Project Communication and Community Relations for the Town of Victoriaville

Project communication: equipping, informing, and involving

Establishing bonds of trust with the community and involving citizens in refurbishing and construction projects within their neighbourhood requires an adapted and precise communication strategy and tools.

During this mandate, Intervia developed a complete and detailed communication plan to prevent the various issues that the Town could face, establish objectives aligned with Victoriaville's values, and implement a coherent and effective communication strategy to achieve them.

The strategy thus established has enabled the production of tailor-made communication tools, adapted to each audience, each site, and each resulting need, while maintaining overall coherence. By decompartmentalizing the communication of each site, and by homogenizing the different tools, information can circulate easily with the population, but also with the various stakeholders of each project. The result is more effective coordination and better citizen involvement.

While homogeneous communication tools were required, the same was also true for content, which also had to ensure transparency to maintain bonds of trust with the community. By informing citizens before the start of each project about the reason for the project and its positive impacts in the short, medium, and long term, we strengthened the involvement and social acceptability of each project.

Field engagement: The key role of the liaison officer

To meet the goals set out in the communication plan it was necessary to mobilize an Intervia liaison officer in the field. The presence of his officer boosted and supported the Town of Victoriaville in its efforts to communicate, consult, and maintain relations with the community and citizens. Having a single point of contact to answer questions and note them down was a major asset given the many infrastructure projects. This helped to create a bond of trust with local residents by offering them human and personalized support.

The liaison officer coordinated actions with the stakeholders of the various construction sites to meet the needs of the community regarding safety, mobility, and nuisance management. The officer also ensured that different projects did not conflict with each other in order to anticipate possible issues.