Welcome to 2020! As we look ahead to a new decade and the launch of the City of Toronto’s 2020 budget, we decided to take stock of Toronto at the end of the ‘10s, so that we may learn from the past and chart a new path forward. 

Our Toronto After a Decade of Austerity: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly report looks at how our city has progressed, declined, or stagnated over the past decade in three key areas:

1. housing,
2. child care, and
3. public transit, cycling, and walking.

We assess the current state of the city after a decade of austerity budgets using 20 quantitative indicators and offer resolutions to build a better city. Three immediate options are to:

About City Budget Watch

Social Planning Toronto's City Budget Watch is back for the 2020 City of Toronto budget process! We'll be bringing you up-to-date reports and analysis on each step of the City budget process from launch date on Friday, January 10, to final votes at City Council on February 19. We'll let you know how you can learn more, get involved, and have your say on the 2020 budget. 

The City Budget Watch Blog is authored by Beth Wilson. Beth is our lead on policy and research at Social Planning Toronto, starting at our organization in 2002. She has a Master of Social Work (MSW), Policy, Organization and Community.

Did you know that major changes are happening to education in Ontario — including funding cuts, increased class sizes, and mandatory e-learning? Last week, Social Planning Toronto, the Coalition for Alternatives to Streaming in Education (CASE), and Working Women Community Centre hosted a panel to discuss how these changes might impact academic streaming, equity, and the state of public education in Ontario.

2018 was a challenging year for Social Planning Toronto. Yet despite a leadership change, our small but mighty organization continued providing sector leadership and putting our noses to the grindstone in communities.

With a difficult year behind us, a new year upon us, and a new Executive Director to lead us (click here for a message from Devika Shah), it seems an appropriate time to share a few highlights of our community planning and research work over the past year.

Reforms Ignore Strong Proposals From In-Depth Income Security Study and Leave People With Disabilities in Jeopardy

“The Ontario government’s announcement to reform social assistance promised a compassionate and empowering system while offering few specifics, dropping many of the important reforms that were on the table before the election, and committing to a new definition of disability that will likely block many Ontarians with disabilities from getting the income support they desperately need,” said Peter Clutterbuck, Interim Executive Director of Social Planning Toronto, in response to the Province’s proposed changes to Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

After a rigorous selection process, Social Planning Toronto enthusiastically announces and welcomes Devika Shah as our new Executive Director.

Devika is passionate about building a civic society in Toronto—the city she loves—that is grounded in diversity, equity, social and economic justice, and active democratic engagement. Her interdisciplinary background and experience in the environmental sector have strengthened her commitment to advancing grassroots, community-led, multi-stakeholder solutions, which she views as the most powerful lever for achieving systems change.

In the lead-up to Toronto’s municipal election, community groups and coalitions asked candidates for Mayor and Council to commit to actions around poverty, housing, road safety, and ranked ballots. 

On October 22, Toronto elected its new City Council. Social Planning Toronto has produced this election update to show which members of the new Toronto City Council supported these progressive campaigns to make Toronto more liveable and its elections more fair.

Do you belong to a resident-led group that has a great event idea and needs funding?

Apply for a Neighbourhood Grant! 

Update (November 12, 2018): City Councillors Cynthia Lai and Jennifer McKelvie have recently endorsed the Prosperity Pledge, bringing the total number of Council members (including Mayor Tory) who have signed it to 19.

Of the 26 members of Council elected in Toronto on Monday night, 17 signed a “prosperity pledge,” committing to fully fund and implement the city’s first poverty reduction strategy, adopted unanimously by the previous Council in 2015.

The “Prosperity Platform” campaign, led by a community and faith coalition, demands that the new City Council take action and fully fund, implement, and monitor progress on the poverty reduction strategy. In the months leading up to the election, the campaign sought signed pledges from 239 candidates (for whom contact information was available) registered for election.