Situation Table
All Niagara Region projects

About the project

Niagara Region has partnered with community agencies to run three Situation Tables that cover the entire region.

The professionals who form our Situation Tables in Niagara envision a safe community. They use an adaptable, risk-driven service delivery model to respond to the diverse needs of residents in Niagara.

These partnering agencies / organizations will work together and share their resources to:

Identify risk
Coordinate wraparound supports to community members in need
Prevent crisis
Better support vulnerable individuals living in the community

This is a key risk intervention initiative identified within Niagara's Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, 2021-2025.

All professionals taking part at Niagara's Situation Table will follow the principles of:

Collaboration
Accountability
Innovation
Respect
Inclusivity

Situation Table model

In 2018, Port Cares and the Niagara Regional Police Service along with several community agencies launched the first Situation Table in Niagara. The regionwide expansion of the Situation Table model is a key priority in Niagara's Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.

Learn how the Situation Table model works and why it's beneficial.

About the Situation Table model

A Situation Table is a regular meeting where a group of professionals from different fields work together to mitigate risk before an incident of harm or victimization happens.

Acutely elevated risk refers to risky situations that are close to becoming an emergency. These situations are negatively affecting the health or safety of an individual, family or specific group of people. In these cases, sharing some personal information may be needed to stop or reduce an objective risk of serious harm to one or more individuals.

For a referral to be brought to the Situation Tables, the risk factors contributing to the acutely elevated risk must also need a multi-sectoral intervention. This means the situation can't be addressed by a single agency acting alone or by making a single direct referral.
How the model works

Each Situation Table in Niagara meets once a week to address situations that could likely lead to crime, victimization or serious harm if a timely, wraparound intervention does not happen.

Professionals from different community sectors at the meeting vote to determine whether each de-identified situation presented meets the threshold for acutely elevated risk.

Only after meeting this threshold can confidential information be shared to create a plan to prevent crisis.

The Intervention Team then confidentially shares the individual's personal information with each other. They use this information to develop and implement a specialized intervention plan, within 24 to 48 hours if possible. The team also offers the individual(s) a connection to relevant services that can help mitigate these risks.

Once the intervention plan is completed, the discussion will close at the Situation Tables. The community agencies / organizations involved may then provide ongoing support and coordination.
Benefits of the model
- Improves community safety and well-being
- Reduces barriers and connects individuals to the services they need
- Increases awareness and knowledge of risks, trends and systemic issues
- Risk-driven as opposed to incident-driven
- Improves collaboration and coordination among service providers
Partnering agencies / organizations involved in Niagara's Situation Tables
More than 50 agencies / organizations collaborate to form Niagara's Situation Tables. Some regularly attend the meetings while others participate only on an as-needed basis.

The Situation Tables include the following agencies / organizations as of May 1, 2025:

Project timeline

October 2023 - completed
Expanded Port Colborne and Wainfleet Table to include Welland and Pelham, and launched St. Catharines and Thorold Table

January 2024 - completed
Launched Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Falls Table, and a West Niagara Table for Grimsby, Lincoln and West Lincoln

June 2024 - completed
Amalgamated West Niagara Table with Port Colborne, Wainfleet, Welland and Pelham Table

June 2024 to March 2026
Monitor and evaluate

Contact

Referrals are only made by trained Situation Table representatives from the agencies listed. For questions about the referral process, connect with the appropriate community partner on how to access their supports.

For questions about the Situation Table model, email Community Safety and Well-Being.

Related Information

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Situation Table All Niagara Region projects