Item - 2023.EC7.3

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council adopt the Black-Mandated Funding Framework in Appendix 1 of the report (October 24, 2023) from the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration.

2. City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, to report back to City Council, through the Economic and Community Development Committee, on the progress and implementation of the Black-Mandated Funding Framework, as part of the annual reporting on Community Funding grants.

3. City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, to provide the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee with an annual report on the progress and implementation of the Black-Mandated Funding Framework.

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving communities with health and socio-economic impacts further amplifying longstanding disparities in access and resources. These circumstances accelerated the modernization of grant making practices long advocated for by community leaders. To respond with nimbleness and urgency, long-standing processes that often resulted in underfunding, specifically for Indigenous and Black communities, were amended to enhance access for community initiatives and innovation efforts. 

This report responds to the need to address the exacerbated inequities intensified during the pandemic. By leveraging the City's Community Funding resources, and more formally adopting the responsive grant making practices that emerged during the pandemic, this report moves the needle on the City's reconciliation and equity commitments. The Indigenous and Black-Mandated Funding Frameworks have been co-designed, respectively, with community to ensure funding is fully inclusive and accessible in a way that deepens equity, removes systemic barriers, and cultivates a long-term commitment to Indigenous and Black communities.

This work builds on the concept of targeted universalism, which is central to the work of Social Development, Finance and Administration. As an equity-centred approach, targeted universalism focuses on developing targeted response measures and interventions that remove systemic barriers for communities who experience disproportionate inequity. By doing so, targeted actions improve standards that benefit all Torontonians, especially other equity-deserving communities that also face significant barriers.

The grant funding provided by Social Development, Finance and Administration under the Community Partnership Investment Program (CPIP) to not-for-profit, grassroots and resident-led groups to deliver social services fuels upstream and prevention initiatives that reduce the financial burden for other orders of government.  The 2023 Operating Budget includes $27.787 million (net) in property tax funding to support these investments.

This report also provides an update on the path Social Development, Finance and Administration has been on since 2018 to increase demonstrable impact within the 171 organizations and 325 programs funded by the Community Service Partnerships grant program. Often considered core or backbone funding for a diverse group of Toronto not-for-profit organizations, the stability of funding and services for Torontonians has been prioritized since the beginning of the pandemic. As we move into a post-pandemic environment, City staff are working with key internal and external stakeholders to envision what a funding portfolio reflective of the City's goals and priorities will look like moving into the mid 2020's.

Finally, this report provides an overview of all grants approved with delegated authority between April 2022 and August 2023. These grants include initiatives to support youth violence prevention programs, grants to support communities as they heal in the aftermath of violent incidents, as well as those designed to support youth and resident leaders to implement initiatives to support their communities.