Good morning everybody. Uh my name is Councelor Chris Moyes. I'm the chair of the 2s LGBQ plus advisory committee. My pronouns are he and him and I'm pleased to welcome all of you to our 11th meeting of the term. The clerk has confirmed that we have quorum. So I will call the meeting to order. This meeting is being held as a hybrid meeting in committee room 1 at city hall and also using the city's WebEx technology with members and staff participating both by video conference and in person. We ask for your patience with any delays and technical issues. Members of the public are welcome to attend this meeting in person or can watch the meeting stream uh streaming live on YouTube at youtube.com/orronto city council live. A few reminders uh members please keep your videos on. If members wish to ask questions of staff or to speak, please raise your hand or unmute your mic and indicate your intention to speak on our creative speakers list. When voting on an item or motion, I would also ask members to raise their hands to indicate your vote. If there is a recorded vote, you will be asked to state if you are in favor or opposed. Members, I want to remind you that you must still submit motions in writing. The clerk staff are available at 2slgd at toronto.ca to help with motions. Although some of us are in different locations and meeting remotely today, the two SSL Q plus advisory committee acknowledges the land we are meeting on is the traditional territories of many nations including the Missagas of the Credit, the Anushabbec, the Chipoa, the Hosoni and the Wna peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Matei peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with Missaga the credit. Um, may I have a motion to confirm the minutes of the 2sq plus advisory committee on January 28, 2026, vice chapka. All those in favor? Oppose carried. Um, there is one new item of business to add to the agenda is a letter from me on the hall park revitalization project update. I'll move to add the item to the agenda. All those in favor? Close carried. Thank you. Um before we begin, I would like to propose that we consider item QS 11.4 four thrive Toronto mental health report card and Toronto public health action on two cells with Q plus mental health as a second item of business today to ensure that the staff are available to questions from from the committee. Hope that's okay. So our first item is QS1.1 Queens Park North revitalization project update. Uh Shannon Lawrence, a senior project manager, parks planning and strategic initiatives, parks and recreation is here to give a presentation to the committee. You may go ahead. Thank you uh councelor Moyes and thank you all members of the committee for inviting us to present the project today. I'm Shannon Lawrence. So I'm the senior project manager for the city's park design team. I work on the Queens Park North project. I'm joined by my manager, David O'Hara, as well as uh Joanna Delos Reyes, who is our engagement lead on the project. And we have two members of our uh consulting design team here, Jessica Hutchson from Janet Rosenberg and Studio and Todd Douglas as well. So, we're here today um to present to you our work to date, including the engagement process that the city has been leading since uh last summer, and to introduce the the revitalization project, how we have engaged to date, what we have heard through that engagement, as well as some of the background on the donation terms and the stewardship model that's being proposed in the park. and we will uh present sort of how all of this has evolved, the design that has gone to council and will be going back to council in June and as well as our next steps in the process. So, the project uh originated um in late 2024 when the city was approached by the Weston family with an offer to donate $50 million to improve the park, plus an additional stream of funding for long-term maintenance and programming within the park. And in response to that, city council directed staff in March 2025 to advance the project. And so we had direction to advance the project along two streams of work. And the first was to uh undertake community engagement and preliminary design that would inform the scope of a larger donation acceptance agreement as well as to negotiate the terms of that agreement. And so that um that first phase of the the work is funded through um an inind donation from the donor. And uh in March 2026, we took the uh terms of the donation as well as the engagement findings to date back to council. Council did adopt the terms of the donation agreement but directed staff to come back. Um so this was our direction in March 2026 that staff would come back to the June infrastructure and environment committee and provide an update um on the actual concept design with some additional inputs that would be worked on uh over those six weeks working with um other divisions within the city who have been part of the project to date but working to deliver some specific pieces of analysis. So that included uh an for an updated uh urban forest management plan, a heritage statement of significance, u further analysis on a cafe business case, which we'll get to in the presentation, as well as a public art plan. And we also had direction to bring back the draft terms of reference for a community advisory board. So the structure that's being proposed is that through this new stream of maintenance and programming [snorts] funding there would be um a triparty uh maintenance and management table that would be comprised of the city, the donor and the University of Toronto and uh alongside that there would be a community advisory committee that would help uh inform decisions being made in the park. [snorts] So this is the high level uh project timeline that we have been on. We, as I said, we went back to council in March 2026. We have then been working on those pieces of information that will further inform the concept design that's going back to council in June. Once that's complete, we would then uh and council adopts the the draft concept design, we would be moving through detailed design work um and then moving through a typical construction uh tender and award process and into construction. Those dates are currently being um refined. They should be included in the staff report that will be live on June 3rd. So, I don't have that timeline uh specifically updated today, but we are working to have that for the staff report back to council. Uh Queens Park North is a 5.2 hectare park. It's located um just north of the provincial legislature and interestingly, it is owned by the University of Toronto and leased by the city for 999 years. So it is designated as a city park. It means that there's no specific catchment area um and that it has a role within the city in terms of users due to the location size, functionality, and access. [snorts] It's also recognized in the downtown parks and public realm plan as a potential high location for uh investment and as I said designated through the parkland strategy. >> [sighs] >> There's also a number of assets that currently uh exist in the park. Um most notably, there's a loved tree canopy and an urban green space. It is referenced as an urban oasis through um all of our engagement with community to date. There are picnic tables and benches. There is a bottle filling station and walking paths. There's a recreational perimeter path um as well as public art and a TTC entrance that was opened in 2024. Notably, there was um a revitalization project that was completed in 2019 by the city which undertook uh work to improve the site and this donation uh would deliver some of the elements that were seen um that were identified in that project as well as an additional layer of programming. The park has uh significance to the 2SLGBTQ plus community. uh Erra RA Architects is our heritage consultant on the project and they prepared a historic context statement that has guided the work uh from the very beginning and they identified sort of the the park as um having uh a significance for the queer community um particularly as the site evolved uh through the 1960s and '7s. It was a site of um the Toronto's first pride week. uh there was a march that had concluded at the park and it remains a park that is used today by the queer community and it's a symbolic space in that way. So this has been at the top of our mind uh sort of as we began this process and through our engagement process. The project also delivers um and is informed by many city policies and strategies and we see this as an opportunity to really implement some of these strategies. Um the official plan of course aims to protect, enhance, expand and integrate parkland and it reinforces the need for ongoing investments in park upgrades, maintenance and expansion. The parkland strategy identifies that Toronto is growing and that this growth needs to be managed to preserve the most valued features and elements of parks while positioning the city to maintain and enhance that system. And of course, the to core planning for downtown identified the park as having high importance both citywide and proincially. So through the parkland strategy, we really look at the impact of growth and what that means in the downtown core. Uh it's hard to see on this map as the park uh is quite small uh on this map, but the park uh really sits in the middle of uh this um part of the city that will experience a high impact of growth. And what the map is illustrating is the amount of parkland available to residents by census dissemination block. And so it identifies that areas under 12 m squared are considered to have low parkland access and provision and less than 4 m are considered very low. And so the the estimated impact of growth um in this district means that we will see more pressure on the park. And so this revitalization project really offers an opportunity to plan for that uh increased use to make sure the tree canopy is being maintained that there are sustainability uh and ecological plans for the park to support that level of of growth. [snorts] Planning for growth also uh means looking at sort of many overlapping experiences and what makes a high-value park. And so we know that there are um many uh sort of different uses um and needs within Queens Park North and there's no one-sizefits-all approach to uh to this um planning. So in Queens Park North in creating a high value park, what this means is we're really looking to balance this use of the downtown urban oasis as well as a park that is uh very very well-loved and used. So, we are looking to protect and enhance the park's trees and landscape as well as carefully introducing elements that support learning, gathering, and everyday use. This project vision statement was developed um and refined through the city's engagement process. So, this is the the final vision statement that went through the public consultation and engagement process. The vision really um is for a resilient park that is achieved through many streams of revitalization work. We are looking at this enhanced maintenance program that again would allow the trees and the ecosystem to thrive. We're looking at how to bring uh additional layers of programming and education into the park. We're looking at how the visitor experience can be improved for all ages as well as highquality and inclusive design and a collabor excuse me a collaborative governance model that would support this entire vision. There are seven guiding principles that were also developed and refined through the city's engagement process and they really look at how the project can progress um taking all of these factors into consideration. This is the engagement timeline um that we have been working towards and we concluded our last meetings in early April. The summary reports for all three phases are on the project website. So it's the Queens Park North revitalization. Um and I can point you towards the the website if you haven't already had a chance to look at it, but all of the detailed summary reports as well as the data from the city's surveys are available there. We uh conducted a number of engagement activities over that time. Um we've spoken to more than 3,000 people in that context. We have had public meetings, focus group meetings, pop-ups in the park. Um we've also spoken and met with urban indigenous communities and first nations uh engagements and consultation are ongoing. Um we have also worked with what we are calling the neighborhood uh institutions working group. The park is surrounded by many cultural institutions and so working as well with those neighboring institutions to understand how they use the park. And so here's a snapshot of what we heard. And overall what we heard is that there's a range of perspectives on the park. Uh there are folks who um would you know prefer no change and keeping the park as it is today. There are those that uh would appreciate conditional change and then there's there were those who said change was great and really loved the plans that were being presented through our uh focus group meetings with the 2SLGBTQ plus community. We heard a lot of support for many of the elements that were in the draft design concept. Particularly there was an appreciation for the balance between restbite and activity that the project was uh trying to strike. There was also uh appreciation for uh what was called at that time the treewalk and has advanced in thinking towards becoming a learning forest as well as the inclusion of new washrooms and new lighting within the park. um participants expressed the importance of having presence on the emerging advisory body and um one of the few places where members of the queer community could see themselves without having to pay or use the space was something that we heard a lot and we were very mindful of that as we went through the design engagement process and um understanding and respecting the range of park uses was something that has informed the design evolution and something that Jessica will speak to uh as we talk through So, a quick note on the donation and the key terms that were adopted by council in March. So, the donation is up to $50 million for capital revitalization. The city would um oversee design and capital delivery. As I noted, there's a triparty maintenance, operations, and funding agreement. The city would secure any required changes to the current lease with the university. And there would be uh donor recognition in align with city policies and typical parks don donation and recognition policies. So the the shared stewardship model that I mentioned as well is this new model for delivering the vision and principles in the park. Uh it offers the opportunity for enhanced maintenance including uh with the University of Toronto the position of a dedicated executive director to bring new programming and oversight to the space. and that would be you know appropriately scaled within the park. It also establishes an indigenous leadership circle, a steering committee and the park advisory board. So all in uh we're looking at improved park assets, improved natural areas within the park and improved supports for existing and new experience um within the park. There would be more money and resources for taking care of the park as it exists today and as it's envisioned in the future. [snorts] So I'll turn it over to Jessica. Thank you um to the chair. From our design perspective, it was really important for us to apply this the Queens Parks historical context to understand the natural and cultural forces that have shaped this this wonderful place that we know today. And it's long been more than a place of of respite and green oasis. Um, it's really been a place of of democratic uh uh existence, a place of public expression, of identity and community and ideas, a place for gathering and connection. So, those were really informative to our early thoughts, but it wasn't always such a welcoming place to all. Um, there was a history of surveillance and overpolicing which disproportionately affected the 2SLGBTQ plus community. This resulted in the loss of shrubbery, planting, uh, gathering spaces and amenities like the band stand and washrooms that were once at the center of this park. And so, you know, this really in a way makes subsequent community gatherings and and demonstrations that much more important. So, this was the the backdrop to our engagement uh that followed. Next slide. Thank you. So, conversations with the public made it clear that visitors use the park in various ways at various different times of the day. The concept of nighttime use as being distinct helped us think about the park in new ways. We heard concerns about sightelines when they were desirable, when they weren't. Um, and this inspired some changes to our softscape. Uh, and part of the big part of the plan is introducing new areas of restoration to help the trees that are there and to grow new trees. And so, uh, through our conversations, we we responded to comments to to model and change where the softscape was to better support existing patterns of use in the park. So, we continue to explore this balance between lawn and what we call understory planting, that restoration planting, and those continue to evolve through conversations with the public. Thank you. Uh, a particular example in the case of, uh, the largest oak in the park, we call it tree 139. It's seen on the left here. It has special meaning to many groups. Um, and in an early iteration of our concept seen in the middle image, uh, we had surrounded the tree with this new sort of delicate understory planting. And when we shared this image, uh, with with the community, we heard feedback that it is often important for visitors to get up close with trees. And so finding that balance between allowing access to trees and doing restoration planting to help trees is really important. Um and they we we heard that well this planting would likely be damaged because people still want to access uh this very special tree in particular. So again changes were made. The far right image we've worked with ecologists now to create a mulch area around the tree that helps protect the delicate tree roots while also allowing for those uses uh to continue. Um so the these were just two examples of how feedback has started to shape the park design. There's many more that we don't have time to get into today, but we so appreciate the level of engagement and commitment to making uh these park improvements welcoming to all. And this work continues. We also are looking at delivering an interpretation plan for the park. Um that's helps to bring the various histories um and stories uh to life through through an interpretation strategy throughout the park. And so that's where again these these stories these two SLGBTQ plus stories will start to to um continue to inform the project as it moves forward. And finally just the the inputs that came from the formal engagement process were wonderful. We also the work of many writers and researchers um advocates we just wanted to acknowledge the contribution of everyone who participated uh in in those uh ways and through the focus groups and workshops. It's it's been wonderful uh in terms of design and and interaction. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. So basically where we are in the process is we are working through these additional layers of analysis that we are refining and will be included in staff's report back to council. [sighs] We will um then report the June 10th infrastructure and environment committee and we'll be attending council in the June 24th um meeting. So today, what we'd love to hear from you is um you know, are there any key perspectives that you feel are missing from what we've heard and what we've presented? Are there any priorities or considerations that we should be especially mindful of? And do you have any other feedback that uh you'd like the team to hear that we that we haven't been able to address? So, thank you for your time. Much appreciated. >> Thank you. Um great presentation. Uh if you unplug then I could see the members online. Uh wait for it to come up. Here we go. Any There we go. Uh Cooper, you're first. Go ahead. >> Thank you, chair. And um thank you to the presenters for this very didactic um presentation. I really enjoyed hearing the incredible work that you folks are doing through the revital revitalization project. But one of the things I noticed the presentation um highlighted uh the several engagement that you folks made with different members within the community and stakeholder groups but I didn't really hear any specific mention of engagement with black LGBTQI plus communities. So I was just really wondering whether there was any targeted outreach or consultation with that community and if so um how did their feedback help inform this revitalization design? So that's my question. Thank you chair. >> Thank you for your question and through the chair. We didn't target specific uh groups in terms of u within the 2sgbtq plus community. We did target groups within the community at large and had representation from across the community. within the survey data um we had large numbers of responses from folks who identified as 2SLGBTQ plus and people of color. So through that survey we have a lot a lot of data that informs our findings. Um and that is that is the way that we've been able to collect some of that data. >> Do you have a follow-up question? >> No, thank you for that response. >> Yeah, thank you. and uh Pink Angel, go ahead and then Okay, go ahead, Pink Angel. >> Thank Thank you, chair. Uh thank you to the presenters and the design design team for this excellent work that you're doing. Um my question is uh and I've presented this in previous parks and recreation uh meetings uh that we that the city adopt a policy of planting shrubbery that is indigenous to this area. Uh for example in Mining uh they found uh grasses that have grown not grown for 100 years. So maybe we can uh take adopt that policy of planting indigenous shrubbery uh to attract pollinator varieties uh and birds and and and bees and butterflies and uh including uh native uh varieties of of trees. Uh so and and and a small uh plaque to uh explain what has been planted and why. Um and also to consult with the indigenous committee about uh every park uh in Toronto and and indigenous place names of these parks because uh I don't think every park in Toronto has an indigenous place name and I think that would be a a valid um addition to the place name of every park in Toronto so as to uh overcome the eraser of indigenous place names uh through the legacy of colonialism. So those are my two suggestions and I also have a question you know is in in in Queens Park particularly uh what is the policy uh now uh in place to uh implement indigenous uh sculptures and and uh and uh commemorations of uh indigenous uh individuals who um have contributed to the city of Toronto. Thank you. >> Thank you for the question. Um and a lot there so I'll try to go through it all. Um I will say there's a very robust program of and part of the park design evolution that uh the team at Janet Rosenbergen Studio has worked on with Trophic Design which is an indigenous landscape architecture practice. So they are one of our consultants on the project and um unfortunately given the time of this um update we don't have time to walk through the entire park design but there there is a a layer of the design that is grounded in indigenous placekeeping uh both at the design level as well as at the interpretive level. We've also um been able to work to develop uh scopes of work for the three uh nations, Missagas of the Credit, Six Nations, and Wendaki um to actually develop um uh historical context statements that would be layered into the interpretive program of the park. So, uh I appreciate that it's not um coming through in this presentation, but there's there's quite a lot of work that has been done. And uh on your first point around planting um that's been a huge part of the regeneration uh and and restoration zone planting. So part of that um ecology that's being brought into the park is looking at native species and how to enhance that native species. There's also two uh protected butternut trees within the park which uh hold a very sort of special ecological place within indigenous placekeeping and some of the companion plantings that uh will will go alongside that. So happy to talk about this for ages but recognize that uh we don't have um all the time today but if there's anything Jessica would like to add from JRS. Um yes. Um I would love to go on about the all the varieties of plants that we're bringing to this park, but just to touch on two um I spoke of the the restoration areas around the trees again to help those trees and that what is what we call a white oak restoration reference system. So uh working with ecologists that that is sort of the planting pallet that you'll see there. Um there is another part of the project which is a small a smaller area called the learning forest and that has more Carolinian species um and we're working closely with um uh indigenous groups and um our indigenous advisers on what those specific plants are um and the meaning that they have and they'll be sort of a an element that helps to explain that to visitors to the park. So great questions and and um yeah definitely a big part of the project. Thank you. Thank you. Um, next up is uh Susan. >> Hey, excuse me. I think the speaker is on. I'm Susan Gapka. I'm a community member. I use she her pronouns. Ella say glad to see the presentation today. Um I [snorts] attended one of the community sessions and um unfortunately the last couple have been sometimes double triple booked but I think many of us could relate to that but um uh that was at a time there was couple points I wanted to talk about the indigenous ways of knowing piece and how some more publicity or not but more visual seeing that in the presentation would be very helpful. I think uh thanks to Pink Angel, some of those questions have been responded to. Um I'm thinking of the first gay pride there and the work by Marcus McCain and um wondering like how what you're thinking of that um uh how that's represented and I'm wondering why we don't see more of that. um because there's a great deal of work. Um prior to my appointment to this committee, there was a presentation from the um the work on the Toronto Island master plan in Hanland's Point. So, it almost seems like there should be I mean there's been several times I mean the Cindy Looper concert was on the Queens Park North um the September um counterprotest to um um Hands Off our our trans kids um occurred there. Um, I don't know if I should mention there's been some repercussions and there may be a lawsuit or two coming out of that for me just trying to defend trans kids or some of us trying not just me but I'm one of the people noted. Um, but how we do that and then I guess I just realized five minutes total. So let me and the last point I'm remembering when there was at Pride there was a take back the dyke um I don't know if you've there was an alternate dyke march which ended on the south lawn of Queens Park um so and so there was concern at the you know this is kind of a private public partnership the west are not beloved by some of us in low income categories and trying to do grocery shopping. And so I'm wondering how those conversations, the balancing, you know, this philopic donation with the needs of residents and community members. Sorry for going on, but uh thank you for being here. >> Nice to see you again and thank you for your question uh and very well appreciated. Um in terms of the first part of your question representation and storytelling that will be a layer that's developed we are at the concept design stage. So the concept will be going to council in June um with some of this highle framework and the next step following uh council's adoption of the concept would be to further develop some of these layers including the interpretive storytelling um you know heritage indigenous placekeeping elements that are that are not about the physical design but about how we experience and interpret the space. So very much appreciate that comment. Um, as I noted, there's also a public art plan that will be going back to council as part of the June report. It will be high level, so it will identify the vision and framework and then that plan will be continued to work to be worked on. Um, so lots of space to include these stories and appreciate, you know, you noting them for us and we'll continue to engage on how we how we can best include these through some of those plans. Uh in terms of the donation, one of the one of the I guess exciting elements about the way that the triparty agreement is envisioned is that it would bring an executive director onto the site. Um that executive director would also have a programming budget to uh bring new services and programs into the park. So, still to be defined what that would actually look like, but I think what's exciting is that there is actually a stream of funding to to address some of what you're speaking about and to bring a new layer of programming into the space. >> Thank you. Uh any other There you go. Uh Ranjit to go ahead and then uh Aisha go ahead. >> Thank you. A quick question. During your consultation process, does the change of name from Queens Park to an indigenous name uh came up? I'm asking this because um revitalization for indigenous peoples is also indigenous erasure and you have done some consultations. However, it is still Queens Park. So, it's This is uh this suggests the the how uh settler colonialism spreads all over the insidious nature of settler colonialism. My question is again changing the name as part of re revitalization did it come up and if it come up how are you acting on it? Thank you. Did you want to >> thank you for your question and through the chair. Um the question of renaming the park to an indigenous name didn't come up through the engagement specifically. Having said that, one of the sort of biggest moves that's that's proposed in the concept is the relocation of the King Edward statue from the center of the park to the periphery. So the statue uh movement is uh is intended to do quite a few things. One is to address the landscape and the colonial landscape that you've just talked about in the park. Another would be to uh open up the center of the park for civic democratic space. Uh the park was known as the people's park originally. So there is this idea of bringing that narrative back to the site. Um the question around the statue being moved and counter monuments sort of did come up and it's something we'll continue to explore through our conversations with the nations and urban indigenous stakeholders. So not specifically on the name but there are sorry there are other ways that this conversation has come up through the engagement. Dave, if you want to add it. >> I I think the only thing I'd add is is we're talking about conceptual design now and and there's a lot more work to do, not only on the design and the implementation of the scheme, but with a team and with all partners taking a look at the park and moving forward on programming and all these things we're discussing in including um um working eventually uh towards this the broader university park scheme that that uh that is proved as part of approved as part of TO Core. Um so there's there's much more discussion to have for sure. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh Misha, go ahead. >> Thank you. Um I think a lot of important considerations were already mentioned to the presentation, but there were just a few things that came up for me that I just wanted to speak to. Um, [clears throat] two voices particularly I think that are really important to make sure are maintained throughout the rest of the planning and implementation process are neurode divergent voices. I think often I find in a lot of planning and design for things neurodyiver uh neurody divergent voices aren't really considered in terms of like sensory and also just yeah overall design plan. So I'm not sure if you can speak to whether or not you feel like there's already been an identifiable presence for neurody divergent folks. Um but yeah, I think for me like through a lot of the work that I've been increasingly doing as a neurody diverent person as well, I found that there's a big lack of representation and how spaces are created and often it ends up being that a lot of folks can't actually access a lot of upgraded spaces because a lot of neurody divergent voices um and the variety of them that exist weren't really considered. So that would be one thing I would note. Um I think it's really great that there's already been such a important presence of indigenous leadership throughout this plan. So just really echoing and voicing support for maintaining that through the entire continuation of the process. Um when it comes to things like washrooms about like maintaining or creating them, I really want to voice support for having options for gender neutral or universal washrooms. I recently visited just just to voice like a design that I really like. I recently voiced uh visited the I think uh like a food hall somewhere at King and Adelaide and I was surprised when I went into the washroom space that it was just a fully open universal gender neutral washroom. I really liked the design. People were just kind of able to flow in and out really easily. And yeah, I think it just made it more accessible to me and other folks that I was with. I know that's also a large issue that keeps people away from spaces is knowing that those washroom options aren't available. um maintaining clean and working bottle stations. I went to a park recently where a lot of new ones were advertised. I went to all of the bottle stations. None of them were working, which was devastating. So that I know that seems like a small thing, but if it's being advertised, just really having a way to check and make sure those um things in the park are actually working and up to date and up to standard. The other thing I thought of was having seating options in the park. Like if you're thinking of making new ones that are actually accessible and also plentiful, that's another issue. There's not a lot of places to actually sit in a lot of public spaces. And I hear that as a big need from community members, just having more seating options. Um accessible seating options. Um a lot of standard I think park benches that have the the handle in the middle are not accessible to folks of different sizes. So I really want to voice support for having seats that people a lot of variety of people can actually sit in. Um I really appreciate like the I think mention of respect for existing ecosystems there and wildlife protection. So also really want to voice support for that and um yeah doing as minimal damage as possible in the restoration and revitalization of the park. Um and then I think the last thing is yeah having good lighting and eco-friendly lighting. I know lighting is I feel like is really important in a park but you also want to make sure it doesn't disturb the existing ecosystem. So yeah. Um, I also had a question. I'm wondering if there is time if you can speak more to the engagement process in terms of like how you did outreach to get the folks to uh who attended a to actually attend. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments and your question um through the chair. I'll try to uh go through them. Um in terms of the representation, I appreciate the comment and thank you for raising it. It did come up through um our most recent sort of internal city review and some really good points were raised, but I appreciate you bringing it uh to this forum and and on the record there. Um the washrooms would be genderneutral in terms of how they're being thought of to date. Um and well noted on the on the bottle filling stations. I think one of again the exciting aspects of this project is that it brings this new um management maintenance model into the park as well as I said that executive director role that would have more of a regular presence on the site. So I think that's an really exciting opportunity through this project. Um the lighting there is a lighting strategy uh being developed. So um uh we've heard also through our engagements that that needs to consider uh the animals in the park as well. Um in terms of how folks were um engaged and how engagement was uh sort of advertised, we worked with uh third party public, which is um a an engagement firm that specializes in public consultation. And um there was uh advertisements that went out over social media. There were flyers, emails, uh a list serve was developed through the city's website and there was also targeted outreach to specific groups that um were coming up through the engagement process as having sort of specific interests and focus within the park. >> Okay, thank you. Um seeing no other questions, I will ask to myself. Um so what landmark or symbols wayfinding plaques uh that may be put in place reflect the history of the 2 L subject community in the park and my because I haven't heard anything about that and my second question is uh we know that again there's a lot of activities taking place in the park again activity uh history uh I know that I've attended for other events events like Rasta Fest and you know I think there's Jerkfest that was there at one point. Uh is there going to be a space for continued activity like that? >> Let me just start. >> Um I I I can start with the first one. Um um Shannon mentioned an interpretive strategy and interpretive plan. We know that the the the park is layered with such a an interesting history. Um and we're just at the conceptual design stage, but this this too is where we've got an opportunity to do more to tell those stories both within the park. you you mentioned signs and plaques um and and of certainly other ways of of of interpreting the site uh whether it is the you know the history of the site as it relates to um um some of the events and or or even the tree tour the forestry tour. So, um I think there's there's a lot of opportunity to to to work on all of that as we move forward and again with a team with an executive director on board focused on programming and everything else. It's uh that's something that that we can um that we will be able to do. And and the second part and I'll let others chime in as well. Um we we will be we we've heard a lot about the programming that's happened in the in the past in the larger events and um and the impact on the trees. Actually, that's one of the reasons why the 2017209 work was so heavily focused on on the impact of the trees. So, what we're trying to do is make sure that there's space in the heart of the park by moving the the colonial King Edward statue out um so that we can accommodate more people in the middle of the park on the paved surface without negatively impacting the trees. Some of the larger larger events that have happened in the past probably aren't appropriate for the park anymore, but we can certainly work on a on a a calendar of appropriately scaled events that might land in the park knowing that the place also does need downtime for people to be able to experience it as is the oasis that it is as well. If you want to add to that. No, I would only add um in addition to what Dave said, there is an aspect of the plan that currently envisions what what is called a community workshop. More work to be done on that concept, but it will be part of the concept. It was part of the original concept and will be continue to be part of the concept that staff would like to explore. Um it offers a space, you know, for programming, intentional programming within the park. So, that's an element we'll continue to explore. Um there was also proposed a small performance stage that would allow as Dave said appropriately scaled programming but trying to balance that uh tree protection as well as active use. And so opening up that hardscape in the center offers the best way to do that. >> Okay. Just one final question. Um in the early days of of this project I heard that uh some trees may be removed. Is that was that is that accurate or is that am I did I >> I don't know that we ever uh put forward a tree removal plan. I know there was um a process that the team was exploring early on that was looking at a technique that's called veteranization which looks at how to remove invasive species but continue to have those uh species you know offer uh important ecological um uh aspects to the park including habitat. So that was certainly one thing that was explored as we're at the conceptual level. Um we are working through that sort of tree impact analysis and and that's part of the work that we've es especially been doing since we were at council in March. Um so that analysis has has added an extra layer including uh the retention of an independent forest consultant to uh to advise uh economic climate and forestry on how the plan impacts trees. So we don't have at this moment a specific tree removal plan as we're at that conceptual stage, but we are looking uh quite closely at what the the tree impacts will be through the proposed design. >> Okay, thank you. Those are my questions. Uh seeing no other questions, any speakers on the item? No speakers. Okay, I'll just say thank you uh to the team uh for all the hard work and coming here today. I look forward to seeing the final report at IEC in June. I'll keep my eye out on it. So, thank you very much. Uh I will uh >> Thank you. >> I will ask Pink Angel to move this item to receipt. All those in favor? Oppose? Carried. Thank you. The next item is QS1.4 Thrive Toronto Mental Health Report Card and Toronto Public Health Action on 2SLGQ plus mental health. We have with us Dr. Michelle Murdy, the medical office of health of Toronto and Dr.Wami uh McKenzie, chief executive officer of the Wells Institute are here to give a presentation on to the committee. Welcome. I must say I've seen this presentation [laughter] uh just last week. So times two for me. Go ahead. >> Green. >> Green. >> That's that's why you ask. So hi. Yes. Thank you very much and thanks very much for the opportunity and the invitation. Uh that is not the first slide and the invitation to uh present here. My name is uh Dr. Quam McKenzie. My pronouns are he, him. I am CEO of Welssley Institute and I'm presenting uh today uh for a partnership called Thrive and I'm presenting about mental health in decline which is Toronto's first report card. Next slide please. Just a bit of background uh next slide about uh the Thrive Partnership. The Thrive Table is a partnership table including Welssley Institute, uh, CAMH, uh, CHA Toronto, Family Service Toronto, Strides, which is the lead agency for child mental health, Ontario Health, and then some third sector organizations, uh, United Way, uh, and the YMCA, GTA, and, uh, city representation is from social development and also Toronto Public public health and this partnership came together. Next slide. uh in order to tr uh try and do something about uh the perceived mental health crisis that there was uh in 201 uh 16 17 2018. And one of the first things that the Thrive Partnership did was uh produce a uh mental health plan for the city. And uh there were five key actions. One was the creation of a learning center. Uh the other was the support support for workplace mental health, improving access to housing, thinking about climate change and mental health. Uh and then the top one was a community mental health report card and that's what I'm talking about today. Next please. Now the aims of the report card were to assess the state of mental health in Toronto. Uh to identify trajectories and inequities and to be actionorientated. So it was really to produce a consensus of how you me measure mental health so that you can identify who's effective what the trajectories are and also so it can be a monitoring uh a way of monitoring mental health and we can see the trajectories of mental health over time. Uh next slide please. Uh and the way we've been doing this is through a descriptive analysis of existing data. And uh because we're interested in mental health uh as opposed to just mental illness, we're focusing on good mental health and we're measuring that as responses uh saying that people's mental health is excellent or very good. uh and we were analyzing the data either at the city of Toronto level or if that wasn't available because there was too insufficient data at the Toronto centers census metropolitan level. Next slide please. So four key findings and we'll go quick next. The first is that mental health of Torononians is getting worse. Next slide. pretty disturbing that we've had a decrease from 73% of people with good mental health in 2015 down to 52% of people with good mental health in 2022. Uh and so there's been a 21% decrease in the people who saying they have good mental health. Next slide please. Um the next key big key finding was not everyone is equally affected and specifically here we're not going to go through all the results because it's too big but next slide. We found that equity deserving communities perceive and experience their health and well-being strikingly different. Interestingly, I was at a um um a presentation recently where they stopped using equity deserving and they started using the term equity owed uh populations which is which is an interesting uh twist on it. Uh next slide. Uh fewer people identify as 2SLGBTQ reported good mental health and the figure there next slide was 36% of adults. And if you carry on 19 next slide please 19% of children and youth. So if you're thinking uh the general population it's gone down from 73% to 52% in the 2LGBT populations 36% with good mental health and children and youth only 19% with good mental health. uh this is these uh results really shocked us. Next slide please. Uh now there are many reasons and uh we were trying to search for the reasons in the data. Next slide. And the top uh issues were working conditions. So you can imagine uh difficult working conditions, poor jobs, zerohour contracts, um no uh time off, financial difficulties. So uh financial insecurity is exquisitly linked to poor mental health and then time pressures, not enough time to do what you need to do, not enough time to connect to community or all issues. There were other things uh such as perceived discrimination uh food insecurity uh life stresses all of which would add uh added to this. Um one of the things that jumped out to us in next slide please in children was that 46% of children and youth felt depressed and anxious about the future because of climate change. Uh so you can see that uh there are slightly there are different um issues in children and youth but obviously children and youth are living uh often in families and so those work stresses the financial stresses of adults will be transmitted to children and youth as well. Next slide please. And then we found that services and meeting the needs. So for people who got services over 75% of people said they were meeting their needs. Uh but uh often people weren't getting services and particularly support services, housing and other support services uh for mental health uh were under stress with a doubling of the wait times just between 2021 and 2023 of uh people needing community mental health services and supports for uh that go along with uh community mental health services that are going to increase their chance of recovery. Uh, next slide please. So, there were four key recommendations. The first recommendation was to work with and target strategies and supports for populations most impacted. The next was that we would strengthen social support networks and connections to communities. So there are services that you can do but there's also an opportunity to build resilience and one of the things that did come out of the data what that linked to the fact that people had less time is that people were not able to give or receive the community supports they need to stay psychologically well. Next slide please. uh to promote high quality thriving work environments and last to increase access to mental health promoting services across the continuum. So those were the recommendations. Uh the main recommendation from the uh work was that we've got to do something. Uh mental health in Toronto is in decline and it is time for action. So, this is just the QR code for the report. Uh, if you if if you didn't get it, if we didn't send it to you, uh, you can, uh, pick out your phones and, uh, scan it. And, uh, if not, then it's www.thriveto.ca. And that's the end of that presentation. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. McKenzie and thank you to the community advisory committee for inviting us to present today. Toronto Public Health is pleased to be a partner of Thrive um as part of that report card and being able to share with you today uh some of the work that we are doing to advance um health for 2SLGBTQ plus mental health and well-being. As you've just heard, we've seen that many factors impact mental health and well-being. many of them being systemic and social determinance of health related to access as well as experiences of stigma and discrimination. I think it makes it clear from this report card that we have more work to do in terms of supporting mental health and the well-being of 2SLGBTQ plus communities. So I'll start by grounding our work in terms of the public health mandate of being to promote and protect the health and well-being, reduce inequities in across the city and envisioning a city where all people can be healthy and thrive. Our work is guided by the Ontario public health standards and include related to those mental health promotion, substance use, and health equity. It's also shaped by their strategic priorities for 2024 to 2028. including promoting positive mental health and reducing substance use harms. At a city level, our work aligns with the our health our city Toronto's mental health substance use harm reduction and treatment strategy which guides coordinated action across prevention care and system planning. Our health our city includes specific actions to support programming for 2SLGBTQ plus communities particularly around mental health, substance use and harm reduction for newcomers as well as people living with or at risk of HIV and those who party and play and or use crystal meth. Toronto Public Health does not work alone. We work across sectors alongside community partners and tables like Thrive Toronto to support coordinated and upstream approaches. With that foundation, I'll speak more specifically about how we support mental health into LLGBTQ plus communities. Our roles have been around prevention, promotion, partnership, data and evidence, and policy and systems change. First, prevention and promotion. Much of our work focuses on strengthening preventive factors like belonging, connection, and supportive environments that we heard through the Thrive report card as being so integral to supporting well-being across the life course. In community partnerships and access, we work with 2SLGBTQ plus organizations to improve access and strengthen the referral pathways for individuals across our complicated mental health care system. We've also participated in the Ontario HIV treatment network think tank with gay men sexual health alliance focused on crystal meth use in two SLGBTQ plus communities helping to identify opportunities for prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and mental health supports. Thirdly, data and evidence are needed to better understand the inequities and guide actions. We've seen some of the data that's available in terms of differences in mental health through the Thrive report card. However, we know there are many areas where we do not have that level of data to be able to describe more fully inequities that may be existing. We continue to work and acknowledge that through the city's access plan for two spirit, trans, and non-binary youth, there are identifying gate data gaps as a key challenge and calling on city divisions, including Toronto Public Health, to strengthen identity based data practices and accountability. Advised by the city of Toronto's data for equity guidelines, Toronto Public Health is prioritizing improved sociodemographic data collection and working to responsibly use and share this information where it exists alongside community informed and qualitative evidence. In our fourth area of policy and system change, we work with partners to advance upstream solutions related to housing, homelessness, crisis response, substance use, and harm reduction. Across all of this, the focus is on reducing barriers to care and improving access to care and supports. What else does this look like in practice? A few of the programs, all of our programs are intentionally designed to be inclusive, accessible, and responsive to diverse identities and experiences, including those of the 2SLGBT plus communities. Firstly, in terms of inclusive services and programming, this includes services like our sexual health clinics as well as chest and breastfeeding clinics where care is delivered using inclusive non-stigmatizing approaches that recognize diverse identities, family structures, and lived experiences. As we saw in the Thrive report card, youth child and youth mental health of SLSLGBTQ plus communities is particularly impacted. Much of our work is focused in schools and with school boards to build resilience, reduce stigma, and in support inclusive environments. We use the healthy schools toolkit to support stu schools in assessing belonging and inclusion as well as the healthy relationships plus program that focuses on healthy peer relationships, emotional skills, and positive connections. In communitybased harm reduction, we work with more than 60 agencies across 100 locations in the city to provide harm reduction supplies and services, including organizations that specifically serve 2LGBTQ plus communities such as twospirited people of the First Nations, the 519, and Black Cap. Finally, in capacity building, we are providing training, education, and support to organizations across mental health, housing, and social services so services are better equipped to respond to 2SLGBTQ plus communities. A couple more examples in terms of the outreach that we have done of how this looks like in practice. During the 2022 EMPOX outbreaks, we saw how quickly stigma and discrimination can emerge and the very real impact this can have on mental health and well-being, particularly for the 2SLGBTQ plus communities. This can lead to barriers to care, reduce service uptake, and ultimately worsen health outcomes. In response, we worked closely with community partners to deliver targeted anti-stigma communications and to provide low barrier vaccination clinics so people could access care in ways that were safe, inclusive, and affirming. We also provide or prioritized direct engagement through community outreach, including at Pride. And this past year, we connected with tens of thousands of residents, sharing information, providing supplies, and linking people to services. Importantly, this work helps build trust and strengthens our relationship with communities, improving our ability to respond to current and emerging public health needs. Another important part of our work is the partnerships with indigenous and two spirit communities. The Indigenous Wellness Committee established in April of 2024 is an indigenousled advisory body that guides the development of the Indigenous Wellness Action Plan with a focus on improving mental health and substance use supports for Toronto's urban indigenous communities. We support the indigenous harm reduction circle in collaboration with indigenous service partners to strengthen indigenousled harm reduction services and support knowledge sharing across frontline organizations. Two-spirited people of the First Nations is an active member of both the indigenous wellness committee and the harm reduction circle and helps ensure the voices, needs, and experiences of twospirit and indigenous 2SLGBTQ plus communities are reflected in this work. In addition, we launched the indigenous cultural safety action plan in 2023 to embed indigenous cultural safety across our programs, services, and policy development. I'd like to end by opening up for discussion firstly around the thrive report and uh the presentation from Dr. McKenzie and particularly to understand from you if there are any aspects uh that to to hear more from you about what stands out in that report as well as your perspectives on terms of building stronger connections with Toronto Public Health and their programs and services to support this work as well. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Great presentation. Um questions from members. Just waiting for this my screen to come up. Okay. Uh Ranjit, go ahead. Rangit, you're still muted. Ranged. Okay. In the meantime, anyone else wants to ask questions? Pink Angel, go ahead. >> Uh, thank you, Chair. Um, thank you, Dr. McKenzie, for the presentation and and your team. Um, I'm I'm not shocked that the to us the the rainbow community is very much under represented in the mental mental health care landscape. Uh, and I appreciate that uh you're inclusive particularly of the two spirit and trans community. Um, I also uh would like to thank you for mentioning the 519 in particular. I am part of the mental health care commission implementation team at the 519. We're uh in we're past our ninth meeting and we have three more left and we're going to involve uh stakeholders in the 12th meeting uh to uh present their uh view of the uh uh mental health care tool to toolkit that we're uh putting together. And I was wondering Dr. McKenzie, if uh there could be some collaboration between the 519 mental health care program that we're trying to implement and and and your uh organization so as to to share um learning and uh support and uh and care for those who actually need it. uh uh and we're a support uh a peer support group. So we our funding is very minimal from the f federal government. It's only 10,000. Uh and as you all know 10,000 will not go very far in supporting uh any level of mental health care support and their and their journey to recovery. So uh my question is you know in in in what ways can we collaborate with the 519 mental health care implementation team uh going forward? Thank you. Well, thank you very much for the question and I think it um the the main conundrum here is that um when you listen to the presentation of Toronto Public Health or a presentation from Strides or a presentation from Ontario Health, um there's quite a lot going on and there and you know I've just found out from you that there's also work at 519 and there'll be work at Sherbornne and there'll be work at the CHC's. There's a lot going on. But despite that, we're seeing deteriorating mental health and longer waits for service. So the question that we're trying to think is think think about is very much as you say how do we [snorts] actually put this all together to stop the rot and change the trajectory and is it that we need more of what we're already doing or do we need to be doing some different things and so it's sort of we don't want to stop what's happening but we sort of do all need to get together and say, "What do we need to do that's new to change the the trajectory?" and 100% we need uh partners like 519 uh to come together with Thrive Toronto Public Health and others to really be saying what does the 2SLGBTQ plus mental health strategy for Toronto look like that is going to change the the direction that we're on and so you will get a call from us 100% Yeah. >> Uh, thank you. Uh, Susan. >> Susan. Hi. >> Um, yes. I'm Susan Gapka. Um, she her pronouns. Um, nice to see you here. Um, so I'm just learned a lesson in the first agenda item. This is for questions. So um um but I will try to use a five minutes so we can get through the agenda. Um I was struck by the housing component and my own experience as a previous homeless person um who is now coming close to almost three decades of being off the streets and having access to services. Um, and so I want to talk about that in the housing part of the program, but curious in my experience around mental health and addictions and housing and services is for trans and gender diverse people. That's I think if we had housing. So what is what we're finding in settings I'm going back a few decades but like where segregated women in this particular facility and men in that and so where do trans and gender diverse people fit in? What are you finding out in your report card? I'm going to stop there. That's the question. So, I'm wondering how I know we're moving forward, but I'm also worried about us going backwards. So, any what came up in the research on that? >> I I think from our research um Susan, we didn't have very good detailed data on the trans uh uh trans populations and trans communities. This is one of the problems that we have when we are using existing data streams to try to understand in depth what's happening in Toronto. And I'm sure some of the work going forward has to be uh to connect uh with uh trans communities and find out more uh because uh the worst thing we could do is to try and build a one-sizefits-all commu uh solution that doesn't work uh for groups uh that are uh most affected and most at risk. So I think there's more work to be done on on the uh with the trans community to to to try and work out what are real and relevant solutions. >> If I could add uh I think that your your next item on on homelessness does provide um better data in terms of what we're seeing from the treat needs assessment um looking at the gender diverse populations. But uh we recently been asked at Toronto Public Health in terms of our deaths amongst um homelessness individuals. We only still provide the data by males and females. We're not yet at a point where we're able to provide that data by dreads which is you know partly because of small numbers which is which is good. We obviously you know can't release u very small numbers in that part but also that the quality of that data is not approved. So that's definitely something we are looking at to be able to work with our corer's office um to have better information because obviously bringing to bear the you know the the worst outcomes like deaths is um in in that population is something we'd like to be able to do. Sir, go ahead. Um, >> one quick supplementary. Yeah, like my challenge when like was very segregated one time. We need to do better. I think um on some of this and so I'm welcoming the opportunity to move that forward. I think you'll find pockets in places where but the data so is this secondary data? Yes. >> So that's possibly why um and secondary data for those who don't know is like you're looking at existing research. So perhaps um in the next phase you'd be able to look at finding out what people are experiencing. Um I can't stress enough I guess I'm going to use the extra minute 50 seconds. Um my own experience um rents are so high about ooh oh it's almost 20 years ago um I lost my housing because I couldn't get um into a single unit place because of the high um cost of rent in Toronto and that was it's increased substantially since then and uh that was um that didn't help my mental health. I'll just leave it there because we're close to time. It was very It was It could have gone really really badly, but luckily I had supports in place. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh go ahead, Ranjit. Yeah, my question is about uh LGBTQ plus refugees and newcomers and their mental health especially in the context of funding cuts uh introduced by the bill C12 the strengthening Canada's immigration and immigration system and borders act uh LGBTQ plus refugees as Dr. McKenzie thank you for reminding that uh the phrase equity of populations they are uh within the top priority group of equity of population and um because of these funding cuts uh so many things have been happening and some of my colleagues who have worked uh in the field of refugee and refugee mental health counseling therapy psychotherapy are now looking for other jobs because of these funding cuts. This is how it impacts quite apart from housing and other things. Uh how is this captured or is this captured in your reports or are there any plans to uh capture this and highlight these uh invisibleized populations and their mental health? Thank you. >> Excellent. It's an important point that um when you look at intersectional issues that are going to increase your chance of poor mental health um being uh from a refugee population uh as well as being too LGBTQ uh as well as uh having any pre-existing issues uh then your chance of good mental health deteriorate significantly and uh yeah the the as supports and services are pulled away uh then the chance of recovery uh again uh decreases as well. So uh I do think there are some issues uh significant issues. Uh one of the other issues that we'd probably need to think about especially with refugee uh populations is uh it's not only the uh services that are being taken away uh but it is the increased stigmatization of uh refugee populations. Uh it is interesting that when people think of refugee populations, they often think that uh their mental health is linked to uh trauma uh before they uh they come to Canada. uh but uh the evidence shows that it's what happens once you get to Canada that it is a much better predictor of whether you develop a mental health problem or not. uh uh an uh being uh denied access to work is one of the better predictors of mental health uh problems in refugee populations. uh and the reception of the host population and the stigmatization uh and difficulties in moving through the refugee process are again much higher predictors of developing mental health problems than uh pre uh pre-migration trauma. So there's actually a lot we can do at a lot of different levels to decrease the risks of mental health problems in refugee populations. uh a on top of uh trying to uh develop uh adequate services. Uh and once you layer in on top of that uh to LLGBTQ uh population status uh you you can think of a whole host of things that are possible to do that could significantly change the rates of mental health issues in uh refugee populations. And I would hope that when we rerun uh the report card in 2 or 3 years time that we're able to say that between ao between the um policy and service sector uh that we've done something about it because there is no good reason why uh refugees coming to Canada should have worse mental health and there is no acceptable reason why to LGBT B2 Q plus uh refugees should have worse mental health uh than other refugees. >> Thank you. Uh Terrence, go ahead. Five minutes. >> Thank you folks and thanks for the press. definitely uh one of my passions and interests working with youth especially in North Tobico Rexdale communities um through the past what 12 years. Um so I had a few thoughts and questions that again appreciate that equity owed uh as you imagine working in North Dico work with a lot of folks who have those intersecting identities uh and experiences where it's like yeah we need to step it up. Um, so chiming off of the uh refugee payment, what's happening with the the uh new bill and what's shifted is it's what's called co-pay in regards to mental health services. So uh now there was already limited services but now folks have to pay 30% of the services for mental health services they receive which is the co-pay which folks can't afford. Uh and so now service providers are trying to figure out as well and this is in the private public is a whole other thing too because you got public with nonprofits but um do they do probon or whatever. Uh, so I recommend as you're looking into continuing this work um and doing more current up-to-date studies and what's going on, if you're looking to connect with service providers, uh, Bluebird is actually disseminating the federal funding to uh, the service providers in regards to providing mental health services to refugee claims. Um, and then I had a question in regards to what you have collected and presented so far. Has there been any geographical mapping uh in regards to services and what is available in regards to our community like the GTA or Toronto? Um, so that was the question I had cuz working in the BBS as mentioned, um, there's a lot of gaps and if there even is any targeted services which rarely are in some of the areas um, if you don't have targeted services, the services that do exist are not inclusive themselves and that can definitely contribute to some of those mental health pieces. So wondering in regards to the geographical pieces what we can do in regards to that uh as well as in regard in the work that I've done through the years beyond yes mental health direct onetoone services and case management which has been very helpful in navigating systems and we'll talk about housing later um pure support has been profound and is really helpful especially if you're say on a waiting list say for for onetoone mental health services that's fine community pure support can really have massive impacts on mental health especially for our community that feels so isolated and persecuted by our society. Um to find community as we say chosen family is very very important. Um so maybe looking into some of those pieces. >> There was a question there I believe. Did you want to respond or not? >> Um I wasn't sure whether it was a question for me or whether it was a question for Toronto Public Health. I I'll say that the Thrive report um the the data that was used there was at the the city level or even um city census area level. Um so did not include by neighborhood. Certainly Toronto public health wherever we do have sub Toronto level data. Uh our aim is to provide that that information because we know how important neighborhood level information is to our community partners to where where that is available. Um I don't believe that a geographical mapping of services is uh part of that but certainly there is a subworking group of thrive that is looking at 2SLGBTQ plus mental health in followup to this report card and we can bring that back to that working group um as an area to you know something that they might be able to tackle. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Uh any other questions? Uh go ahead uh Misha. Thank you and thanks for the presentation. Um I just wanted to quickly hit two points and uh just to respond to the question about what opportunities you can still partake in. Um one thing I would really recommend is connecting with more grassroots groups and also finding a way to connect larger organizations to grassroots groups. A lot of smaller grassroots groups in the city are actually getting a large population of people coming in from different intersections and identities. And I think there's a lot of um untapped relationship building potential there to kind of maybe fill in the pieces for some of the data that you might not have really solidly been able to find yet. So I would really recommend that. Um the second thing is I really want to vouch again for two LGBTQ neurody divergent folks. Last year through my work at supporting our youth, we did an asset map and a report on what services uh specifically free services are available downtown east for 2 LGBTQ folks between 14 to 29. And we found that there were no free support services or programs or curriculum programs available at all. there's a handful of maybe six or seven counseling and like maybe university programs that folks can access, but again those are not specifically just for 2 LGBTQ folks. Um and I think like we are like I'm quite aware and a lot of people are quite aware of um what a lack of access to LGBTQ folks have in general but is specifically the neurody divergent population. and they're such a big group of neurody diverent folks specifically in the queer and trans community and they just have very little or zero access to spaces that are specifically built for them. Um, Neuroquer was built last year as a pilot program that ran very successfully to kind of try and fill in or start to try and fill in that gap of no free services being available. But I just want to voice that there is a big need and a huge gap for specifically queer and trans folks who are on the spectrum who have ADHD just various types of neurody divergencies that um yeah they're just not well represented and the impact of that obviously on mental health is really devastating because people who are youth will have no access to services and then they become queer and trans adults who continue to not have access to supports. And I think um I just want to echo Terren's point on peer support sessions as well. um we're finding that peer support spaces are really having a positive impact on folks as they're especially waiting with the long wait times that you mentioned um in the mental health system. So yeah, finding more ways to fund and support groups for peer support services, having more research put into the importance of peer support services and then yeah, trying to find opportunities to tackle the lack of free spaces as you mentioned like finances are a huge strain on folks and some of the programs that we found available to 2SG folks are not free. So I think people are really needing yeah some of those services increased and more data and funding put into those areas. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you. Um Taline, go ahead. >> Um thank you for the presentation. I just had a quick thing to share. Um, kind of jumping off of Maisha's point with regard to um the youth to adults um sort of growth trajectory, what I've noticed in my time working with like queer and trans youth in Toronto is that um there are or tend to be a lot of supports and access and um opportunities available for youth, but once you hit 29, all of those supports tend to go away. Um, so I would just want to um look at the um impact on mental health for folks who age out of programs and services um and see what kind of information comes there because from my own anecdotal experience, it does seem to really impact the communities that I've been a part of. Um yeah, thanks. It's an interesting uh point that um when uh maybe 10 15 years ago um people were worried about transitions and at that time they were worried about transitions and so they're worried about people leaving uh children and youth services at the age of 19 and going into adult services. In that time 90% of people were lost to follow-up when they moved from one uh group to the next group. So what people did uh in response is they changed the the the age at which people transition. So first it went to 25 and now it goes to 29. But it's not clear that we fix the problem of transition. And so I would imagine when we look at the data that we'll find the same problem. It's just happening at 29 instead of happening at 19. Uh so we still haven't fixed that problem and I think uh we we would it is it is really worth looking at and thanks very much for bringing that up. >> Thank you. Um, seeing no other questions, I'll just ask two quick questions. So, what's unclear to me though is between 2015 and 2022, there was a 21% decrease in good mental health in the population. Uh, do we know why there was such a steep decline? was because I'm assuming probably co's as a point of play. >> Good good good question is um there was a decline between uh 2015 and 2020 uh of about 8% then there was a decline in the first couple of years of COVID of about 10% and then there was a decline after CO as well after the worst of COVID. So between 20 end of 2021 going into 2023. So this is a trajectory which started before co accelerated through co and hasn't bounced back since co uh so it's not just co >> okay thank you and um I mean we know what the issue the problems are uh but maybe we can maybe talk about some of the solutions and Dr. M maybe talk about maybe about the uh food program at public health maybe uh the tough program to where we're supporting um uh different organizations in the community. Go ahead. I'll leave it with up to you. >> Yeah, thank you for that. I I think we we do need to be solution focused. I I mean there are a number of challenges as been raised by the report as well as all the the questions here in terms of how we can best support um across the the different needs and the different intersectionalities of of uh individuals where we're having that. You know, I think I think certainly at at the upstream level where our work has been focused is at the the child and youth and and sort of setting a better trajectory just because we've seen that has been one of the major impact areas and where we do have a natural connection and um presence within schools as well as working with school boards. Uh but certainly you know as as supporting other um organizations moving forward to that um you know one of our main mechanisms is uh through the Toronto urban health fund which uh has primarily focused on HIV as well as harm reduction and child and family services and so a number of areas there um looking forward to to being able to support uh you know agencies like the 519 where just recently has won awarded a tough grant but um I think that there's lots of areas where we're we're we're supporting the connections at that intersection of what needs to happen at the community level and I think we heard from the speakers that the importance of places like peer supports uh really more of that community-based non-health service connection but also that health service connection and I think that's one of the real benefits of being part of something like Thrive is that there's things that we are working on at Toronto Public Health at the community level but we also need those better connections to health services um through our mental health partners. >> Thank you. Uh any speakers on the item? Uh Susan Cap. >> I I'm still Susan. Um I have a motion um that has been uh drafted with the clerk. So it should meet the standard that the two I'm checking with the chair to >> is being displayed. One moment. >> Okay. checking with the clerk and the chair to follow procedure. >> Once it comes on the screen, you can speak to it. Go ahead. >> That uh Thank you. Um chair that the two spirit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer advisory committee request the manager gender equity social development to request there's a couple of requests in there. to do to to request the medical officer of health to provide an update on thrive Toronto mental health report card and the Toronto public health action on 2SLGBTQ mental health in the new term of council. May I motivate? >> Okay, thank you. >> Or what's the procedure? >> Yep, that's it. Do you want to continue speaking to it? I just want to say that this is really personal for me um as a person who was uh on the streets or in and out of um shelters and institutions for a decade. Um almost three decades ago. Um that uh housing is really important. I saw a touch on that. I'll speak to that next item. Employment equity is really important. But I'm and I also wanted to touch on what some of the other comment uh member said about how even I'm a little blessed that as a Canadian citizen I've gotten access to services may perhaps more easily but racialized and indigenous people are still um don't have the same success opportunities that someone like myself would have as a as a white person. So I just wanted to acknowledge that. Um but uh hopefully you can come back with some more fill fill the gaps and come back and report in the next term of council because I think this is really important that we try to be strong in our mental health and that um you know diversity is our strength here at the Toronto. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other speakers on the item? Uh seeing none. Thank you so much Dr. Mury, Dr. McKenzie for coming in today and sharing your knowledge and expertise with us on this very important issue. >> Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And to your sport and to your staff as well. [laughter] I want to have your names in front of me. Um I'll have uh Yeah. Okay. We're going to vote on the item. Uh we'll >> on the motion. >> It's going to display it. No worries. Notifying the team online. Okay. All those in favor? Carried and item passed. Thank you. The next item uh for the >> yeah back to the top of the agenda item number two and for those that are online please keep your cameras on. Uh we are just at beer quorum item S QS 11.2 initiatives to support 2SLGBQ plus communities experiencing homelessness. Uh we have a presentation from Monica Waldman project director homelessness initiatives and prevention services Toronto Shelter and Support Services. Rebecca Hooton, manager sector capacity building the 519 and Martha Singh Jennings, director housing advocacy and support services and the 519 are here to give a presentation in the committee to the committee. That's a lot of titles [snorts] and people. [laughter] You're welcome. Right. Thank you. I'm just going to set up here. No pressure. This is Good morning everyone. As mentioned, I'm Monica Wman. I'm a project director with Toronto Shelter and Support Services or TS3. You're going to see we love our acronyms in in uh my division. Um really excited to be here today and uh more so uh excited to be joined by my colleagues at the 519. They will introduce themselves later, but it's Martha and Rebecca. And um so today we're going to provide a brief overview of Toronto's shelter and overnight service system. We'll then share some updates on our work to better support 2LGBTQ plus people experiencing homelessness. Um, all right. Um, so just a little bit about our vision. Oh. Oh, no. [laughter] >> Um, Toron, uh, Toronto is a city where homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring, and where people experiencing homelessness are supported using a housing first approach. And our mission as Toronto shelter service system manager, we oversee and coordinate shelter and support services and outreach to connect people experiencing homelessness with housing. Um so in total we oversee more than 100 shelter locations across the city serving diverse populations with a wide range of needs. Okay. Um, let me go to the next slide. So, here's one of our acronyms. This is, um, we have a the city's homelessness services capital infrastructure strategy, which we call HSY. Uh, and we've been making significant investments to expand and modernize the shelter system with a plan to develop more than 20 new shelter sites across Toronto. Over the past year alone, 11 new shelter locations have already been announced across the city. And together, these sites represent approximately 1,60 beds, which is about 66% of all new capacity planned under the strategy. Our focus in 2026 is on advancing the design and construction of these first 11 sites and moving them closer to opening and delivering much needed uh capacity. And importantly, as these sites progress, future program models and population served will be informed by comprehensive systemwide assessment of needs. And this will ensure that new shelters are aligned with the emerging demands, service gaps, and evolving priorities across the homelessness response system. So this is a map. All of the blue dots are current uh existing shelters, both our base and temporary shelters. Um and then the big red dots are the new sites that have already been uh as I mentioned uh uh they're they're in our portfolio now. and we're developing them. Okay. So, now I'm going to turn to our work on supporting 2SLGBTQ plus communities within the shelter system. Okay. Oops, sorry. Um, so I wanted to Oh, yeah. I wanted to talk about the street needs assessment uh which is a point in time survey that helps us to understand the experiences and needs of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. The the 2024 street needs assessment results show that the proportion of respondents identifying as 2SLGBTQ plus has doubled since 2021. We are seeing particularly high representation among youth and refugee claimments. And in fact, 30% of youth experiencing homelessness identify as 2SLGBTQ plus, which reflects continued over representation. These findings reinforce the importance of targeted supports as well as broad solutions such as improving housing affordability and income supports. Um now now as we know uh with uh a street needs assessment there are barriers and there are reasons why people might choose not to self-identify uh due to safety issues and uh trust in terms of where is this data going to land and how is that going to impact my safety. We did try and come up with some other methodologies to kind of uh encourage getting a more accurate representation, but just also wanted to put that out there um to the committee. Sorry. Okay. So in terms of implementing uh 2SLGBTQ plus inclusive street needs assessment uh since uh the 2SLGBTQ plus data was first introduced in the street needs assessment improvements have been made in how and what we ask participants. So leading up to the 2021 and 2024 street needs assessments we collaborated with Dr. Alex Abramovich on gender identity and sexual identity questions based on best practices. 2SLGBTQ plus specific training for street needs assessment 2024 included a webinar with Dr. Brahmovich um entitled creating uh an LGBTQ2S inclusive and affirming street needs assessment for participants involved in the street needs assessment. Staff conducting surveys were asked to read and show a list of response options so respondents could see themselves reflected in the questions asked. TSS is working closely with Dr. Abramovich for the analysis of the 2024 2SLGBTQI plus street needs assessment results which is still underway. So we are doing a deeper dive um and a report or a manuscript is due later this year. Okay. Um so this is how 2SLGBTQ plus inclusive data informed service delivery. Um so as mentioned it shows an over representation of 2SLGBTQ plus youth in the shelter system. Um, and so some of the things that we have done include making 2SLGBTQ plus competency training mandatory for all shelter staff as required in Toronto shelter standards and the Toronto shelter standards and Toronto respit standards have been updated to better support 2SLGBTQ plus individuals to help address systemic barriers related to discrimination and ensure improved equity. informing our targets for housing outcomes available through the priority access to housing and supports, which we call PATHs, and rapid rehousing initiative with 2SLGBTQ plus people experiencing homelessness identified as a priority population for access to housing. Okay, so updating our shelter standards. So it it really truly is the standard of expectation across all shelters. Um so um the so in in adding and enhancing the standards we are looking to improve the experiences of 2SLGBTQ plus clients across several areas. They include uh capacity building, policy development, basic needs, creating safer spaces for clients, client focused uh 2SLGBTQ plus resources and supports as well as collaboration with community partners. The Toronto Shelter Network and the 519 Community Center are also leading a community of practice for shelter operators to support providers to implement the standards and cultivate safe environments for 2SLGBTQ plus clients, review policies, access, and other aspects of shelter services. And TSS is supporting this initiative. They will talk about it in a minute. I'm not going to steal that thunder. Okay. So, oops, did I forget to turn that? Um, so, you know, we're really not just about talking and and doing some things that we could check off a list. Uh, we've made this a directive and standards and through our quality assurance department, we will be going out to shelters to review how well they have implemented these changes. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Um, where am I? Okay, so now I just want to talk about a new venture that is coming out. We've been working on this for a while and it's coming to fruition. Um, which is a service user advisory group. And so this acronym is SWAG. Um, so oh no. Okay, that was too much swag there. Um, [laughter] so TSS is establishing a service user advisory group made up of people staying in shelters or experiencing homelessness. The SWAG will provide input and improve service delivery policy and program development. The Toronto neighborhood group was selected in Q4 of 2025 to operate the swag. Membership will reflect Toronto shelter population with strong 2SLGBTQ plus representation. And the swag again will help inform policies to improve experiences for 2SLGBTQ plus clients in the shelter system. Okay. And now I'm gonna turn it over to my friends here. All right. Hello. [laughter] Uh my name is Rebecca. Once again, I use she her pronouns. Um I just want to say I'm especially happy to be here today because when I was a student starting at the 519, I actually um was part of the team that led to the creation of this advisory group. we write wrote the report, did the focus groups and so this feels really special to be here about this time. Uh we we gave the report to the city and so seven years later this feels really special. Um thanks so much for having us. Um so as you likely know the the 519 is a city of Toronto agency. We are the largest 2SLGBTQ uh serving organization in Canada and we are celebrating our 50th uh anniversary this year. Um so 50 years of growing with the community and serving diverse 2SLGBTQ plus needs. Um in 2022 we received funding from the city to be able to offer sectorwide training um to shelter staff. Um this built on advocacy uh that started decades ago. Uh many of you may have participated or know about this the the advocacy we've done including the 2001 trans access project and a 2002 uh community consultation uh requested by the city. Um the 2022 report showed a lot of what we've we've heard about today. uh the the desperate need of uh uh specifically trans and non-binary communities, two spirit communities, the the fact that they were not feeling safe in in shelters uh ongoingly to this day. And so we built this training, you can see here a little uh peak into the training itself, including uh your very own Susan Gaffka uh on the screen here. And we have a wide variety of um topics covered in this training. We realized that we needed to go beyond just, you know, two LGBTQ folks exist in your spaces, be nice. Um, and really actually offer tangible uh tangible tips and uh information to support uh frontline workers and people throughout shelter providers uh to be able to meet the needs of these communities. Uh we talk about two spirit experiences, the realities of um queer and trans refugees and how they are are advancing through uh the the immigration system. Um specific trans specific trans-specific uh realities that shelter providers need to be aware of and also speaking to uh the history of harm reduction and how it relates to queer and trans um advocacy and and how that shows up today as well. And so there's a lot of depth in the training, but it also uh as you'll see here, this is a quote from someone who who has done the training. Uh we have heard uh over the past few years, a lot of really positive feedback. Um you know, that this meets learners where they're at, that it is practical, that they're getting tools, and that it is uh offered in a relatable and conversational tone rather than prescriptive. We want to make sure that we are engaging with folks who we know have so much on their plate and that they're able to really uh dig into this training and see how it relates to their work. Um so some details uh the training itself is a mix of asynchronous and synchronous learning. So we have uh 11 virtual modules that we collaborated with 12 519 staff, two community members and three collaborators from other agencies. Uh so totaling 17 um different people of different backgrounds, ages, genders, experiences um to speak to all of these diverse perspectives and and the learning pieces uh comprised in the the asynchronous learning. We also have um really put uh an effort into making sure that it's accessible for people of different learning needs. Um so there's textbased learning, there's subtitles on all the videos. um you know it is uh spoken aloud and we also have the live component where people are able to integrate uh their learning. So the asynchronous pieces can be done at folks own pace and then there are two live zoom sessions uh facilitated by someone from our team where people can ask questions they can get dig deeper into uh the material that they will have learned in the videos um and we also facilitate scenarios which uh we'll get to in the next slide but we won't go there yet. Um this uh as mentioned was uh funded by TSS and uh has been mandated for city shelter staff and so this has uh been a real positive in in terms of making sure we we get all of the uh learners across the city trained. Um we've actually worked with 13 other agencies outside of the directly operated shelters uh through the city which accounts for almost around 1500 staff. so far and the numbers are growing and building as we have uh you know reached more providers and they now know what we're about. Um and this accounts for about 10,000 training hours. So that feels really uh exciting and we are going to continue on that path. Um the uh feedback as you'll see here we have uh basically a 97% [laughter] of well-received uh would recommend stars. Um and really the the qualitative um data that we get back is just people saying how much they feel uh how much more uh ready they feel to support to us LGBTQ folks across the identity spectrum within our communities. Um, and so that's been incredibly exciting. Um, let's take us to our next slide here. This is another little look into the training itself. Um, these are our scenario characters. Uh, we built these characters from the lived experiences of people who come through the 519. Obviously, folks who are going to shelters, uh, they hope to have community and we aim to create that community. And so, they come to us as well and we hear about their experiences in these spaces. good and bad. Um, and you know, the the life experiences that led them to that point. Um, and so obviously these are not real people, but they are an amalgamation of real people that we do know. They're real experiences uh both before ending up in a shelter and what happens in those shelter spaces. And so we invite learners to connect deeper with the characters uh and then figure out what they would do in specific scenarios uh that show up in in the trainings and we debrief those uh in the um live sessions that we do via Zoom. Um it's been wonderful. people have had like robust conversations uh and we will continue to to offer this um and continue to expand the training as well offering more resources making it even more accessible and uh keeping up with current current issues and current realities to make sure that it's applicable each year uh to what is happening in the world. I'll pass it over to my colleague Martha. Hi everyone, my name is Martha Singh Jennings and I use they them and she her pronouns. Um as previously mentioned by Monica um we this team is also doing some um really interesting um other forms of engagement within the shelter sector in the form of our recently launched community of practice. The intention of this space is um to gather together leaders from the uh shelter sector um to create consistent, dignified and service delivery for 2SLGBTQ plus shelter residents across the whole of the city. Um we're really wanting to make sure um we're coming to this in a really practical way. So, we're offering opportunities to approach and reflect upon um the the new updates to shelter standards and and how we might go about implementing those um effectively, impactfully uh to better support grown trans folks. Um and there's there's a there's a focus um on uh compliance in terms of policy and practice and and really tangible supports and resources so that we can hopefully get folks feeling like ready for the quality assurance process that will be coming in the next year or so. and um also like feeling good about their their engagement in in the the space and um intentions around implementing these updates. There's been a really um uh there's been an intention from us to avoid the tokenization of uh two spirit queer and trans folks. Often happens. So we've been very explicit with the sector that this space is not explicitly for queer and trans people. If queer and trans people happen to be leaders in in their organizations then for sure send those folks along. But the intention of the space is for it to be um participated in by people who are uh powerh holders and and have positions to change culture and shift thinking within their organizations. to the next slide. Um, at the moment this this uh cohort that we're that we're supporting in the community of practice, um, we've really modeled the structure um, against this the updates, although we expect this will be kind of like an iterative process as we go through and we work with providers to see what they need. Um, but right now we're, as I said, we're modeling it after the the Toronto shelter standards updates that came out in December. And so we have two themes with uh sessions uh on specific topics within those themes. So the two themes that we're working with right now are cultivating safe environments for 2SLGBTQ plus shelter residents and 2SLGBTQ plus policy development and alignment. Um and then within each of the the sessions we dig more deeply into specific con uh uh specific conversations um with the intention of uh identifying gaps and needs and and therefore leading towards the the potential development of resources and supports by us and like ground source from within the center se sector and hopefully also uh allowing people to spotlight the great work that they're already doing within their organizations. Um as I said it's iterative. So you'll see uh session three here to LGBTQ plus health supports that was actually added um after our first session inclusive programming because the the the folks participating really wanted to to learn more and dig deeper into that. We actually have that session this afternoon. So we'll likely be rushing off after we speak with you to go and go and deliver that. Um and we're really uh happy this slide um to uh be doing this work in collaboration with many as Monica mentioned uh T3S are working with us and Monica and Lauren our colleague here are regular attendees in support of this work and we're really grateful for that. Um we're also co-hosting this space with Toronto Shelter Network. Um and in in order as with our training to ensure that we're including diverse voices in the planning and also to ensure that we're coming at this from a really real like on the ground what is happening what is practical perspective. We have gathered an advisory committee and this committee is made up of people who are to us LGBTQ themselves and who currently work in or have historically worked in the sector and are still adjacent to it. Um and this group meets uh once a quarter to uh plan um what the sessions are going to be um help to develop agendas, exercises and resources for the space. And we're very happy that this group includes uh Toronto Drop in Network, Friends of Ruby, Two Spirit of First Nations, uh Salvation Army, Dixon Hall, uh YMCA, Greater Toronto, Eva's F House, and also Homes First in um in relation particularly to Pacewood, which is the uh collaboration we have with Homes First Society around the operation of the city's only uh adult shelter space for chron folks, which is specifically for refugee newcomers. I also want to take this wonderful opportunity that we have today to highlight some of the other housing um and homelessness related work that the 519 is doing in um namely advocacy. Um, so as we've already discussed here today, and I'm sure many of you are well aware, queer and trans people are significantly over represented in experiences of being unhoused, precariously housed um and um experiencing discrimination within their housing journeys from youth shelters all the way up to to long-term care homes. Um, this is a huge and growing issue. our communities are disproportionately impacted by the national housing crisis and um that is something that the 59 at the 519 we cannot cannot ignore and building on many many years of work as Rebecca previously mentioned both 519 and its staff members and also community advocates um we have recently uh published a new report I have some hard copies here for folks in the room and we can also certainly send out um PDF copies to those who are interested online um This just uh we this is hot off the press. I got these on Monday. Um and so uh we're going to be uh circulating and sharing this broadly um with city councilors and staff and look forward to welcoming conversations with the city about how we can continue to collaborate on effective responses to address the huge diverse and very concerning housing um needs of current trans community. Um within the report you'll see that the voices of many are represented including uh community members from our male trans, trans youth mentorship, trans people of color, newcomer programs and residents of Pacewood. Um we have been doing over the last many decades and in the last few years certainly many community consultations and also build on the work of the of community consultations and research projects led by many others in this in this report. Um, and we want to see, as you'll see from our recommendations, uh, specific housing and shelter and housing support services for queer and trans people for 2SLGBTQ plus people. We want 2SLGBTQ plus people at decision-m tables in relation to housing. Um and we all need queer and trans two spirit and all uh equity owed uh communities need protections across the system in relation to uh renters's rights and the uh to stop the financialization of housing and we would love to come back and speak to this committee in future about this report in more detail and give you any updates we might have about it going forward. Thank you. Thank you for that uh great presentation. Uh >> I have just a couple potential qu discussion questions. We don't have to land on this. Um but I did I did prepare that um in case. So um yeah. So based on the update shared today, did this does this work resonate? Are there any areas you would recommend we focus on more closely? I think this this hot off the press or not press report will probably have some of that. Um, and are there any opportunities of connection and learning that TSS can draw from across other city initiatives to support to us LGBTQ plus populations. Okay, that's officially my end. Thank you so much for having us and yeah, looking forward to your questions. >> Thank you. Great presentation. If you unplug your device then I could see my colleagues online we >> okay we're we're we're just at quorum so all the members that are online needs to actually keep the cameras on and please don't log off otherwise we cannot proceed with this meeting um questions of of uh present presenters. Go ahead. Um, Terrence and then Rajie and then Susan. Go ahead. >> Thank you and thank you for the presentation. Very detailed. Uh, and I'm sure you're going to get a lot of questions and feedbacks from the community as you we're very passionate about this. Um, so I do have a few questions. Hopefully you take some notes and it's a fair amount so I don't know if you're going to be able to hit them all. Um so how are new locations being opened and identified? I noticed some gaps on the map that you are showing in regards to the geographical map and the dotting system. Um so that's question number one. When developing these locations are individual spaces being considered and developed for trans and non-binary folks. Um for example, you know, are there like individual like say you have shared accommodations are there individual accommodations being created as well uh for safety reasons? Um and in in align with that also looking at um washrooms right so uh in in creating gender-free washrooms in those spaces um I was wondering if maybe as I was looking at the presentation too and and that mapping especially uh if some like dashboard can be created or some interactive mapping cuz I really wanted to like hover on that PDF doc document hover some of those dots and get some more details on that but I couldn't uh to see what what you had on or maybe zoom in to see specifically what that intersection is or something. Um, so I don't know if if that has been created, can be created in the works being created, but maybe a recommendation to uh some kind of like dashboard that can be showing some of this information and continuing to update on it. Um, and you mentioned some training that you've done. Have there been any procedures put in place for the service users or the staff uh to report on non-inclusive practices? So you know trainings are great but then what happens then you know are there anything anything put into place whether internally within an organization or the partners or within the the the um partnerships uh or even just you know whatever maybe it's external whistleblower but something put in place so that there can be a followup that great training's done but now when folks uh aren't practicing what they've been trained how do we hold them accountable or how do we address these spaces then um in those follow-up pieces Uh, and then can we make future partnership agreements with local organizations contingent on an assessment of the organization and if they have inclusive services themselves? Um, I'll speak more to this later in regards to some experiences, but I I I'm on the partnerships that are being developed or will be developed and whether or not they are actually inclusive to our community. So, it's great that you have maybe say a geographical partner um or the area that you want to work in, but do they have that same lens that you have or do the same have the same practices? Uh because if you actually look more deeper into regards to the organization, you may find that they're not. And that could really feed into whether or not the actual space is inclusive because you may help set it up, but who runs it, you know, who who represents it and all that jazz. Um and last question, sorry I said a lot. Are there any processes to follow up and address any of the emerging needs from the community as they engage with housing in the shelter system? So, you know, maybe it's the space doesn't work for them or the location or uh they are in a space where their their neighbor isn't inclusive or they're facing some experience of of um homophobia or transphobia. So something where there can be a follow-up and maybe pivot as needed if if there's any emerging issues that arise because once you're situated it's you shouldn't have to be cement in a space if it's not working for you, you don't feel safe. I am um I'm gonna try my but feel free to and sorry through the chair um if I don't remember some of the questions can I refer back because I I and I know the clock is ticking okay so first off we do not have an interactive map but I am going to take that back because that's a good idea I mean you can if you see it on your screen you can probably enhance it and we do have a list of the 11 new sites and where those locations are uh that are coming through the capital infrastructure strategy. Um in terms of creating space, uh I think we we all know that hanging up a pride flag does not equate to a safe space. Uh we have something called the shelter design guidelines. Um and that uh there has been consultations uh to develop that to look at best practices for you know new build builds or renovations. I think we're much more likely to do that in these new situations and it's probably some of the older existing infrastructure that needs um some reworking to make the the physical uh you know design more inclusive. Um but uh so yeah so yes that is part of it. I think we can share that or I believe that the design guidelines are uh it's a public document. Um in terms of um uh so we've got 11 sites, we've got about nine more to go. uh you know all of all of city provided that they are you know in zones that are not employment zones or like right in the middle of a residential area are are a potential site. So we recognize not every corner of Toronto um has a shelter space particularly I would say the northwest area. Um we um so yeah we're continuing to uh look for sites as you can imagine that it also comes with challenges in terms of um you know not every space across Toronto welcomes new shelters. And there are also processes that we have to go through with our uh facilities and and real estate folks because they have to you know we have to follow city processes about uh negotiating either renting leasing spaces or purchasing spaces. Um so I'm not sure if that answered that's the best I can get at with that in terms of where we go from here and where the gaps are. We know that the first uh 11 sites kind of out the gate are going to address some of the gaps, but definitely not all of the gaps. And we are continuing to look at what our data is telling us to inform future priorities. So, we do have another street needs assessment. We have to do this annually. So, we've got another one coming up in October of this year. Um, and I think we can also look at um if there's opportunities to make any refinements so that um the street needs assessment can further enhance uh and inform our decision making. Um and sorry through the speaker I I I feel like I've missed a bunch. >> Well, and I'm over time. >> Yes, I've given you a few extra minutes here. That's fine. Just uh for members be aware that we may actually lose quorum at 12 noon because we add quorum and one member actually has to leave at 12. So um keep that in mind. Um Ranjit, go ahead. >> Yeah, thank you so much. Um my question is regarding training and I'm so delighted that you're doing training uh um for shelters um with my long uh term work with uh LGBTQ plus refugees and newcomers. I I know that uh some of the clients have faced violent forms of racism. They are violent. they they were hospitalized because specifically anti-black racism specifically refugees and newcomers. So, uh I just wonder whether you um include these nuances uh of uh racism uh especially facing black, trans, queer, uh and racialized refugees and newcomers in the shelter systems because that is something uh mainstream LGBTQ plus people may not phrase. uh if if somebody's white they may they don't face racism in this country and I also have faced racism in mainstream LGBTQ plus communities. So these are very very important for us to highlight. Uh I just wonder whether your training program include that. Thank you. >> Thank you for the question. Um excellent point. Absolutely. Um there's a whole module in the uh first half of the training about intersectionality and the importance of recognizing uh the impact of microaggressions and of course macroaggressions. Um but recognizing the spectrum of of how these different types of uh forms of discrimination can show up um and and naming naming each you know that there are a plethora of of ways that folks can can experience uh discrimination. certainly naming racism, certainly naming anti-black racism. Uh, one of our characters is a black transwoman. Um, and she has that sort of intersecting uh experience through the story that we learn of her uh and how she is treated uh in the shelter in the the scenario sort of debrief piece. Um, and so we really try to touch on the the large spectrum of of experiences, but that is absolutely uh a part of it. and in the refugee section as well um speaking to the unique experiences of refugees. So, thank you for bringing that up. >> Yeah, thank you. Uh Susan, >> I'm concerned about time. Um yeah, >> so I'm speaking as a community member on this committee. Um Susan Gapka. I'm a resident um who's experienced a decade of homelessness um on the streets of Toronto. Um I'm coming up to on Sunday will be but who's counting 29 years um because I received the kind of services that you're trying to implement. So thank you for that. I had more to say on that but I just made a note. I thought the street needs assessment was um cancelled um but that could have been a pandemic thing. So that is still a contentious issue about a moment in time counting people. But I remember when they first did it before Alex became a doctor um that I go you can't assess people out of periods. You've got to talk to them about who they are. And so I remember those days. I also remember when um they didn't have these services that uh the manager for shelter and services and housing uh asked how long have you been trans and like. So we've come a long ways. Um I want to note discharge planning is really really important and uh having wraparound services that's not really a question but um I think I just wanted to really the question was does this resonate um with us and for me you are the implementation gap from the previous uh presentation on what the research says and how we're connecting with communities. So I'm really just saying thank you for what you're doing and I hope we get to hear from you again sometime after we read the report. >> Okay. Thank you. There was another question there. So um any other questions? See none. I had a few but you know what I will forgo my questions because of interest of time. Uh speakers on the item. Okay. Uh Susan go ahead. >> Um >> you have a motion. >> Working with the clerk. There is a motion that I don't have the printed copy but on the screen >> you can speak to it comes up. >> I will motivate um yeah security didn't wasn't as impressed with my key to the city as as I hope you might be. But um I'm going to read the motion as soon as it comes up and just give a >> you have a hard copy of the motion. Okay, here it is. Here it is. Okay, thank you on the screen. >> Oh, there it is. >> It's on the screen. Go ahead. >> Thank you. We're just trying to We're trying to get this in. So, um, I move as a community member that the two spirit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer advisory committee request the manager of equity manager equi gender equity social development to request the project director homelessness initiatives and prevention services to provide an update on initiatives to support the 2S LGBTQ plus communities experiencing ing homelessness in the new term council and um that's the motion and um I want to know how you're doing and I think I think it's really important work and I want it to continue to be coming to this committee for feedback comment and to um so that others will have the same opportunities that I had. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, I'll just say quickly that um, thank you for the presentation and all the hard work you're doing on this. I really do like the competency training uh, for staff that's in place. Uh, it seems to be going well. Um, I though you're focusing on TSS, I do hope perhaps you, you know, look at other city divisions, for example, parks and reccks, right, which is really an important uh, agency in the in the city. Um so there's value there in actually spreading the good news. Um the one thing I was going to ask about but I'll just mention here is the uh swag u uh advisory group that you're looking at service user advisory group. I I again, you know, I'm always reluctant to have more advisory committees in the city because there's so many already, you know, and people are is the same people going to different advisory groups and people are at capacity as well and then people lose interest as a result of that because they feel that, you know, not enough is is being done. I know we have an advisory committee at the city for housing specifically. Um, so I'm curious to know why there's a difference, but I understand it, but I don't understand it. But anyways, I'll just leave that there. Um, but I I look forward to learning more about it and seeing how useful it is and if it needs tweaking uh when it comes into being, perhaps we could actually make some adjustments if needed. And again, Susan's motion, you know, you'll come back to after next year and perhaps give us some more updates as to where we're at. Uh, with that, I'll ask that the motion be put on the screen. [clears throat] Okay. All those in favor? Opposed? Then that's carried. Thank you so much. The next item is QS 11.3 focus Toronto and Women Act pilot. And in presenters here is David Abselum, manager and Matthew Carroll, supervisor from community safety and well-being social development and are here to give a presentation to the committee. So come on up. Okay. Mhm. Thank you chair and good morning also almost afternoon committee. Uh so my name is David Abselum. I am the acting manager of safety and the community risk intervention team. I'm joined here by Matthew Carroll, supervisor of community risk intervention. Today we're here to provide an overview of an upcoming Focus Toronto and Women Act pilot which is intended to strengthen coordinated responses to intimate partner violence and support community safety and well-being across the city. So before we get into the pilot, we want to provide a brief overview of Toronto's community safety and well-being plan. So, SAFETO was developed in response to the provincial requirements for municipalities to create community safety and well-being plans. Um, our well-being plan is a comprehensive 10-year community safety well-being plan that reimagines core elements of community safety and well-being in order to shift our paradigm from a reliance of reactive emergency response to a culture of proactive prevention. So safety includes 26 actions across seven strategic goals. The goals reflect the broad and interconnectedness of community safety and well-being, including reducing vulnerability, reducing violence, advancing truth and reconciliation, promoting healing and justice, investing in people and neighborhoods, and driving collaboration and accountability. The plan itself provides a roadmap for how the city and systems that serve residents such as community services, health care systems, businesses, education systems, justice systems and emergency systems can emergency services can work collaboratively across different sectors and across governments to support community safety and well-being. So this slide here provides a uh overall timeline with when it comes to safety. So in 2019, we have the inception of the plan as mandated by the province. In 2021, Safetto was unanimously adopted by city council as Toronto's 10-year community safety and wellbeing plan. In 2022, council adopted SAFTTO's phase 1 key actions and deliverables. This focused implementation uh really worked on four key priority actions that were within the broader safet plan. In 2025, phase one key actions and outcomes were reported back to city council um along with phase two key actions deliverables being adopted by council. Looking ahead, phase 2 outcomes and priority actions will be reported back to council in 2027 and in 2031 will be will bring us to the end of the 10-year plan. So for phase two, safety was really prioritizing four actions that respond to the emerging needs identified through council direction and community advocacy. First is action 2.2 developing a comprehensive gender-based and intimate partner violence reduction plan. This plan or this pilot that we're discussing today falls under this action. The second is action 3.2 two, developing an implementation plan to guide the city's response to the calls for justice from the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The third action is 5.1 engaging residents and building comm community capacity to lead. So this is really about communities having a more active role in safety planning and implementation. Then for the fourth action we have 7.3 strengthening multis sector collaboration through partnership and integrated investments. So this is about improving coordination across systems and responding to emerging needs through more integrated placebased approaches. I'll now turn it over to my colleague Matthew who will provide a little bit more detail about focus Toronto and the woman act pilot. >> All right. Thank you and greetings to the committee and to the chair. My name is as mentioned Matthew Carroll. My pronouns are he and him. I am the supervisor of community risk intervention which includes the portfolio of focus Toronto and STAR. I'm here to introduce as David mentioned the intimate partner violence p uh pilot supported by woman act one of our partners and the city of Toronto with two of our focus Toronto situation tables to note focus stands for furthering our community by uniting services Toronto and there will be an opportunity at the end of the presentation to obviously provide feedback as we appreciate your perspectives and expertise. So, Focus Toronto is a collaboration of more than 190 community agencies across the city of Toronto. The initiative is led through a cross- sector partnership between the city of Toronto Social Development Division, specifically community safety and well-being, uh Toronto Police Service, their community engagement uh section, and United Way. Focus Toronto launched uh Ontario's first situation table in Rexdale uh in 2013 and since then the model has expanded to seven geographic base situation tables covering the entirety of the city. At its core, Focus Toronto brings together the most appropriate agencies on a weekly basis to coordinate rapid wraparound interventions for individuals, families, and households experiencing acutely elevated risk. We also refer to this as just simply AEER. What that means is these are situations where there is significant likelihood of harm, victimization, criminalization or escalating crisis if immediate intervention does not occur. Importantly, the model is not intended as uh routine case management. So, it does not uh duplicate regular service delivery. It and it's not also for investigative purposes. It is a short-term riskdriven intervention approach designed to mobilize the right supports quickly, often within 24 to 48 hours. Also importantly, privacy is foundational in our work at Focus Toronto. Situation tables are governed and informed by the Ontario Privacy Legislation Comm uh committee or commission rather and guidance from the information privacy commission guides our work on a daily basis. The process is grounded in the principles of necessity, proportionality, and the least intrusive intervention. Information is only shared when there is a significant risk of harm that cannot reasonably be addressed by a single organization alone. And in a way, we provide deidentified information that's banded uh during that process. So, for example, Focus Toronto would not collect the age 25, if you will, if we have a service user at the table. we would collect the banded uh category of an individual at the table that's 20 to 29 as an example. So just to break this down kind of in a four filter process is what we would call it. This filter one is the first screening stage of where the originating agency determines whether the situation may meet acutely elevated risk. Um and so an organization and community they see an individual that they're concerned about. They would then potentially identify that this individual is experiencing acutely elevated risk and then present it at the table. So this presentation is where filter 2 comes in. It's a deidentified discussion. No names or identifying information are shared at this stage of the table process. Partners assess whether the situation truly meets that threshold for coordinated intervention and then we'll vote if it is truly in fact AER. This is then preceded by stage three where there is limited identifying information shared but only with the agencies that have a direct role in reducing risk. So, city of Toronto and Toronto police co-chairs do not sit in that huddle where information is being shared about an individual in that space. Filter 4 focuses on intervention planning where the relevant partners coordinate a timely targeted response focused on stabilization, support, and risk reduction. Following the intervention, there is a report back process where limited updates are provided regarding whether contact occurred with the individual, whether risk was mitigated, and whether the situation can be closed at the table while continuing to respect privacy and consent principles through the process. So, building on this framework, focus is now adapting the multi- agency risk assessment conference or simply known as MERIC. America is a model that is going to be used in the IPV pilot with the support with the leadership of women act and its partners at focus Toronto. This work draws on promising practices from gray Bruce, Perth, Alberta and other jurisdictions in Canada and around the world that strengthen structured risk assessment for survivor centered planning, multi- agency coordination in intimate partner violence situations. Two specialist organizations, the Red uh Wood Shelter and Ernestine's Women's Shelter were selected through a competitive process by Women Act to support implementation at the Rexdale and York situation tables. The pilot is focused on advancing several key outcomes, including enhanced IPV risk assessment tools, standardized coordination processes, improved referral pathways, and IPV related data collection that is aligned with our process at situation tables where appropriate. It also creates an opportunity um at Focus Toronto to deepen collaboration with community partners that uh will provide strengthen coordinated trauma-informed responses to individuals experiencing intimate partner violence, including members of the 2SLGBTQ community. Ultimately, the goal of the pilot is to reduce acutely elevated risk through earlier, more coordinated, and more survivor- centered intervention across systems and sectors. So you'll see in that final box on the right hand side the the identified outcomes and deliverables. These include risk assessment tools and training for high-risisk IPV situations. We actually have a training upcoming soon that we'll be providing back to our partners at Focus Toronto. Standardized IPV case management process at the Rexdale and York situation tables. Opportunities to enhance IPV related data collection while respecting applicable legislation. enhanced referral pathway designed to support quicker access to services and interventions where possible and decision-making informed by community partner engagement and learnings gathered throughout the pilot. So key partners as mentioned the city of Toronto is is leading this work with women act Toronto Police Service uh as part of the partnership of focus Toronto United Way our 190 almost 200 agencies and community that are partners at the table um and our GBV and IPV community working group that helped assemble the the model. [snorts] So the meric pilot at focus Toronto is going to be led through women act receiving funding through wage which is women and gender equality Canada for the pilot and women act is planning um and policy organization focused on ending gender-based violence and advancing gender equity. Their work includes research policy development education advocacy leadership and community mobilization to support system level change. The two pilots as uh partners has discussed the Red Door shelter. They provide emergency shelter for support for women and children fleeing domestic violence, families experiencing homelessness, refugee claimants, and their services include safe refuge, crisis counseling, legal and immigration assistance, medical referrals, child and youth supports, case management, housing supports, and settlement assistance. Ernestine's our second partner provides emergency shelter and wraparound for women, children, and gender diverse people fleeing violence. Their services include counseling, safety planning, legal, housing, and immigration supports, child and youth programming, and outreach services for community. In terms of our timelines, the pilot began with the selection committee and proposal phase between November 2025 and January 2026, followed by training and capacity building from February, which will continue now into June. As mentioned, we're going to be doing training um on risk assessment tools and building the confidence of our partners at the table to identify IPV related cases sooner. And the pilot implementation will officially or has officially launched alongside the year 1 uh progress report. Full implementation then continues from May as of now through March 2027 across the identified tables uh York and Rexdale. And as the pilot progresses, year two focuses ongoing evaluation, learning, and continuous improvements supported through quarterly updates and ongoing engagement with community partners to inform future decision-making and sustainability of the model. I want to draw your attention to some just quick statistics. Um, so we wanted to show the committee that the pilot site selection was not based on one factor alone. First Woman Act and Focus Toronto reviewed TPS open data on reported IPV rates per 100,000 folks alongside Focus Toronto domestic violence uh study flag which is a flag that we identify when situations come into the table. This helped us understand where IPV related risk was appearing both in police reported data and within situations being brought to the Focus Toronto tables. Second, we consulted with focus Toronto leads to understand the local context behind the numbers. This included the complexity of situations at the tables such as housing instability, maybe for example, lack of resources in an identified geographic area, mental health services, substance use, child and family safety concerns, immigration or settlement issues, social isolation, and repeat of escalating risk. And then third, we also considered existing community resources and system capacity. So, Rexdale and York were identified as sites where merinformed enhancements could strengthen coordination, improved referral pathways, and support more timely responses to high-risisk IPV situations due to the nature of the data that was presented and also due to the lack of resources to respond to the risks presented to the table. Here's another map that just is essentially colorcoded of the same uh bar graph. And really this slide just highlights in a map graph style how the pilot sites were selected through a comparative analysis of TPS and Focus Toronto data. Focus Toronto's tables are aligned to TPS divisions in terms of catchment. So for example, if you see in the Scarboro um area, right, you have those three TPS divisions. That's one table. So that's the Scarboro uh situation table. So by mapping reported IPV rates alongside Focus Toronto, York and Rexdale, they emerged as key areas for the pilot due to higher rates of IPV and identified community need. The selection process also considered system complexity as discussed, existing community resources and local service coordination as mentioned. So, [gasps] thank you for letting us present first and we're excited to support our community, including um Woman Act in their leadership and Red Door and Ernestines with their partnership at Focus Toronto, including our 190 partners that support this work to date. At this time, we want to turn it back to the committee and invite your feedback on the following discuss uh discussion questions posted. So, one, are there any partners not currently listed that should be engaged? Two, do you have any feedback on the emerging directions or anything else presented today? And three, from your perspective, what considerations should be made in the implementation or evaluation of this pilot as it it emerges through its progression? >> Thank you, David. Thank you, Matthew. Uh, great presentation. Uh, unfortunately, we've lost quum. [laughter] Uh so we cannot uh ask questions of staff or speak to the item nor can we receive it. So we'll have to defer this item to our next meeting in July. Um you you will not have to present again but you may have to come back uh questions of uh the members here and we'll have to defer uh item five as well. So yeah, um my apologies uh to you and uh to the members. I I we we >> I'm going to have staff do a roll call. We actually have sent out two emails to members to see if we can get people back online, but uh no one has responded. So I'll have staff go ahead and do a roll call. Members, it's now 12:11 a.m. and members present in the meeting, Chair Moyes, uh, Vice Chair Susan Gapka, Maisha Xarin, Pink Angel, Ranjif Katilaki, and Terrence Rodriguez and Cooper. Members not present in the meeting Dr. Jad Jabber, Leila Shahid, Telen Wright, Micah Chu, Philip Del Campo, Denaso, Leslie Lee Cam, Lauren Prague. Members, we do not have quorum. The meeting cannot proceed. And as the chair mentioned, all items will be carried over to the next meeting of the committee on July 7th, 2026. Thank >> uh thank you to members uh who remained very much appreciated. It was actually a really great meeting with a lot of important items on the agenda. So and thank you for your participation uh which is always very much appreciated. Uh we'll see you in July.