Inclusive Cities Canada initiative

Inclusive Cities Canada: A Cross-Canada Civic Initiative (ICC) is a unique partnership of elected municipal politicians and community leaders working collaboratively to build more inclusive communities across Canada. Under the guidance of civic panels, comprised of municipal government and community leaders, ICC conducted local social inclusion audits in five cities to identify priorities for local and national public policy in key areas – making local democracy work, affirming urban diversity, investing in local social infrastructure, and reducing disparities in living conditions.

Inclusive Cities Canada grew out of previous work between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Laidlaw Foundation. In 2002, community soundings were held in 10 cities across Canada to provide community perspectives on social issues and the civic capacities required to address them.The resulting report recommended the creation of civic panels to undertake social inclusion ‘audits’ (inquiries) to assess the state of inclusiveness in cities.With a 36-month grant from the federal government, ICC was established in 2003 as an initiative of five voluntary social planning organisations in collaboration with the FCM’s social infrastructure committee. The goals were to:

• Strengthen the civic capacity of cities to enhance social inclusion
• Ensure that community voices of diversity were recognised as core voices of the new Canada
• Promote senior government investments in local social infrastructure
• Create opportunities for mutual learning on promising inclusive initiatives and practices.

To guide the work locally, civic panels were established in the partner cities, co-chaired by a municipal mayor or a city councillor and a community leader. Panels consisted of between 8 to 14 members from various civic sectors who reflected the diversity of the community. The civic panels were staffed by the social planning partners and linked horizontally through a national steering committee, again co-chaired by a municipal leader and a community leader, and a 3-person national resource team, including the national coordinator.

ICC developed a common framework that identified five dimensions of an inclusive city: institutional recognition of diversity, opportunities for human development, quality of civic engagement, cohesiveness of living conditions, and adequacy of community services. The civic panels guided the local research which involved the participation of over 1,250 participants in focus groups and local soundings. In 2005, ICC released five local reports and a report of cross- Canada findings and recommendations.These were the focus of a national symposium that brought together local and federal government officials and politicians, as well as diverse community members from across Canada.

Currently, the future of the cross-Canada alliance is uncertain. The federal government grant to ICC has expired; funding is being sought to continue the work locally and/or regionally to build on ICC’s accomplishments.These include:

• Creating opportunities for diverse community voices – those of urban Aboriginals, new immigrants, people with disabilities – to be recognised, heard, and to contribute to national social policy
• Nurturing ongoing commitments and structures in partner cities (e.g. Edmonton Office of Diversity and Inclusion); City of Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee and the exploration of neighbourhood councils
• Promoting inclusion through ‘civic citizenship’ by expanding the municipal franchise to youth aged 16 and over and to noncitizen city residents.

Source: Freiler 2006

To view the background paper, click here

To view the country profile for Canada, click here