Growing Conversations begins with a vision of making Toronto the most engaged city in North America.

How do we get there? We started by working with residents to identify a series of Opportunities for Change. These are the opportunities and constraints that will form the foundation that all future conversations, as well as the final Engagement Action Plan, will be built upon. The Opportunities for Change, in turn, informed the development of a series of Pillars of Effective Engagement that will guide City Planning staff whenever they undertake a future engagement initiative.

The next step will be to identify the Strategic Directions, or big moves, that will help us to achieve our vision. These will be supported by Actions, the specific initiatives that will help us to improve the engagement process. All of this will be supported by an implementation plan.

A new Engagement Action Plan for City Planning will be informed by two primary inputs:

 

Cover Page of the Short Version of the Youth Engagement StrategyA Youth Engagement Strategy
Stylized image of City Hall with a colourful mosaic pattern and the words Newcomer Engagement StrategyA Newcomer Engagement Strategy

There are five key objectives of the Growing Conversations process:

  1. Better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current community planning process in Toronto
  2. Explore new engagement models and tools, particularly those that are intended to help build capacity, inform participation, and build stronger relationships between the community, stakeholders and the City of Toronto
  3. Explore opportunities and best practices related to implementing a Community Planning Advisory Group or Groups
  4. Explore opportunities to broaden participation by engaging new audiences
  5. Identify other opportunities to improve the quality of feedback received through the community planning process

In the first phases of consultation on Growing Conversations, a Key Stakeholder Advisory Committee was formed with representatives from a diverse range of organizations and other City Divisions. This group was extremely influential in the development of the Opportunities for Change and the Principles for Effective Engagement.

The Key Stakeholder Advisory Committee consisted of representatives from the following organizations:

Toronto Youth Cabinet
City Youth Council of Toronto
For Youth Initiative
Centre for City Ecology
Social Development Finance & Admin (City of Toronto)
United Way of Toronto
Social Planning Toronto
Civic Action
Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH)
Toronto Public Library
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)
RANACA (Resident Association Neighbourhood Association Community Association)
North Toronto Local Immigration Partnership
South Toronto Local Immigration Partnership
East Toronto Local Immigration Partnership
West Toronto Local Immigration Partnership