As the McMaster community has grown in recent years, so too has the impact of its growth on the surrounding community. Issues related to traffic, parking, and students living off-campus are among the most common that generate concerns for local residents. In an effort to help address such issues, McMaster has retained the services of The Community Dispute Resolution Services of Hamilton (CDRS) to assist when conflict arises.

The Office of the Associate Vice-President, Student Affairs has contracted CDRS to provide mediation services for issues arising in the local neighbourhood. Local residents, landlords, students living off campus  anyone in the surrounding area can take advantage of the services free of charge to help resolve individual or group conflict.

“McMaster University is committed to being a responsible member of the Hamilton community,” says associate vice-president, student affairs Phil Wood. “The introduction of CDRS services is one of several new initiatives implemented by McMaster to address community concerns.”

The CDRS of Hamilton is a non-profit, community based organization that provides conflict resolution services to help solve neighbourhood, inter-organizational and inter-personal disputes.
Trained mediators are available to assist in many different kinds of disputes:

• Parent/youth disputes
• Cross cultural disputes
• Neighbour disputes
• Landlord/tenant disputes
• Community organization issues

The mediators can assist individuals as well as disputing parties to reach a mutual agreement to a conflict. CDRS is a voluntary service that offers mediation in a safe and neutral environment.

Contact CDRS co-ordinator, Tim Cameron at any time at 905-521-2225 or by e-mail at tim@cdrshamilton.ca.

CDRS services are available through to the end of the academic year. At that point the service will be assessed to determine if it will be continued.