Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is Canada’s largest social housing provider, offering homes for low-and moderate-income households across the city. TCHC Community Safety Unit (CSU) aims to foster community well-being and safety by building relationships with TCHC tenants, staff and community partners, delivering safety programs and enforcing various legislation as required to ensure the safety of all TCHC tenants and staff.
In 2021, the City of Toronto was mandated to conduct an independent review of the TCHC’s Community Safety Unit. The City, in collaboration with TCHC, has been leading the CSU Review since the fall of 2023. A consultant, ConveneToronto, was hired to conduct the independent review.
The overall objective of the CSU Review is to produce an in-depth analysis of the CSU’s operations, approaches and growth paths within the context of the City of Toronto’s new and expanding commitments to community safety and well-being, as outlined in the City’s SafeTO:10-yr Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. The final report will be submitted to Toronto City Council and TCHC’s Board of Directors by the end of 2024.
The CSU Review, in focus and approach, aligns with the City’s and TCHC’s broader commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. More specifically, it aligns with TCHC’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism (CABR) strategy, as well as, reconciliation and confronting anti-Black racism, as expressed through the City’s Reconciliation Action Plan, Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism and deliberate commitments to equity through policy frameworks that support equity-deserving and vulnerable populations.
To further advance these commitments, the City of Toronto has integrated a Black Employee Lifecycle Review co-led by TCHC’s Centre for Advancing the Interests of Black People into the broader CSU Review. The Black Employee Lifecycle Review will focus on the experiences of the unit’s Black employees during the various stages of the employment lifecycle. The CSU Black Employee Lifecycle Review is being advanced through a shared leadership model between TCHC and the City of Toronto.
ConveneToronto conducts. Work includes: focused interviews and focus group discussions with tenants and TCHC and City of Toronto staff and community partners.
ConveneToronto conducts Black Employee Lifecycle Review with Black CSU staff.
ConveneToronto submits the final CSU Review report to the City of Toronto for consideration.
City of Toronto finalizes and presents the final CSU Review report to the TCHC Board of Directors and/or City Council.
Throughout the CSU Review process, the City of Toronto will provide regular updates to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation Board and subcommittees, including the Community Safety Advisory Committee.
For more details, or if you have questions about the City’s role in the TCHC Community Safety Unit Review, please contact: Imara Rolston, CSU Review Project Manager, at imara.rolston@toronto.ca.