Citizens Connect
with Local Government
- Anytime, Anywhere

YourNiagara.ca brings
electronic services delivery to Eastern Canada

TELUS was recently awarded a major contract to build the YourNiagara.ca web portal. YourNiagara.ca is an on-line Electronic Service Delivery project funded by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the twelve municipalities that make up the Niagara region.

The portal project includes the cities of Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Welland, Fort Erie and Port Colborne, collectively serving an estimated 410 thousand residents. Its objective is to provide local residents with a single on-line access point for learning about the region's diverse services and resources and for ordering publicly available services.

Citizens will have access to the following range of services:

• Payments for parking tickets and business / pet licenses
• Activity registration and facility scheduling
• on line service requests and payment options
• Access to multiple City of Niagara eForms

Municipal stakeholders participating in the project will be able to easily update dedicated regions of the Portal with information on community events and services using the on-line content management system (CMS). Citizens can then personalize the site with their choice of weather, sports scores, stock quotes and more. They can also report any troubles they encounter, such as fallen trees or damaged roadways, and receive electronic updates on the status of the problem and its resolution.

The portal is of significant benefit to the region as it progresses away from over the counter, paper-based systems toward a lower cost, and more efficient self-service system deployed over the Web and "7 by 24". TELUS is on track to complete the portal by November 2004.