@planningtoronto.bsky.social
For 65 years, we’ve been a vital part of making Toronto better for all by linking research with community action.
Home care personal support workers reduce pressure on hospitals, emergency departments, and long-term care homes. Yet Ontario is facing home care labour shortages, due to low wages, precarious employment, and poor working conditions.
Our new report: www.socialplanningtoronto.org/carework
Immigrant and racialized women comprise the majority of home care personal support workers in the GTA.
Our new report, Caring About Care Workers, finds that they are subsidizing Ontario's home care system with their unpaid labour: www.socialplanningtoronto.org/carework
We are so proud of our placement student, Rebecca Smith, whose social justice advocacy has been featured in this TorontoMet Today article. Check out all of TMU planned events for International Day of Persons with Disabilities: www.torontomu.ca/news-events/...
28.11.2025 15:37 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Alt: The image is a promotional poster for the "National Housing Day Rally." The background is a deep blue with bold, yellow and red text that reads "National Housing Day Rally" at the top. Below, white text on a blue background provides additional details, inviting tenants, renters, and housing advocacy groups from Ontario to participate in a march from FRPO’s head office to Queen's Park on National Housing Day. A horizontal yellow bar at the bottom displays a website link in bold black text. To the right, several raised fists hold hand-drawn signs with different messages, including logistics about meeting times and locations. At the bottom of the image, there are various logos of supporting organizations, depicted in a horizontal line.
Friends: Join tenants, renters, and housing advocacy groups from across Ontario in a march from FRPO’s head office to Queen’s Park on National Housing Day. STOP BILL 60!
Details: TENANTUNION.CA/HOUSI...
SATURDAY NOV 22ND 11AM - 1:30PM TORONTO
#stopbill60 #onpoli
Social Planning Toronto will be hosting two virtual workshops this month to provide individuals, community leaders, local groups, and service providers with tools and tips to engage in productive conversations around homelessness. Learn more and register: www.socialplanningtoronto.org/events
10.11.2025 21:09 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Last year, food bank visits in Toronto reached an all-time high of 4.1 million. 88% of survey respondents live in unaffordable housing. Nearly half (46%) of survey respondents reported that at least one person in their household is employed.
Read more:
www.dailybread.ca/research-and...
SPT is one of many non-profits and charities to sign onto an open letter calling on funders to commit to and demonstrate trust-based philanthropic funding practices: www.tamarackcommunity.ca/articles/ope...
24.10.2025 15:23 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
New proposed provincial legislation would strip away key tenant protections, fast-track evictions, and open the door to ending rent control as we know it in Ontario.
Tell Queen's Park: Don't end rent control
acorncanada.org/take_action/...
Bill 60 is outrageous in a province already inundated with mass homelessness.
It further limits justice for tenants at the LTB, expedites evictions, and further incentivizes Landlord's Own Use evictions by slashing compensation to tenants.
Unconscionable!
news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
Left column: Under the RTA, all tenants have "security of tenure", which means that tenants have a right to remain in their rental unit as long as they follow the lease agreement and the RTA. Landlords cannot evict tenants without a legally valid reason, and after a fixed-term lease ends, the tenancy typically continues on a month-to-month basis. Right column: The government would consult on alternative options on lease agreement expiry that could allow landlords to control who occupies their units and for how long, allowing them to adjust tenancy arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs, or business strategies. This could add flexibility for some landlords in the approach to leases, potentially unlocking additional rental unit stock.
In particular, they want leases to no longer necessarily remain in effect indefinitely, so that landlords have more options for creating tenant turnover.
Current situation in left-hand column, proposal on the right:
The cost of inaction on poverty far outweighs any investment required to address it. Every dollar spent on social programs, income supports, and targeted benefits is dwarfed by the long-term consequences of poverty. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
22.10.2025 17:16 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
QUEENS PARK ON NOTICE: QUEENS PARK: thurs oct 23 at 11am
Freeze the rent! Raise the rates!
Join SPT and community partners this Thursday, Oct. 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Queen's Park as we demand the province enact a rent freeze and raise the rates of ODSP and OW. Learn more: www.noticenorthyork.ca/queensparkon...
On Tuesday October 28 at 7pm, join Workers Action Centre online for the launch of their new report, The Crisis of Wage Theft in Ontario. This report exposes how widespread the problem is and what needs to change. RSVP here:
workersactioncentre.org/new-report-o...
SPT has partnered with community activist Diana Chan McNally to create TALKING ABOUT HOMELESSNESS, a free guide to help organizations and individuals develop strong, positive messaging around homelessness and shelters: www.socialplanningtoronto.org/talking_abou...
16.10.2025 17:06 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
From the #LocalArchives: The Annex is shrinking. The towers of Crescent Town are exploding. @simonlewsen.bsky.social on a tale of two cities, and how the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto. thelocal.to/density-the-...
06.10.2025 13:32 — 👍 12 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 2
Toronto's inclusionary zoning bylaw, which requires certain developments to include affordable housing units, was supposed to take effect in 2022. Yet due to the province's interference with local democracy, it has been delayed by nearly three years: www.socialplanningtoronto.org/inclusionary...
15.10.2025 14:45 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Some Toronto residents have opposed proposed shelter sites for being too close to parks, daycares, and "family-friendly" neighbourhoods.
The reality is, thousands of Toronto children (and their caregivers) are themselves unhoused. Read our latest op-ed: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
The Etobicoke-Lakeshore Shelter Support Coalition invites curious neighbours to learn together about issues of homelessness via a series of free workshops. Learn more: www.eventbrite.com/e/unhoused-p...
06.10.2025 19:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Here are fact-checked biographies and election platform summaries for every candidate running for Ward 25—Scarborough–Rouge Park in the September 29, 2025 by-election. thelocal.to/srp2025/ @TheLocal_TO
23.09.2025 14:13 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
A new analysis of provincial data reveals deep inequities in Ontario’s employment services, with social assistance recipients consistently faring worse than other job seekers. Read the full policy brief from Maytree Canada: maytree.com/publications...
26.08.2025 15:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Join the Toronto Chinatown Land Trust at the People’s Assembly on Planning!
On August 28, TCLT will be developing a Chinatown People’s Planning Policy which respond to the City of Toronto’s ongoing Chinatown Planning Study. Free; RSVP required: www.eventbrite.com/e/peoples-as...
“In Parkdale and across the downtown, the cost of housing has become unbearable for so many residents we serve, so many people here who spend 100 per cent of their monthly income on housing, which really leaves nothing for other essentials."
www.torontotoday.ca/local/health...
Toronto has 1500+ public parks and hundreds of recreation facilities. The City of Toronto is seeking community feedback on their 20-year Parkland Strategy and Parks and Recreation Facilities Plan. The survey is open until September 14: ca.mar.medallia.com?e=461983&d=l...
30.07.2025 15:27 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Slide 1 Alt Text: The background is a light yellow, inverted image of Queen’s Park in Toronto. The top half of the image reads, "The Big Power Grab: A Series About How Ontario’s New Laws Impact You" in bold letters; "The Big Power Grab" is in bright purple, while the subtitle is in black. Below this, there is a white text box outlined in purple, containing the photos and names of our speakers: - Diana Chan McNally, Encampment Justice Network - Yaroslava Avila Montenegro, Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations - Ahona Mehdi, Disability Justice Network of Ontario
Friends, you've got a few more hours to register for today's panel as part of the The Big Power Grab Series to learn more about Bills 6, 17, and 33! Join us, Diana, Yaroslava, and Ahona to talk through these important pieces of legislation!
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The City of Toronto is seeking individuals who have lived experience with poverty to join the third cohort of the Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG). Applications close August 8. Learn more:
www.toronto.ca/city-governm...
This is crucial infrastructure that tens of thousands of Torontonians depend on daily. Thank you to
@ttcriders.bsky.social for all your advocacy and mobilizing around this issue.
No matter what they’re called, you should know your rights if you’re stopped by a fare inspector, provincial offences officer, or police while on the TTC: www.ttcriders.ca/rights
19.07.2025 01:11 — 👍 12 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 1
Per the city's latest street needs assessment: 15,418 torontonias are experiencing homelessness. 1604 torontonians are sleeping outdoors. The city has selected sites for six new shelters, but some councillors are trying to block them. Tell your city councillors, mp, mpp, and the mayor to support these shelters: socialplanningtoronto.org/shelters
Per the latest data, 15,418 Torontonians are experiencing homelessness, with 1,604 people sleeping outside. The City intends to open 20 new shelters, with the first 6 underway. Let your elected representatives know you support these plans: www.progresstoronto.ca/petition-tac...
10.07.2025 21:10 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
