The Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance recognizes that cities considered the greatest in which to live, play, and raise families are also great places in which to work, invest, and prosper. Great cities are characterized by safe streets, active citizens, and strong local services – in other words, strong neighbourhoods. The 2003 Summit called for coordinated investment to strengthen Toronto neighbourhoods compromised by underemployment, the challenges of settling new immigrants, a lack of services, and poverty, which had dramatically increased, particularly outside of the downtown core.

In April 2003, the Toronto City Summit Alliance released a report calling on governments to enter into an agreement to improve social services in neighbourhoods with growing needs. In response, United Way Toronto and the City of Toronto, with the support of the governments of Ontario and Canada, created the Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force in 2004. The Task Force’s 22 members - diverse leaders from government, community, labour and corporate sectors - built a fact base and developed long-term, multi-pronged solutions for supporting community service infrastructure in neighbourhoods across the city.

The Task Force’s 2005 Call to Action neighbourhood revitalization strategy identified nine neighbourhoods for immediate investment by governments, business, and labour and community organizations, and outlined a tripartite agreement to mobilize government investment in community infrastructure. Its work and recommendations helped lay the foundation of a number of ensuing projects, including:

• Mayor’s Community Safety Secretariat
• Ontario’s Youth Challenge Fund, chaired by Toronto Argonauts Head Coach and Alliance Steering Committee member Mike “Pinball” Clemons
• Action for Neighbourhood Change, launched in 2005 with federal funding to assess approaches to strengthening neighbourhoods that are resident-led and can enhance the capacity of individuals and families to build sustainable communities

To learn more, visit Strong Neighbourhoods.

• The Task Force was co-chaired by then-United Way President and CEO Frances Lankin, Brookfield Asset Management Chairman Robert Harding, then-City of Toronto Manager Shirley Hoy, and former City of Toronto Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services Eric Gam.