Contact: Dean Miller, Commissioner, Corporate & Financial Services, 905-771-2497, dean.miller@richmondhill.ca

RICHMOND HILL – Richmond Hill Council meetings and Committee of the Whole meetings are now accessible online via live stream video from the Town’s website at RichmondHill.ca/Meetings. This new feature allows anyone to view the meetings in real time from anywhere in the world. A recorded video of each meeting will also be available online within 24 hours.

“We’re happy to make the leap from audio recordings to having meetings live on the internet,” said Mayor Dave Barrow. “We are committed to providing open and accessible government to the community. This service will provide even more opportunities for people to keep up with Town business and let everyone see how decisions are made that affect our community. We hope it encourages the community to get more engaged in the issues we face in Richmond Hill.”

Live streaming provides another opportunity for residents to engage in the community by improving timely access to local information and services.

To access the live feed, visit RichmondHill.ca/Meetings and click on the green ‘play’ icon at the top of the page. The video screen will display the live meeting or a countdown to the next broadcast. Recordings of previous meetings and a complete schedule of upcoming meetings are also available at RichmondHill.ca/Meetings.

Richmond Hill contracted with Livestream.com for access to the live streaming technology but meetings will be shown exclusively on RichmondHill.ca. Extensive testing was done to ensure residents on all types of devices and browsers will be able to watch Council deliberations. The video will stream best using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browsers. Internet Explorer users are recommended to use version 10 or 11 to view the meetings and the feed may not be compatible with some older mobile devices.

The first Council meeting to be live streamed will be Monday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Audio recordings of meetings will also continue to be available for Council Public meetings, Budget Committee of the Whole meetings and Audit Committee meetings as well as Council and Committee of the Whole meetings. Audio files are recorded and usually posted on the following business day.