About Us
The YourNiagara community portal is the "virtual doorway" to the Niagara region, customized to provide residents with the most comprehensive information, maps, and online services in Niagara.
What Will the Portal do for Me?
The portal is designed to make your life easier. The headings above -
Living Here, Business, About Niagara, Government, Partners - will lead you to hundreds of pages of local information that is both useful and informative. If you are not sure where to locate information, the Search function will provide you with the results you need. To customize your portal, most 'boxes' or channels on the home page can be moved, and collapsed or expanded to suit your preferences.
On the home page you will also find direct links that will take you directly to the most popular information and resident services, such as booking and paying for a parks & recreation program/facility and parking tickets, business directory listings, council meetings and videos, and a wealth of valuable information about our region.
You can post or view upcoming events, check local weather forecasts (click on the forecast and find more details for all of Niagara), and find community news, sports, and entertainment.
We value your input. If you have any suggestions for improving the site, we'd like to hear from you. Please
submit a suggestion.
What is YourNiagara.ca?
YourNiagara.ca is a community portal for the residents of Niagara, managed by the Business Education Council. It is the “virtual doorway” through which residents can access information about the Niagara community as well as designated municipal services – all accessible day or night.
YourNiagara.ca provides relevant community links and aims to be THE place to look for information about Niagara. Several more municipal services will also be available online in the near future.
How the Portal Came To Life
- YourNiagara.ca began as a community initiative called Connecting Niagara. The group developed a broad base of community support and local partnerships. An extensive survey done in 2001 clearly indicated an interest by both Internet users and non-users in a greater diversity of new municipal and other local e-services. The process was guided by a steering group and co-chaired by Niagara College and the Business Education Council of Niagara.
- In 2002 the group submitted a proposal for funding through the Connect Ontario initiative, a program designed to “help small and rural communities participate in the digital economy by improving access to information and services”.
- The Connecting Niagara project was approved for funding by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade in July 2003.
- GeoSmart, a web-based mapping system available through the portal, obtained separate funding through the Ministry of Natural Resources and began in November 2003.
- Coordinated by the Business Education of Niagara with input from community partners, YourNiagara.ca was launched in November 2004.
- YourNiagara.ca got a face-lift in 2007 with new navigation, new content, and a new look. With the support of partners, GeoSmart and YourNiagara.ca continue to work together to bring you up-to-date resident-centred local information, services, and maps.
Partners
The YourNiagara project is managed by the Business Education Council with regular governance and technical input from committees that represent the founding partners.
The founding partners of YourNiagara, representing municipalities and the education sector, are featured in the "Partners" area of this site.
Connect Ontario Initiative
Other portals implemented via the Ontario Government’s Connect Ontario: Partnering for Smart Communities Initiative include:
Hamilton: http://www.myhamilton.ca/
Oxford: http://www.cooloxford.ca/
Chatham-Kent: http://www.chatham-kent.ca/
Elgin/St. Thomas: http://www.elginconnects.ca/
Guelph/Wellington: http://www.wellingtonguelph.ca/
Sudbury: http://www.mysudbury.ca/
Hastings/Quinte: http://www.mywindow.ca/
Thunder Bay Region: http://www.ournorth.com/
Windsor/Essex: http://www.windsor-essex.ca/
Lake of the Woods Region: http://www.kenora.ca/
Where YourNiagara.ca is Going
YourNiagara.ca will continue to update information and add new services to the portal. If you have comments or suggestions please email us info@yourniagara.ca. Stay tuned, there’s more to come!