In June 2023, the Government of Canada proclaimed the first Friday of June as “The National Day Against Gun Violence” in Canada because gun violence causes devastating impacts to victims, families and our community. This day brings awareness to the issue, the causes and effects of gun violence, as well as prevention, healing and creating a path towards peace.
A ceremony to commemorate the National Day Against Gun Violence to remember and mourn victims of gun violence and to look forward with a theme of healing and peace was held on June 7, 2024, at the Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square.
TO Wards Peace aims to increase effective interventions to mitigate violence in Toronto using a risk-driven, multi-sectoral model that is driven by a community-centric, public health approach. The program focuses on bringing community groups, local grassroots organizations, community health centres, hospitals and the City of Toronto together to advance actions for the interruption, intervention and prevention of gun violence in the city and create pathways to healing.
The Mayor’s Community Safety Awards celebrate innovative projects that help build safe communities and that reduce violence. Award recipients are honoured during an in-person ceremony at City Hall. Recipients receive a commemorative scroll and a $1,500 award to support their innovative approaches to addressing safety within their local communities.
The Mayor’s Community Safety Awards is a longstanding partnership between the City of Toronto and Toronto Police Service.
The City is taking a bold and different approach to advance community safety with the SafeTO 10-Year Community Safety & Well-Being Plan, working collaboratively across sectors, communities and governments.
Learn more about TO Wards Peace and how it will help Toronto become a trauma-informed city by contributing to the advancement of action 2.1 of the SafeTO Plan. This action focuses on the collaborative efforts between community groups, local grassroots organizations, community health centres, hospitals and the City of Toronto to advance actions for the interruption, intervention and prevention of gun violence in the city.
WHEREAS today we honour the victims of gun violence in our city and our country and recognize the devastating impacts of gun violence on their families and their communities.
Today is also an opportunity to raise awareness and come together in our commitment to find solutions that make our city a safe place for everyone that is free of gun violence and promotes and celebrates the well-being and resilience of us all.
The traumatic impact of gun violence in communities is not only experienced by individuals, but also by communities, which can contribute to negative long-term health outcomes and can be a contributing factor in the tendency to commit violence.
The City of Toronto is working to advance community safety and well-being by working collaboratively with others to build a safer Toronto for all. Gun violence reduction requires leveraging investments, tools and mandates across sectors and governments, to enhance the efforts of community partners in the areas of violence prevention, intervention, response and recovery. The City of Toronto is working with community partners and other levels of government to steward integration of actions and services across sectors using a trauma informed public health approach.
Through the implementation of SafeTO, the City’s Community Safety & Well-Being Plan, the City is also expanding its definition of community safety beyond crime or reactive responses by centering the well-being of people and place and committing to a long-term, comprehensive plan and vision to make it a reality.
Leveraging its role as a system leader, service provider and strategic funder, the City of Toronto will transform the City’s gun violence prevention and intervention approaches to ensure system resources are intentional, practical and laser focused on gun violence reduction.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Mayor Olivia Chow, on behalf of Toronto City Council, do hereby proclaim June 7, 2024 as “National Day Against Gun Violence” in the City of Toronto.