It was with great pride and pleasure that TWCA co-organized and co-sponsored 2 days of training on equity and inclusion for City of Toronto and GTA municipality staff, and members of the social justice community here in Toronto.

This marked the culmination of a 36-month project to create a national guide on equity and inclusion for use by all Canadian municipalities. The project was spearheaded by City for All Women Initiative in Ottawa, with funds from Status of Women Canada. TWCA was a national partner along with other women’s organizations and municipalities from across Canada, including the City of Toronto and Springtide Resources.

We were overwhelmed by the positive response from City of Toronto staff. Division attendees included Toronto Fire; Toronto Public Health; Children’s Services; Social Development, Finance & Administration; Toronto Employment and Social Services; Human Resources; and Equity, Diversity & Human Rights.

Municipal staff also came from cities such as Ajax, Vaughan, Mississauga and Newmarket. We even had a participant from Waterloo!

The tools are publicly available for all municipal staff and interested organizations, for use anywhere in Canada, at http://cawi-ivtf.org/equity-inclusion/tools

Suzanne Doerge, CAWI, gives guidance on equity and inclusion issues to City staff

Everyone participated with all due seriousness to the subject matter!

               City staff diving into the material

Jephtee Elysee (City of Ottawa), Kara Santokie (TWCA), Suzanne Doerge (CAWI), Mayor John Tory, Winnie Falkenstein (City of Toronto), Nadine Sookermany (Springtide), and Lois Emburg (City of Ottawa)

TWCA was originally formed to bring the voices of diverse women and girls to municipal policy. This has been a key step in our journey to do this, and we look forward to continuing to forge relationships with City staff to carry on this important work.