Employment training programs are gaining increased funding in response to rising unemployment rates. Among the employment training programs that already exist, there are often challenges in creating successful, inclusive programs that result in real employment opportunities. The event will feature three examples of innovative employment training programs that address some of these challenges.

Monday, March 9th, 2009
10:00am – 12:30pm
The Raging Spoon 
761 Queen Street West

A free networking lunch will follow the event

Wednesday, March 24, 2009
11:00 – 12:00 noon
Where: From your desktop

To register:: [email protected]
For information: http://citiesofmigration.ca/integration-learning-exchange/calendar/

Panelists:

• Ayse Özbabacan, Department for Integration Policy, City of Stuttgart (Germany)
• Cormac O’Donnel, Strategic Policy Manager, Intercultural Unit Dublin City Council (Ireland)
• Kica Matos, Community Services Administrator City of New Haven, Connecticut (USA)

Monday, March 2, 2009 
7:00pm to 9:00pm

Intercontinental Hotel Yorkville
220 Bloor Street West
(wheelchair accessible)

Entrance: $5.00

Presentations by:

• Cheryl Teelucksingh, author of Environmental Justice & Racism in Canada and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Ryerson University
• Jennifer Foulds, Communications Director and Pollution Watch web project lead at Environmental Defence

April 2 and 3, 2009
Central YMCA 
20 Grosvenor Street, Toronto

Registration deadline is March 2, 2009

The ODSP Action Coalition presents this interactive two-day forum, exploring the kinds of changes needed to significantly reduce the poverty of people with disabilities in Ontario. While the Ontario government has presented a poverty reduction strategy with a commitment to reduce child poverty by 25% in 5 years, it needs more action for people with disabilities.

For more information and to request a registration form, contact Nancy Vander Plaats, [email protected] or visit http://www.odspaction.ca/story/conference-reducing-poverty-people-disabilities

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 
7:30 to 9:30 pm
OISE, Peace Lounge
7th Floor, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto

Admission: By donation - No registration required

An evening with Dominic Barter, focused on Restorative Circles. Successfully used in schools, neighbourhoods, organisations, and the criminal justice system in Brazil, Restorative Circles offer ways for individuals and communities to establish connection, discover meaning and recover power on profound levels. They create a forum for uncovering the human motives behind painful choices and enlisting the responsibility of the community to find effective strategies to meet pressing needs.

Friday February 27th, 9:30 am. 
410 Sherbourne Street, 3rd floor
(west side of Sherbourne between Wellesley & Carlton)

No fee, no registration required. Everyone is welcome.

For further information contact: [email protected]  or (647) 222-4420.

Ethan Nadelmann is the Founder and Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the war on drugs, and a dynamic and passionate speaker. He is widely regarded as the most prominent proponent of drug policy reform. A graduate of Harvard and the London School of Economics, Ethan Nadelmann is described by Rolling Stone as “the point man” for drug policy reform efforts.

Community Meeting about the Kodak Lands Redevelopment on Monday March 9th from 7 – 9pm at the York Civic Centre at 2700 Eglinton Ave. West. This informational meeting is hosted by City Councillors Frank Di Giorgio and Frances Nunziata.

The SPACE Coalition, in collaboration with the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto and other Social Planning Councils across the province, is conducting its third survey with community groups and other non-profit organizations to evaluate community use of public space. The results of this survey will help to strengthen their ongoing work for increased access and decreased barriers to community use of space with the provincial and municipal government and the Boards of Education.

CASSA's Agents for Change Workshop is designed to assist members of the South Asian communities to:

• understand the challenges faced by the communities and labour sectors in ensuring equitable access to good jobs in Toronto;
• know more about equity in employment;
• understand how communities can get both the government and media for them;
• learn strategies that will help communities to advocate for positive change [especially on an issue such as employment through temp agencies - Temp Agency legislation (Bill 139)]

Deputations to Toronto City Council on the Proposed 2009 Operating Budget

Community Social Planning Council of Toronto

Madam Chair, Committee Members:

I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, a non-profit organization whose over 150 agency members reflect the diversity of Toronto’s vital community sector. Our mission is to improve the quality of life of all residents of Toronto, a mission which we pursue through research and community mobilization.