City Council recognizes that the City is best served by boards and advisory bodies that reflect the geographic distribution and diversity of the community they serve.
Council also recognizes that the needs of the City and the agencies are best met when qualified candidates are matched to the boards' individual requirements.
Public appointments policy
In September 2006, City Council adopted a Public Appointments Policy governing the appointment of Toronto residents to City boards and special purpose bodies and nominations to external bodies.
The policy recognizes the importance of achieving greater diversity in board appointments through proactive strategies aimed at ensuring an open, inclusive and equitable appointments process. The implementation of the Public Appointments Policy has been so successful that Council extended the policy to apply to the City's advisory bodies.
Diversity award
In 2007, the Maytree Foundation awarded the City of Toronto the Diversity in Governance Award for its demonstrated commitment and innovation in creating inclusive boards. Maytree is a private foundation that promotes equity and prosperity through leadership building. Award recipients were selected based on best practices for recruiting, appointing and engaging board members from diverse communities.
Diversity results
The City monitors self-identified diversity data at each stage of the selection process (applicant pool, short-listed candidates, appointed members) to assess how well the City is meeting its diversity objectives. Total diversity results are reported in summary form, with the identities of individual applicants being kept confidential.
An analysis of diversity results shows that the City has achieved greater diversity in its board appointments. These achievements are summarized in a City of Toronto news release issued at the mid-point in the 2006-2010 term.
Equity-seeking groups
City staff use the diversity data collected at each stage of the selection process to develop outreach initiatives aimed at attracting board applications from equity-seeking groups. This data helps the City to identify and remove potential barriers to participation by members of systemically disadvantaged groups.
In keeping with the City's priority to appoint boards and advisory bodies that reflect the diversity of Toronto's population, the City especially encourages women, young adults 18 to 30 years of age, people with disabilities, Aboriginal/First Nations people and members of racial minority groups to apply.
Opportunities to apply for a public appointment may be posted throughout the term of Council, so please visit Current opportunities and Get involved on the City's website on a regular basis.
Diversity Our Strength
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