Community Wealth Building in Toronto: A Decade in Review (2014-2024) is co-authored by Social Planning Toronto and Evenings and Weekends Consulting, and is supported by the Atkinson Foundation and the City of Toronto.
Executive Summary
Community Wealth Building (CWB) is a transformative economic development model that promotes democratic control and community ownership of local assets. The model offers an alternative to extractive economic practices by ensuring that wealth remains and circulates within local communities and generates shared economic prosperity, racial equity, and ecological sustainability. Over the past decade, communities and institutions across Toronto have been leading CWB projects that have shifted local material conditions from the ground up. These CWB initiatives have been strategically supported by the community and labour sector, resourced by values-aligned foundations, and further enabled by public sector policies and practices.
The following report takes stock of CWB initiatives in Toronto over a 10-year period from 2014-2024, and offers high-level takeaways for the City of Toronto, institutions, funders, and community and labour networks to strengthen strategies over the next 10 years. The report showcases five pillars within the CWB ecosystem—Progressive Procurement, Locally Rooted Finance, Inclusive and Democratic Enterprise, Fair Work, and Just Use of Land and Property—with each pillar sharing a snapshot of Toronto-based initiatives and policies over the past decade, highlighting future opportunities for strengthening the pillar, and sharing international and national spotlights of inspiring CWB initiatives. The findings of this report aim to inform future municipal and institutional strategies, and strengthen the community-based movement for economic democracy. The takeways aim to offer a foundation for community members, funders, and policy makers to strengthen the CWB ecosystem in Toronto. The report calls on the City of Toronto to continue to integrate CWB into policy frameworks, land use planning, and funding tools; while also expanding support into new areas such as workforce development, cooperative infrastructure, and pathways for community and public ownership. It calls on funders to coordinate grants and collective investments to support both backbone networks and place-based CWB initiatives, and it calls on anchor institutions to continue advancing local hiring, social purchasing, and community investments, particularly within health institutions. Finally, it calls on community and labour networks to convene and share learnings and develop an action plan for the next 10 years of CWB in Toronto, with support from the City of Toronto, funders, and anchor institutions and in solidarity with Indigenous communities. Taken together, these actions are key for shifting power within the local economy, taking ownership, and building community wealth.