Creating immigrant friendly cities

Toronto has long been recognized as a leader in creating effective multicultural communities. As a City, we have set our sights on being a great place for people from around the world to come and settle and become a full part of the community we share. We know, both instinctively and officially, that diversity is our strength. Toronto should be a model of inclusion. In service of those values, Toronto has set out useful goals and objectives. We make commitments through a number of bodies - including the City, NGOs, the Board of Trade, and others - to the kind of integration and inclusion processes and outcomes that would serve newcomers well. The City has confirmed those goals in the Toronto Newcomer Strategy, passed in 2013 by City Council, which sets out objectives for settlement and prosperity for immigrant communities. Implementation, however, is less consistent. Many good models and practices exist. Offering settlement programs that are integrated into schools and libraries is beneficial, but excluding them from recreation centres and child care facilities is hard to explain. Tailoring programs to newcomers in Public Health but not in social services raises questions about the comprehensiveness of the City's commitment to change. Allowing flexibility for immigrant entrepreneurship like the Scadding Court market shows an appropriate level of creativity, but refusing similar accommodation in other programs reinforces the sense of inflexibility on issues that can become systemic barriers. Declaring Toronto a Sanctuary City was a bold and admirable move, but audits show that many people are still being declined. Buses still make far more special stops at churches on Sundays than at mosques on Fridays.