www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, March 3, 2016 | 12 Halton Highlights 2016 March Halton's new waste collection calendar is coming soon! The 2016-2017 Halton Guide and Waste Collection Calendar will be delivered by post to residents in lateMarch. (Your current guide has collection schedules to March 2016.) This year's guide provides new collection information and has been enhanced with more tips on how residents can reduce household waste and support sustainable practices. Thank you to all residents for helping keep Halton a great place to live by reducing waste at home, at work and in our community. Through these efforts, we have extended the life of Halton's landfill from 2012 to 2044 and reduced our carbon footprint to preserve Halton's future for generations to come. Learn more about Halton's waste management programs and tips to reduce waste by visiting halton.ca/waste or dialing 311. Keeping you informed by highlighting what makes Halton a great place to live. Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr What's new this year? · This year's edition has been redesigned to provide homeowners with information on many Regional programs and services, as well as seasonal household tips. · Bulk waste will now be collected more frequently: every other week on the same day as your garbage collection. · This guide also contains tips on how to use the 3R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to support sustainable practices and encourage the use of the Blue Box and GreenCart for appropriate waste. Halton's Aaa credit rating ranks us at top end of Canadian municipalities Moody's Investors Service has reaffirmed Halton's Aaa credit rating for 26 consecutive years, ranking us at the high end of Canadian municipalities. Its rating analysis praises Halton's strong governance and management characteristics, as well as our forward-looking operating and capital plans. It also commends our adherence to conservative fiscal policies and our comprehensive, transparent, timely financial reporting. Achieving the Aaa rating -- the highest possible -- gives the Region and its Local Municipalities access to the best available financing rates for infrastructure projects and other large initiatives. These savings minimize the long-term cost to taxpayers while maximizing the community impact of every dollar spent. Visit halton.ca/budget to learn more about our strong long-term financial position and Halton's commitment to being a transparent, accountable and fiscally responsible government. Helping newcomers make Halton their home Halton Region and our community partners are committed to making Halton a welcoming, inclusive and supportive community where newcomers can prosper and be connected to the services they need most. When newcomers choose Halton as their home, our community has many supports available to help minimize any challenges that may arise and offers multiple resources to help with integration. For instance, Halton's Newcomer Portal (welcometohalton.ca) is designed to help newcomers find information about services that can assist them before and after their arrival in Halton. Information is provided on everything from local services for newcomers, to information about government services, education and training, employment and the local labour market, healthcare and community services. Over the past several months, our community has been welcoming a number of Syrian families to Halton. We have been taking steps to help these newcomers integrate and help them make a safe and healthy transition into our community by offering information, supports and connections to local organizations. To learn more, visit halton.ca/Syriannewcomers. By providing these supports to newcomers, our community can greatly benefit from the talent, education, experience and commitment newcomers bring to Halton and we can keep our region a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Meetings at Halton Region 1151 Bronte Rd., Oakville, L6M 3L1 Visit halton.ca/meetings for full schedule. March 23 9:30 a.m. Regional Council March 25 Offices closed for Good Friday Please contact us as soon as possible if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. This page has been donated by this newspaper to communicate important information to Halton residents at no cost to taxpayers.