‘Banner year’ in 2024: Whitby mayor releases year-end review

This has been an “amazing year for Whitby,” Mayor Elizabeth Roy said in releasing her 2024 Year-in-Review Newsletter.

Roy thanked council and staff, residents and stakeholders for the town’s accomplishments through the year, which included major investments in 2024, such as the 154,000-square-foot Whitby Health Centre in West Whitby and the 279,000-square-foot Mazda Distribution Centre on Ashburn Road in North Whitby and the long-awaited funding announcement for the future hospital for Whitby.

The town also celebrated the groundbreaking for Hospice Whitby – Roger Anderson House in November, a 10-bed hospice that will bring much-needed end-of-life care to the community, making 2024 a “huge win for health care” in Whitby.

“2024 has been a banner year for Whitby with an incredible amount accomplished,” Roy said, noting that more than 95 per cent of the action items from the town’s Community Strategic Plan are now underway or complete. “We’re delivering on the priorities our residents told us matter most.”

Whitby welcomed 411 new business this year, including Portobello Road, Chica’s Chicken, Beertown, Dymon Storage, DermaScience Medical Spa, Ristich Law and Whitby Compounding Pharmacy.

Beertown was one of 411 new businesses welcomed in 2024

Council also took advantage of federal and provincial grants to spur residential growth, such as $24.9 million from the Federal Housing Accelerator to help fund 656 new housing units and $2.5 million from Ottawa to support the Whitby Sports Complex.

The town opened a new market-style community food bank at Iroquois Park, donated two plots of land to Habitat for Humanity and opened the new homeless shelter at 1635 Dundas.

Roy said 2024 was also a “fantastic year” for tourism and culture, with record-breaking event attendance of more than 85,000 residents and visitors at more than 75 events hosted by the town and community event organizers – including National Indigenous People’s Day, Canada Day, and the award-winning Brooklin Harvest Festival.

The third edition of the Whitby Food Guide was released in 2024, showcasing more than 100 local businesses.

“It’s been an extraordinary year,” Roy said.

Brooklin Harvest Festival

Council also adopted a new Public Art Policy and public art inventory in January, with two new public art pieces installed this year: ‘The Hive,’ a tree carving using a century-old black walnut tree located across from the Centennial Building, and the ‘Dancing in the Light’ and ‘Welcome Home Indigenous murals in Rotary Park.

A new signature tourism event is also on tap for downtown Whitby next July. The Home Sweet Home Festival will showcase Whitby’s food, culture, art, and music next July. New public art will also be installed along Thickson Road, and Indigenous public art will be installed as part of the Whitby Sports Complex. A Call for Artists will also be launched in 2025 in support of two new public art projects in local parks.

A tear-off tourism map highlighting Whitby’s key destinations, tourism attractions, and businesses will be available for visitors and residents along the waterfront, in downtown Whitby and downtown Brooklin, with QR codes complimenting the printed versions.

A self-guided brewery tour highlighting the craft beer scene in Whitby, developed in consultation with local breweries, is also coming next year.

Roy also plans continued expansion of Coffee with Mayor Roy events next summer and to grow her roundtable events to keep residents and community stakeholders in the loop.

The opening of the Whitby Health Centre was a big deal for health care