Thinking About Running for Office? Join an Information Session
Nominations for the 2026 Municipal Election are now open. The City is hosting two sessions for anyone considering running for mayor, councillor, or school board trustee, or registering as a third–party advertiser. Each session covers different topics, so attending both is recommended. The sessions will be held in Council Chambers at City Hall (70 Collier Street), with the option to attend in person or via Zoom.
Session One: May 11, 6 – 8 p.m.
Session Two: May 28, 6 – 8 p.m.
To learn more and for full details visit barrie.ca/election.
Licence 2 Ride for Barrie Youth: Your Summer Pass to Free Transit and Recreation
Applications are open for the City’s Licence 2 Ride (L2R) program, which is available for Barrie youth aged 12 to 17. The program includes free unlimited summer rides on Barrie Transit and free, select drop-in access at Peggy Hill Team Community Centre, Allandale Recreation Centre, and East Bayfield Community Centre.
Find out more and apply at barrie.ca/Licence2Ride.
Have your say on the future of downtown waterfront parks
The City is redeveloping Heritage Park (Phase 1) and Sam Cancilla Park and is inviting the community to share input on the designs.
Residents can review the proposed concepts and take the online survey until Sunday, May 24, 2026 at BuildingBarrie.ca/DowntownWaterfrontParks, for the chance to win a prize.
Celebrate Drinking Water Week
May 3–9 is Drinking Water Week! The City of Barrie is celebrating by highlighting the essential role tap water plays in our daily lives, the infrastructure that delivers it to homes and businesses, and the dedicated water professionals who ensure its safety and reliability. To mark the week, Water Operations staff will offer free public tours of the Surface Water Treatment Plant (20 Royal Parkside Drive) on Wednesday, May 6, at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Each tour will last approximately one hour. Please plan to arrive 5–10 minutes before your scheduled tour time.
Visit barrie.ca/WaterTreatment.
Help keep textiles out of the landfill during Curbside Textile Collection Week (May 4-8)
Donating your clothing, linens, towels, stuffed toys, and shoes is easy during Textile Collection Week! First, confirm your textile collection day (it’s a different day than your regular curbside waste collection day). On your textile collection day, place your items curbside in a bag (preferably a clear bag, but if you don’t have a clear bag, you can use any type of waterproof plastic bag) and put a label on the bag that says “textiles”. The bags will be picked up by Recycling Rewards trucks before 5pm.
Confirm your collection day and learn more at barrie.ca/TextileCollectionWeek.
Temporary traffic calming measures may be coming to your neighbourhood!
Traffic calming uses physical measures to reduce speeding and encourage safer driving in neighbourhoods. Seasonal, temporary traffic calming measures—like speed cushions, flexible bollards, or planters—are installed in the spring and summer and removed in the fall.
To learn more and view a list of the 2026 locations for the traffic calming measures, visit barrie.ca/SeasonalTrafficCalming.
It’s Compost Awareness Week!
Did you know? May 3 to 9 is International Compost Awareness Week! Visit our Compost Awareness Week pop-up event to learn how your leaf and yard waste helps build healthier soils right here in our community. Drop by our outreach table at the Allandale Recreation Centre (190 Bayview Dr.) on May 5, 2026 from 9:30 to 11:30am and dig into the full compost story—from curbside collection to finished compost available for public purchase.
Learn more about the City’s composting process at barrie.ca/composting.
City seeking art for Cabinets to Canvas: traffic cabinet wrap program
The City of Barrie and the Barrie Public Art Committee are seeking art from Ontario-based artists for the Cabinets to Canvas program (formerly known as the Artist Designed Traffic Cabinet Wraps Project). This initiative is part of the City’s Graffiti Abatement Program, and aims to beautify the city by wrapping traffic cabinets with unique, community-inspired designs. The deadline to submit a proposal is Friday, May 22, 2026. Prospective artists are invited to attend a virtual information session on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, from 6 to 7pm, to learn more about the program and ask questions (registration for the session is required).
For program details, eligibility requirements, application instructions, and to register for the virtual information session, visit barrie.ca/GraffitiAbatementArtwork.
Do you have your waterfront digital parking permit?
Resident waterfront digital parking permits have been extended to December 31, 2028. A waterfront parking permit, free for Barrie residents, allows you to park for free at select waterfront locations. Each digital permit is tied to a specific licence plate, so you do not need to bring anything with you or display anything when parking in select areas along Barrie’s beautiful waterfront.
Don’t have a permit yet? Visit barrie.ca/Waterfront Parking.
Spring street sweeping is underway!
The annual spring street sweeping program cleans all City streets of sand deposited during winter road maintenance, and other debris. Spring sweeping always starts in the Source Water Protection Areas of the city (zones 1-9).
Visit barrie.ca/StreetSweeping for progress updates to learn where we’re headed next and view the map to determine your zone.
Presented by The City of Barrie
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of The City of Barrie and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of iPolitics.
