Item - 2022.EC31.33

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration and the Director, Equity and Human Rights to review the Summary Report: Community Consultations prepared by the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice and Toronto Metropolitan University for alignment with and integration into existing strategies, initiatives and tools including the Data for Equity Strategy, AccessTO, the Toronto Newcomer Strategy, the Youth Outcomes Framework, SafeTO, the Gender Equity Strategy, the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Equity Lens tool and the Count Yourself In Workforce Survey.

2.  City Council request the relevant directors from Social Development, Finance and Administration and Equity and Human Rights to work with divisions as appropriate to promote representation from Asian communities on the advisory bodies associated with: the Toronto Newcomer Strategy, SafeTO, the Gender Equity Strategy, the Poverty Reduction Strategy, as well on the City’s Equity Advisory Body, the 2SLGBTQ+ Council Advisory Body, and the Toronto Accessibility Committee.

3.  City Council request all divisions to review their budgets and communications plans to ensure adequate funding is allocated for translation services, and to submit business cases in the 2023 budget process to address any shortfalls.

4.  City Council request the relevant directors from Social Development, Finance and Administration and Equity and Human Rights to consult with the Mayor's Anti-Asian Racism Roundtable on a public awareness and education campaign to highlight the existence of anti-Asian hate and racism and provide ways to confront it.

As the City turn its attention to rebuild and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that many communities disproportionately impacted over the last two years continue to be confronted with the ongoing effects of the pandemic, compounded by systemic barriers and biases faced before the pandemic. This reality has become acutely apparent in the experiences of Asian communities in Toronto and around the world who have faced a surge in hate crimes, according to Statistics Canada and other sources.
In an effort to address the increase in anti-Asian hate, we convened leaders from the East and Southeast Asian communities to form a roundtable. The purpose of this group was to highlight for Council and City staff the barriers, challenges and lived experiences of Asian communities in Toronto. The Mayor’s Roundtable on anti-Asian racism led a series of community consultations in the spring of 2022 which culminated in a report and accompanying recommendations.

These recommendations, and the City's ongoing commitment to build a more inclusive and equitable Toronto, provide a foundation from which to begin work to identify how City policies, process and structures can better support Asian communities and address the racism, discrimination and exclusion experienced by East and Southeast Asian communities.
The following recommendations are being proposed as a framework that can ground this work and support the development of a strategic, integrated and sustainable approach to ensuring relevant, accessible and responsive programs and services that meet the needs of Asian communities in the City.