Item - 2022.EC29.5

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the City Manager, in collaboration with the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the General Manager, Children's Services, and other relevant divisions and agencies, to engage with the Province to advance actions from the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism related to education (Actions 1.2, 3.1), child welfare (Actions 2.3, 3.2, 3.3), and alternatives to policing (Actions 16.7, 18.3) that will require intergovernmental cooperation from the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism.

Denise Andrea Campbell, Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, gave a presentation on Year Three Update Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism.

Ongoing manifestations of anti-Black racism result in real and significant impacts on the lives of Black residents. To respond to these impacts, on December 5, 2017, City Council unanimously adopted the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. A five-year plan with 80 actions and 22 recommendations, the Action Plan drives transformational systems change to address the pervasive legacy of anti-Black racism in City policies, systems, and institutions.

This report provides an update on the progress to deliver the Action Plan with a focus on the 21 actions prioritized in the Year Three Work Plan, running from June 2020 to December 2021. Since its implementation in 2018, 60 percent of Action Plan recommendations and actions have been implemented, with more than $25.8 million cumulatively invested by the City of Toronto to dismantle barriers and increase access to opportunities for Black communities. Year Three activities continued to propel significant culture change with more than 50 percent of all City staff being trained on addressing anti-Black racism, including 9,294 senior leaders, managers and frontline staff. There has also been increased representation of Black staff, community, and business leaders at important City decision-making tables, including the establishment of the Black Scientists Task Force on Vaccine Equity to guide the implementation of an equitable COVID-19 response, and combat misinformation related to vaccination. The City also established the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee, the first intergovernmental anti-Black racism advisory body to be embedded into the municipal governance process in Canada.

Year Three also launched of a number of impactful initiatives that increased Black leadership, community capacity and organizational resilience, including the City's first Black Youth Fellowship program, the ground-breaking Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Plan and the piloting of the Black-mandated Funding Framework. Year Three activities also catalyzed broader City action to tackle the living legacies of anti-Black racism through large-scale, long-term interdivisional projects, including the kick-off of the Recognition Review and renaming of Dundas Street, and the Little Jamaica and Jane-Finch Initiatives.

Notwithstanding the positive influence of Year Three actions, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Toronto's diverse Black communities. Black residents were overrepresented in not only the rates of COVID-19 infection, but also in exposure to the cascading impacts of the pandemic overall. COVID-19 has heightened the effects of long-standing structural inequities faced by people of African descent, both increasing the urgency for action, and the continued need for ongoing investments to effectively bolster emergency support in times of crisis.

The Year Four Work Plan, identified actions to be fulfilled by multiple City divisions and responds to the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic, while also strategically aligning the remaining Action Plan deliverables with broader City initiatives and emerging community priorities. Year Four introduces and builds long-term legacy initiatives of the Action Plan that will be stewarded by the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit. Enclosed in this report you will find the following:

- An overview of the impacts of COVID-19 on Black communities and the important City interventions and responses to advance recovery and rebuild in African, Caribbean, and Black communities.

- A progress update on the Year Three (June 2020 to December 2021) Work Plan Deliverables.

- The Year Four Work Plan (January to December 2022) Priorities, including an outline of the legacy, training and evaluation initiatives, and an update on the Black Food Sovereignty Plan and the Black-mandated Funding Framework.

- The Partnership and Accountability Circle report, which highlights feedback on the implementation of Year Three actions to inform future activities and work in Year Four.