Item - 2026.MM42.55

Mayor Olivia Chow, seconded by Councillor Jamaal Myers, recommends that:

1. City Council acknowledge the profound and continuing scale of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Canada, honour the memory of the more than 21,000 Canadians who have died of AIDS-related illness, and stand in solidarity with the more than 65,000 people currently living with HIV in Canada.

2. City Council recognize The AIDS Memorial (Toronto), for the purpose of City decision-making and stewardship, as a memorial of national significance, including as one of the world’s few large, permanent AIDS memorials, an open-ended memorial for names of those lost to AIDS, and a living site of loss, survival, activism, and public memory.

3. City Council acknowledge the broad community consensus behind The AIDS Memorial Project’s Echoes proposal, including endorsement from over 45 provincial and national HIV/AIDS organizations, four local trans-led organizations, and the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association, and endorse Echoes as the principal framework for the restoration, expansion, interpretation, and long-term civic recognition of The AIDS Memorial (Toronto).

4. City Council direct the General Manager, Parks and Recreation, in consultation with The AIDS Memorial Project, people living with HIV, people who lost loved ones to AIDS, HIV/AIDS service organizations, and relevant City divisions, to continue moving forward with the integration of the Echoes proposal into the final design for The AIDS Memorial (Toronto), including its core components.

5. City Council direct the General Manager, Parks and Recreation, to ensure that the interpretive, storytelling, and name-recovery components, including opportunities for digital storytelling, associated with the Echoes proposal for The AIDS Memorial (Toronto) are developed through community-led processes, with the City supporting the participation of people living with HIV, especially those from communities most affected by HIV/AIDS.