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Awards, wins & recognition |
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Nuit Blanche wins award for the City
Nuit Blanche -- a free all-night exploration of Toronto through contemporary art -- has received widespread acclaim and accolades since its launch in September 2006, the most recent being the Urban Leadership Award for City Initiatives by the Canadian Urban Institute. More than 425,000 revellers left behind the comfort of their beds to participate in this event that brought together the exceptional talents of more than 400 artists and curators, 87 galleries, and museums and art institutions. The second annual Nuit Blanche Toronto is scheduled for Saturday, September 29, 2007.
Related link:
 Special Events
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Clean and Beautiful City ad wins radio award
The City’s campaign against gum litter received a Crystal award from the Radio Marketing Bureau of Canada, an award that recognizes the best in Canadian radio advertising. The ad supports the City’s Clean and Beautiful initiative which also includes a teacher’s guide and clean-up days.
Related link:
Advertisements
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Toronto ranked #1
Toronto's quality of life ranked the best of any major North American city according to fDi magazine (Foreign Direct Investment), February/March 2007 issue. This Financial Times publication also placed Toronto second only to Chicago as North America's "Major City of the Future." fDi spent six months selecting the top 10 short-listed cities with the best strategies and resources for economic development. Nine judges reviewed nominations from 108 cities on more than 60 criteria designed to assess cities' potential to attract business investment projects. The fDi ranking follows on the heels of the 2007 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, that praised Toronto for having the second best quality of living in North America and 15th best in the world. A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one.
Related link:
www.toronto.ca/business
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At your service |
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Dog and cat licences now available online
Dog and cat owners can now license their pets from home, following the successful launch of Epet, the fourth in a series of City services to be offered online. Epet helps pet owners comply with Toronto’s pet licensing bylaw, which states all dogs and cats in the city must be licensed annually with Toronto Animal Services. The money received from pet licences allows Toronto Animal Services to return lost pets; rescue, feed, sterilize and shelter stray animals; teach children about animal safety; and keep our neighbourhoods safe for people and pets. To get a new licence for your cat or dog, or to renew an existing licence, please visit www.toronto.ca/epet, or call 416-338-PETS (7387).
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One-Stop access to range of government services now available at City Hall
Through a partnership between Service Canada, ServiceOntario, and the City, residents now have access to a range of government services and information offered by all three governments in one location: Toronto City Hall. Employment insurance, pension benefits, birth registrations and marriage licenses or information on various government programs are all available at this ‘one-stop’ service stop in the main lobby at City Hall.
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City’s Capacity Buy-back program delivers biggest payout to date
Alcan Packaging is saving big money, thanks to Toronto Water’s Capacity Buy-back program! Toronto Water’s Water Efficiency unit recently presented Alcan with a cheque for more than $166,000, a direct result of changes the company made in its operations. The real payoff, however, is that Alcan is now saving more than 554,000 litres of water each day – enough to meet the needs of almost 800 homes. The Capacity Buy-back program allows the City to buy back water or sewer capacity that has been freed up by participants who have reduced water use in their operations.
Related link:
WaterSaver program
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Children’s Services at its Best
The City’s Children Services division – under its Best Start plan – created 51 new child care centres, despite the recent cancellation of the federal/provincial agreements for early learning and child care. The Best Start plan - which lays out the vision for future planning and service integration related to childhood strategies - was revised after the cancellation to ensure that services to children with special needs were expanded and 2,000 new subsidy spaces were created and continue to be funded by the province.
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New concierge service for industrial/commercial growth
Hotels have it, clubs offer it, businesses value it - concierge services that provide a ‘one-stop’ shop of services that makes it easy for clients to do business. That’s why the City now has a concierge service for industrial and commercial enterprises in the midst of projects underway in Toronto. This service has ‘case managers’ assigned to each project to identify, facilitate and resolve issues such as processing and approvals. Also part of the package is to improve the marketing and communications of existing fast track services. Approximately six million square feet of new development is taking place in Toronto, and is expected to generate more than $21 million in new taxes annually. Some of these projects include the Viva Magnetics factory expansion, MaRS Phase II expansion, Telus/Menkes office development and KPMG/Bay-Adelaide office development. |
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Taking it to the streets |
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Building a great city – together
The City is holding a series of public consultations on climate change, new revenue tools and other plans to build a great city. Each plan is a building block that contributes to providing an economically strong, creative, clean and green city supported by great public services. The scope of each plan going through the consultation process will vary, but the goal is the same: to get public input, hear ideas, and to find out what priorities and actions resonate with Torontonians. The City of Toronto invites you to get involved!
Related links:
New Taxation Measures
Get involved
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New street name signs
City Council recently approved new street name signs for the city. The new signs will be of a higher quality and can indicate distinct neighbourhoods and Business Improvement Areas (BIAs). Two sizes of signs will be created: one is for use on arterial roads and the other on local streets. The signs will be phased in fall 2007.
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Countdown signals timely for pedestrians
The City of Toronto installed “countdown” signals at more than 250 intersections in the city during this past December and January to help pedestrians cross the street. The devices provide a numeric countdown display that indicates the number of seconds remaining for a pedestrian to complete the crossing of a street. The countdown marks the length of time between the current “walk” signal and the solid “don’t walk” signal. Another 540 intersections will be equipped with the signals over the next nine months. |
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Innovation |
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Blue bag multi-residential pilot planned
The City of Toronto, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, is launching a pilot project in 10 apartment and condominium buildings to test the use of disposable blue bags for the collection of recyclables. The results of the six-month pilot project, to be launched in May 2007, will let the City determine if offering blue bags for recycling collection will increase the capture rate of recyclables and, in turn, increase diversion of waste generated in multi-unit buildings.
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IT Showcase: a display in efficiencies
On March 1, 2007 the City of Toronto held its first IT Showcase to demonstrate how City programs are improving service delivery and operations - with information technology. This well-attended event was held at City Hall and included more than 34 exhibits. It also hosted a full-day professional development conference profiling the diverse array of technology applications and programs that help the City run more efficiently and provide better service to residents.
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City saved $1 million through vendor discounts for early payment
The City saved $1 million, thanks to an initiative it launched to obtain discounts offered by vendors to the City for early payment of invoices. Since launching this initiative two years ago, the City has seen significant increases year after year in the amount of early payment discounts it receives, culminating in the $1 million mark. Vendors offer a discount term, typically two to three per cent, on their billing invoice for goods and services if paid within a specified period. In 2006, the City received 82 per cent of the discounts that vendors offered to the City.
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“Developing” an easier way for applicants
The City of Toronto is improving the development application review process for property owners, developers and builders. The goal: to make it faster and easier for applicants. A staff team has been created to improve and harmonize co-ordinating processes and policies for planning applications, engineering reviews and building permits amongst the City divisions involved. Some improvements, to date, include revamping the City’s “Developing – Toronto” website and developing an online fee calculator that provides applicants with an estimate of all the fees upfront rather than at the various stages of the process.
Related link:
Developing Toronto
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Toronto Film and Television industry launches “Toronto/Ontario Delivers” campaign
The Toronto Film and Television industry achieved labour stability in the first quarter of 2007 by finalizing new production-friendly contracts with all of its unions and guilds. As one of the few international jurisdictions to boast such an achievement, the City launched the "Toronto/Ontario Delivers" campaign to attract new production business to the city. The campaign highlights the world-class quality of Toronto's services, our competitive financial incentives including discounting of the dollar, waiver of site rental fees, and tax credits, and new benefits including a production concierge service, discounted hotel and service packages, and a newly enhanced digital locations database. The City’s first major success under this revitalized program was securing "The Hulk”, a $100 million film.
Related link:
Toronto Film and Television Office
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Healthy city, safe city |
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Healthy gardens mean healthier communities
Coming soon to a hardware store or gardening centre near you are City of Toronto information booths to help the public learn about healthy lawn and garden care. City staff also will be on hand to answer questions about Toronto’s pesticide bylaw. The bylaw came into effect in 2004 and restricts the outdoor use of pesticides on all public and private properties as part of a strategy for a safer and healthier community. Full enforcement of the bylaw is being phased in and compliance for residents begins this fall.
Related link:
Pesticides
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Inspectors help landlords protect the vulnerable from extreme heat
Toronto Public Health inspectors will go door-to-door this summer to visit apartment buildings with high populations of seniors to help landlords understand the effects of extreme heat on vulnerable people. The inspectors will provide property managers and landlords with information on developing plans to protect residents who are at risk during Heat Alerts and Extreme Heat Alerts called by the Medical Officer of Health. This initiative is part of the City of Toronto Hot Weather Response Plan.
Related link:
Heat Alerts and Extreme Heat Alerts
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Public access to defibrillators increases
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is distributing 110 automated external defibrillators to the public in 2007. These life-saving devices are courtesy of partnerships with agencies such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Mikey Network. The City will train 1,210 people to use the defibrillators in 2007.
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Ambulance availability high priority for EMS
Increasing ambulance availability for 9-1-1 calls is a high priority for the City. That's why Toronto Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has developed a Patient Distribution System and is working closely with hospitals across the city to put it into action. The system is in place at 14 of the 15 Toronto Emergency Departments. The system provides each hospital with a visual large screen display of all pending patient arrivals through EMS. It also provides monitoring of any delays in offloading EMS patients. Work continues to provide 'live' bed availability information for each hospital Emergency Department. This would reduce the length of time patients have to wait, while also increasing ambulance availability for the next 9-1-1 call.
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City and LHINs working together on health priorities
The City and five new Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) recently held a forum to discuss health priorities across the city. The result: A City of Toronto – 5 LHIN Collaborative Table was developed and put in place to facilitate the discussion and collaboration on health priorities on an ongoing basis between City divisions – including Homes for the Aged, Emergency Medical Services and Toronto Public Health – and the LHINs. The forum was in response to provincial government legislation that established 14 LHINs across Ontario, five of which serve certain areas within Toronto. |
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Opportunities & possibilities |
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City hires more than 400 youth from priority neighbourhoods
The City’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation division has hired more than 400 youth from priority neighbourhoods into summer jobs. This was done by working with other City service areas and with citizens, community organizations, and businesses. A key factor in creating new work opportunities for youth was the City’s decision to lower the minimum hiring age to 14 from 16 years-of-age for some recreation jobs.
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Improved access to employment services
In 2007, the City will take a lead role in a number of important projects to improve access to employment services and outcomes for city residents. Some of these projects include: developing an integrated model for employment services in Regent Park; ramping up the Investing in Neighbourhoods initiative to place up to 100 Ontario Works clients from priority neighbourhoods; managing the Investing in Families project to support up to 275 single parent families residing in the Jane‑Finch community with access to a variety of services; and supporting PAYE (Partnership to Advance Youth Employment), a joint initiative between private employers and the City of Toronto. Throughout 2007, PAYE will hold a series of Community Opportunity Fairs to provide a forum for employers to recruit youth from priority neighbourhoods.
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Community partnership at its best
Over the past year, the Jamestown Working Together Coalition has partnered with Humber College to offer a program for local leaders to build their organizational capacity for service and local community development. On April 19, more than 20 community members proudly accepted their completion certificates in a ceremony at Humber College. John Davies, incoming Humber President, identified the great benefits of this partnership for the college, and indicated his desire for more opportunities to bring the college and community together. Resources for the program included funding through the City's Community Partnership and Investment Program-Service Development.
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Hostels to Homes pilot project ready to launch
The City’s Hostels to Homes pilot project is being launched this spring by the Shelter, Housing and Support division. The pilot is in response to City Council's request to find permanent solutions for the homeless by putting funding that is traditionally used for shelters toward housing support. This approach is, in part, due to the information City staff and a small army of volunteers collected in the 2006 Street Needs Assessment survey as part of the Streets to Homes program. Every year, the City helps about 4,000 families/individuals move from shelters into their own homes.
Related link:
Housing |
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