What are the critical elements required to meaningfully tackle the roots of poverty and advance community wealth building in Toronto? Answering this question has been the key motivating factor behind our work alongside community partners like yourselves,activists, local leaders, and residents with local and lived expertise. In this panel series, we are exploring how collective action and public policy can work in tandem to bolster one another and looking at successful movements, programs and initiatives that are underway and promising ones that are still being designed.

What are the critical elements required to meaningfully tackle the roots of poverty in Toronto? Answering this question has been the key motivating factor behind our work in collaboration with community partners like yourselves, activists, local leaders, and residents with local and lived expertise. In this panel series, we are exploring how collective action and public policy can work in tandem to bolster one another and looking at successful movements, programs and initiatives that are underway and promising ones that are still being designed.

Due: Sunday, December 8th, 2024

Purpose

Social Planning Toronto (SPT) is seeking a fractional financial management team or individual with expertise in all aspects of bookkeeping, accounting, and financial management. The ideal candidate(s) will have at least five years of experience managing the finances of an organization. Experience working with nonprofit, community-based organizations is a strong asset.

The following deputation was delivered by Social Planning Toronto's Executive Director Jin Huh to the Economic and Community Development Committee on October 23, 2024 as they considered item EC16.2 - Sidewalks to Skylines: An Action Plan for Toronto's Economy (2025-2035).  It will be considered by City Council on November 13, 2024. See a full list of community partners who submitted letters and/or deputed at the end of this post. 

The Toronto Police Service Board recently sought public input on a new Public Order Policy currently in development that will establish a policy on police action in respect to protests, demonstrations, and occupations. Below is the letter that SPT submitted on August 29, 2024.

Social Planning Toronto is a non-profit, charitable community organization that works to advance an equitable, inclusive, and accessible Toronto – shaped by the diversity of its residents and rooted in social and economic justice. Our work challenges inequity in our city – through knowledge generation, debate, civic engagement, advocacy, and collaboration – to spark social and policy change.

This letter was initially submitted to the Provincial Parliament of Ontario on May 15, 2024.

We are writing to express our recommendations concerning Bill 185, titled Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024.

Black, Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+, low-income and other equity-deserving communities are already underrepresented within public planning processes. As the affordable housing crisis continues to worsen across Ontario, it is imperative that equitable planning principles remain at the forefront of provincial planning decisions. We recognize that Ontario’s population is growing rapidly, and that we need to continue supporting development that is affordable and accessible to all, however, this cannot be done at the cost of losing our environmentally protected lands.

2024 federal budget taxes the really rich and makes significant strides on affordable housing, while falling far short on the Canada Disability Benefit

Strong community advocacy has paid off with important new investments in this year’s federal budget. Released on April 16, the 2024 federal budget raises significant revenue for public services by increasing taxes on the top 0.13 per cent of income earners, makes substantial new investments in affordable housing, and funds the creation of new child care centres. The budget advances the federal government’s recently released Housing Plan through several initiatives, including a $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund, Public Lands for Homes Plan, Rapid Housing funding stream, Canadian Renters’ Bill of Rights, and more. While offering meaningful improvements, the federal budget falls short on key items recommended by SPT and other community groups. The budget fails to provide a funding increase for the Canada Housing Benefit, matching funds required to purchase Toronto subway cars, and full funding for the Canada Disability Benefit.

Join SPT and Lindsay Kretschmer, Executive Director of the Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC) for a conversation about Indigenous prosperity and what eliminating poverty means for Indigenous community-based organizations in Toronto. Kenn Richard, consultant and author of the forthcoming Toronto Aboriginal Research Project 10-Year Legacy Review and Indigenous Prosperity Action Plan, speaks about the systemic change, investments, and long-term solutions needed for Indigenous people in Toronto to thrive and how non-Indigenous community-based organizations can partner and act as allies in this work.

Tackling the root causes of poverty is complex. Solutions involve multiple approaches and an "all hands-on deck" spirit, including all levels of government. Municipalities like the City of Toronto play a critical role. The City of Toronto will launch its Third Term Action Plan on the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) this spring. Join SPT for a conversation with Bryony Halpin, the City’s new Manager, Poverty Reduction, to hear about her approach to collaboration, collective impact, and human rights in the implementation of the next (PRS) Action Plan. Bryony is joined by Orpah Cundangan from the Tamarack Institute’s Communities Ending Poverty, a powerful collective impact movement comprised of 330 municipalities (including the City of Toronto) and represented by eighty regional roundtables.