is housing and the Town has been working on how to make housing more affordable. “We were fortunate to get $3.2 million in Federal funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund to support 659 new homes by 2028. The housing affordability crisis is essentially a supply crisis keeping prices high. Therefore, we need to build more and build smart with the types of housing that will be the most impactful on affordability so, with the Permit Planning system it should speed up the process. The funding will also support purpose-built rentals, subsidize Additional Residential Units (ARU), reduce Development Charges (DCs) to reduce the up-front costs and get housing under construction.”
The Town has also introduced ready-to-build housing designs that are available for free on the Town website.
In Saugeen Shores, based on the Province and County, affordable threshold for ownership is approximately $385,000 and affordable rental is $1,490.00. He added that partnerships with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity are important. “We are building 30 units at the north end of Port Elgin (Conc. 10) with five to Habitat for Humanity and two to Saugeen Shores, which will be offered to Bruce County’s Community Housing. In addition, the Bluewater affordable housing development in Port Elgin will be a co-op project working with Tim Welsh Consulting to build 140 units where the Town continues to retain the land and infrastructure money will come from the Federal Housing Accelerator Fund. This is the first time where the Town uses its land for affordable housing.”
“The reason we have been able to unlock Federal and Provincial funding for things like the Port Elgin and Southampton downtown core improvements is because we have a 10-year capital plan in place and we can make the argument to move forward with projects,” said Mayor Charbonneau.
In his recap of 2025, he also pointed out the a ‘Friendship Accord’ had been signed with Saugeen First Nation to work together on projects that will improve the economies of both Saugeen Shores and Saugeen First Nation and that the two communities are currently in negotiations regarding the water agreement that expires this year.
He also highlighted that Saugeen Shores Fire Service attended some 345 incidents in 2025. “That’s almost one a day and I have to say that we have one of, if not the, best Fire Department anywhere, especially when you consider it is a volunteer service.”
The statistics presented by Mayor Charbonneau to the Club are in the 2025 Annual Report and are available to the public.
The 2026 Business Plan contains all the highlights of initiatives, what the Town intends to do and the $250 million comes from the town reserves. “There is a significant infrastructure deficit as we have never raised enough money to pay for all the infrastructure that we own as taxpayers and a community. We have been seriously evaluating what that gap is through things like the asset management plan and levels of service. We know what that deficit is and what we need to raise to pay for all the things we rely on. The future capital levy that we established will raise $486,000 annually out to 2032, which is $49 on the average home. It’s important to maintain our infrastructure.”
He also explained the vital role that the Provincial government has made through funding various projects: Southampton Water Pollution Control Plant ($18million), Southampton
Hwy. 21 Resurfacing ($3million), Turner Street intersection ($1.35million), Port Elgin Ridge Street resurfacing ($1.9million) for a total of $24million from the Province. “All because of the plan we have,” he added.
Several initiatives to be completed in 2026: Southampton Town Hall and Library Master Plan, Helliwell Soccer Field expansion, Lamont Sports Park washrooms, Shipley Trail washrooms, Southampton High Street completion, more public art installations and more projects to be carried out through 2029, including: water storage and distribution upgrades ($12million), landfill expansion ($5.8million), new Port Elgin Fire Station ($7million), Southampton Town Hall ($9million), Port Elgin Waste Water Treatment Plant ($33million) and planting of 10,000 trees.
“These are all part of the $250million investments that we have planned,” said the Mayor. “We have two choices, we either have Development Charges or we reduce services. The Province is saying they will cover the gap but what if they stop the funding. We know what we need to do when it comes to infrastructure. We have to come up with the funding somehow.”
With the upcoming election in the Fall, Mayor Charbonneau said, “The greatest honour I ever had is to be the Mayor of this Town. I encourage everyone who is passionate and loves this community to consider running for Council. Also, participate in giving feedback to the Town. Every project where the public speaks up impacts the decisions made.”
Saugeen Shores Men’s Club meets monthly at Port Elgin Legion on the first Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and invites new members. The Club is an opportunity to meet socially with like-minded colleagues who are retired.
