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Afri-Can Food Basket Project (School Specific)

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The Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy (TSNS) is the City of Toronto's action plan for building partnerships in Toronto's neighbourhoods so they can succeed and thrive. The strategy supports community well-being by partnering with residents, community agencies and businesses to invest in people, services, programs and facilities in Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs). The strategy strengthens the social, economic and physical conditions and delivers local impact for city-wide change.

TSNS Mission

To achieve equitable opportunities across all Toronto neighbourhoods by:

Activating people

Activating resources

Activating neighbourhood friendly policies

TSNS Vision

No matter what neighbourhood Torontonians call home, there are equitable opportunities for well-being. Sign up for the Community Leaders Newsletter and learn about how you can participate.

The TSNS Advisory Group is made up of passionate leaders from Neighbourhood Improvement Areas and Emerging Neighbourhoods. These leaders engage in civic decision making, networking and capacity building opportunities throughout their membership term.

The TSNS Advisory Group provides input on:

City-wide networking

Priority setting and implementation

An equitable approach to neighbourhood wellbeing and resiliency

Strengthening the connection between systems-level coordination and locally determined community priorities

Engagement of Black, Indigenous and other equity-deserving groups

As a part of Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy (TSNS) activities, Community Development Unit staff outlined a TSNS Community Network Engagement Plan that is being implemented in a multi-step, phased process.

Inform, Engage, Collaborate

Building on previous learning models, the Inform, Engage, Collaborate approach develops a shared understanding among participants and centers equity across all TSNS Community Networks. City staff are working with The Neighbourhood Organization, in partnership with Rexdale Community Health Centre, Progress Place -Community Place Hub, University Health Network - Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, The Neighbourhood Group, and The Corner @ SJT, to highlight actions for new TSNS Community Networks.

TSNS Community Networks will be convened online starting in Fall 2024.

TSNS Community Networks will:

Establish a purpose to practice for all networks

Identify how individuals/groups will come together, with the support of Ambassadors

Develop collaborative relationships among network participants

Utilize the Community Playbook

Identify capacity building areas for network members

Build connections to other TSNS activities and City of Toronto engagement opportunities

Once established, TSNS Community Networks will function as a community of practice and will focus on:

Networking and collaboration

Training and capacity building

Connection to participation opportunities

City resource and information sharing

Please sign up for the Community Leaders Newsletter to stay up to date on TSNS Community Network meeting dates.

TSNS Community Network Ambassador Program

To support continued engagement through Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy (TSNS), City staff are working with The Neighbourhood Organization, in partnership with Rexdale Community Health Centre, Progress Place - West Mount Dennis Community Place Hub, University Health Network - Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, The Neighbourhood Group, Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities and St James Town Community Corner, to establish an Ambassador program that supports TSNS Community Networks.

This initiative grows out of learnings from the City's Vaccine Engagement Teams as Ambassadors are positioned in communities to increase and/or enhance communication, trust, engagement and information sharing across equity-deserving groups and communities. This approach will aim to deepen relationships and connections across regional areas representing 9 TSNS Community Networks.

Ambassadors will support TSNS Community Network implementation by:

Informing local resident and community-led groups of City service and community sector opportunities, actions and investments

Engaging local groups and resident leaders to increase awareness of locally led activities

Promoting collaboration and coordination opportunities among network participants

Convening, administering and monitoring TSNS Community Network meetings

The Local Leadership Grant supports place-based, resident-led projects that focus on wellness, social inclusion, and the promotion of civic engagement and education across all neighbourhoods. The Local Leadership Grant will prioritize the leadership and participation of Indigenous, Black and other equity-deserving groups within Neighbourhood Improvement Areas and Emerging Neighbourhoods.

Learn more about the Local Leadership Grant.

Background

In 2022, City staff surveyed over 90 community and resident-led groups to deepen the City's understanding of community-based leadership, engagement activities, and how they might be better supported through the Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy (TSNS). Based on these survey responses City staff engaged external community consultants to host four virtual discussion sessions with community and resident-led groups to help further inform the TSNS engagement plan.

Key findings and recommendations from these discussion sessions included:

Establishing locally-based and cross-community networking and collaboration opportunities

Creating a centralized online system to access information and resources

Providing access to resources to support network engagement

Connecting community and resident-led groups to training and skill development opportunities that support community-based leadership and activities

Local Leaders Forum

City staff established the Local Leaders Forum to support community and resident-led groups from all neighbourhoods. The Local Leaders Forum aligns with the TSNS and other City Equity Strategies, and incorporates learnings from the ongoing work of the Community Coordination Plan.

The Local Leaders Forum is virtually convened in quarterly sessions to provide:

Opportunities to gather information about City initiatives, capacity building and/or other resources

Connections to community organizations and networking opportunities that support learning, relationship building, and/or collaboration

Space where resident leaders and community-led groups can deepen their connections with each other and explore synergies

Goals of the Local Leaders Forum include:

Introduction of City Service engagement, community development and capacity building opportunities

Best practices for being responsive to community issues and residents/community members while supporting equitable approaches to community wellbeing and resiliency

Intentional engagement of Black, Indigenous and other equity-deserving groups

Please sign up for the Community Leaders Newsletter to be informed of 2024 forum dates.

Community Hubs are neighbourhood gathering places that welcome local residents to connect with each other and their community. They are places to relax, meet up or work. Hubs offer a wide range of spaces for local community groups to meet, hold events and workshops and can also include programs, supports and services from non-profit organizations. Learn more about Community Hubs.

Resident Engagement Toolkit

In partnership with Social Planning Toronto, a selection of TSNS Advisory Group members developed a Resident Engagement Toolkit designed to support community-based organizations and City partners in deepening their understanding of the best practices for engagement, particularly with equity-deserving groups. This workshop toolkit was a collaborative project and is the outcome of community consultations carried out between August and December 2022. The consultations aimed to center resident leaders' expertise, current realities, identify tools and approaches to facilitate meaningful engagement and partnerships, and support enhanced community development outcomes for sustainable, resident-led neighbourhood work in Toronto. Everyone is welcome to review and use the Resident Engagement Toolkit to inform their ongoing work and engagement with equity-deserving communities.

Community Playbook

City staff partnered with Social Planning Toronto to develop the Community Playbook to assist community leaders with concrete knowledge and tools they can use in their place-based community engagement work, as well as to support new Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy (TSNS) Community Networks. The Community Playbook serves as an interactive guide with more than 100 pages of resources for community leaders and residents involved in community engagement projects within their respective networks and neighborhoods to help them in their planning, engagement, funding applications, project coordination, and more! Check out the Community Playbook and how you might be able to utilize this exciting new resource in your community development work.

About Toronto Neighbourhoods

The City of Toronto now has 158 social planning neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood designations help City staff collect data, plan, analyze and forecast City services. While these neighbourhoods may not fully encompass every historical, cultural, ethnic or economic neighbourhood area, they do provide a way for planners and researchers to track information about them over time. Learn more about updates to Toronto's social planning neighbourhoods.

Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (HEART) Domains

In 2014, the City used the Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool to score neighbourhoods under five domains of neighbourhood well-being. The five domains were:

1. Economic Opportunities: The Economic Opportunities theme is about the economic status that neighbourhood residents can achieve; it includes income levels and quality job opportunities.

2. Social Development: The Social Development theme is about the opportunities and connections that help residents reach their full potential; it includes education, literacy, and access to social, recreation, and cultural services.

3. Participation in Decision Making: The Participation in Decision Making theme is about the opportunities for neighbourhood residents to get involved in making local and city-wide decisions; it includes voting in elections and working with neighbourhoods to make plans and priorities.

4. Healthy Lives: The Healthy Lives theme is about the physical and mental health of neighbourhood residents; it includes medical care, disabilities and illnesses that residents live with, and the number of years that residents live in good health.

5. Physical Surroundings: The Physical Environment theme is about the natural and built environment in the neighbourhood, community, or workplace; it includes access to transportation, parks and green spaces, public meeting spaces, and air quality.

The Urban HEART scores helped the City identify Neighbourhoods Improvement Areas for additional investment through the Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy.

Download Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy Reports

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The Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy (TSNS) is the City of Toronto's action plan for building partnerships in Toronto's neighbourhoods so they can succeed and thrive. The strategy supports community well-being by partnering with residents, community agencies and businesses to invest in people, services, programs and facilities in Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs).

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TNO - The Neighbourhood Organization - TNO - The Neighbourhood Organization

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City of Toronto’s Network Summit- Nov 9, 2024 - TNO - The Neighbourhood Organization

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Reflections from York Weston Pelham Community Network Ambassador, Bashir Kamugo.My name is Bashir Kamugo, and I am a Community Network Ambassador for York Weston Pelham. It was a great privilege to attend the Toronto Strong Neighborhoods Strategy Community Network summit. I had the opportunity to interact with various community leaders and partners, including the Toronto