SafeTO is a Community Safety and Wellbeing (CSWB) Plan currently under development that aims to shift from a focus on emergency response to move to a culture of prevention. The plan will prioritize four challenge areas: community trauma, community violence, harm and victimization, and community justice to help bring about a safer Toronto.
The Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 1, Sched. 1 Part XVI mandates every municipality across Ontario to prepare and adopt a Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan by July 2021.
Municipalities will form a multi-sectoral advisory committee comprised of representation from the police service board and other local service providers in health/mental health, education, community/social services and children/youth services.
The Municipality will consult the advisory committee, affected communities and those that serve them on the prioritization of risk factors and to identify strategies to address them.
The Municipality will use relevant data to identify and prioritize risk factors that contribute to crime, victimization and community safety and wellbeing; and will set out measurable outcomes that the strategies are intended to produce
Police Service Boards will implement business plans that align with and further the goals of the Municipality’s CSWB Plan.
The Municipality will report on and publish the CSWB plan.
The plan will be revised within a four-year time frame.
Our work leverages the Community Safety and Wellbeing Planning Framework developed by the Ministry of Solicitor General in partnership with a broad range of sectors including the City of Toronto. The Community Safety and Wellbeing Planning Framework includes:
The following areas have emerged from staff review of existing engagement and consultation data and reflect key principles in our approach to the SafeTO work – build on the existing community and institutional wisdom. It is important to note that, all of the prioritized challenges are interrelated and that there will be overlap in how the city responds to these areas.
| Prioritized Challenge | Description | Related Issues | Strategies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Trauma | Consistent exposure to events that can cause physical, emotional and psychological harm can have a negative impact on community wellbeing, health and safety |
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Mobilize the City and Community to become a trauma-informed City that builds tools that includes:
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| Community Violence | Community violence is defined as intentional acts of interpersonal violence often committed in public areas by individuals who may or may not be intimately related to the victim |
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Prioritize multi-sector:
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| Harm and Victimization | Short or long-term vulnerabilities that cause negative and harmful effects on individuals, families, groups or places resulting as a result of escalating risk factors.
The City of Toronto defines vulnerability as a gap between the challenges a person faces and the resources they can access when facing those challenges. |
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Mobilize City and community:
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| Community Justice | Consistent justice definitions and approaches that bring together community supports to address access, equity, human rights and the root causes of crime in pre/post charge spaces. |
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When the SafeTO plan is complete it will guide how social systems that serve Torontonians such as community services, healthcare systems, justice systems and police work together to meet community needs by changing how we think about safety.
The City wants to know your community safety and wellbeing priorities. Share your SafeTO priorities with us through the survey button below. The deadline to complete the survey is March 15, 2021.
An opportunity to engage in solutions-focused discussions on gun violence as part of the development of SafeTO.
Topics for discussion will include:
Register to participate in any of the following sessions:
March 9, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
March 11, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
March 16, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
March 18, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
March 25, 6 to 8:30 p.m.