Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Ontario Shores) is located on Lake Ontario in the community of Whitby. Over the past fifteen years, Ontario Shores has redefined its vision and core values to advance mental health care by incorporating leading mental health care practices, adopting a focus on research and education, and strengthening its relationship with the community.

As part of its larger visioning and strategic planning exercise, Ontario Shores initiated a master planning process to identify long-term building and land needs to meet health care priorities in 2007. The Limited Master Plan translated Ontario Shores’ strategic and organizational goals into a physical development plan. Urban Strategies completed the Limited Master Plan in 2008 and has been working with Ontario Shores since that time to support its implementation and to secure appropriate development rights and an appropriate long-term land-lease.

In 2016, Urban Strategies was re-engaged by Ontario Shores as the program manager to oversee the preparation of a comprehensive master program and master plan. As the program manager, Urban Strategies is managing an integrated team of consultants to re-envision the mental healthcare campus. Through this work, Urban Strategies is working closely with Ontario Shores’ senior leadership team, the Ministry of Health and Infrastructure Ontario to prepare a strategic framework to resolve shared land use and development issues.