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In December, residents of Regent Park and surrounding neighbourhoods gathered at 349 Ontario Street, the Central Neighbourhood House to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action to Stop Violence Against Women. The event, Her Memory: Human Trafficking and Digital Awareness, focused on education, prevention, and community healing while honouring women and girls impacted by gender-based violence. Organized by The Neighbourhood Group (TNG) and METRAC Action on Violence, with support from local and citywide partners, the gathering brought together community members, frontline workers, youth, elders, and service providers. The event created a space to examine how gender-based violence and human trafficking affect neighbourhoods like Regent Park, where residents continue to navigate redevelopment, migration, economic pressures, and systemic inequities. Discussions throughout the evening emphasized that vulnerability is often shaped by structural conditions rather than individual choices...

The Planning Committee of the Regent Park Social Development Plan held its final meeting of 2025 in December, concluding a year focused on strengthening community-led social infrastructure alongside the ongoing physical redevelopment of Regent Park. A central item on the agenda was the urgent need to secure sustainable funding for the Regent Park Social Development Plan as it moves into 2026. Committee members emphasized that social development funding is critical to revitalizing the community’s people, services, and governance structures—complementing the large-scale housing and infrastructure changes that have reshaped the neighbourhood over the past decade. Without stable funding, the long-term social gains achieved through the SDP risk being undermined. The discussion referenced demonstrated outcomes associated with the Regent Park Social Development Plan, including findings outlined in the Federation of South Toronto Residents Associations White Paper. These outcomes include zer...

The St. Lawrence Branch Relocation and Expansion is set to bring a major new public library to Moss Park, with Toronto Public Library planning to open a new district branch at Queen and Parliament in 2028. As part of this relocation and expansion, TPL has purchased a heritage building at 339 Queen Street East. The new district library will replace the current St. Lawrence branch and serve residents of St. Lawrence, Corktown, and especially Moss Park, where rapid population growth has increased demand for accessible public services and shared community space. For many Moss Park residents—families, newcomers, seniors, youth, people staying in shelters, and rooming-house tenants—the library is an essential daily resource. It provides free internet and computer access, study areas, job-search support, digital literacy programs, and a safe, welcoming place to spend time. TPL says the expanded district branch will offer more space, longer hours, improved technology, expanded collections, and...

Toronto City Council’s Economic and Community Development Committee received an important update on how the City is responding to growing pressure on Toronto’s shelter system, as the housing crisis continues to worsen. Rising rents, a lack of affordable housing, and increasing homelessness have pushed shelters to their limits. For residents in the Downtown East — including Regent Park, Moss Park, and nearby neighbourhoods — access to safe shelter has become an urgent concern. City staff explained how the shelter system is adjusting to higher demand while trying to make access clearer, fairer, and based on human rights. A major focus was the new Access to Shelter Framework. This framework creates a more straightforward and consistent process for deciding who can access shelter services. The goal is to reduce confusion, improve transparency, and make sure decisions consider equity and the real-life needs of individuals and families asking for help. The committee also reviewed updates to ...

Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) has announced the outcome of a community-wide vote determining how $26.8 million in community benefits funding will be invested as part of Regent Park’s Phase 4–5 revitalization. The funding is secured through a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) between TCHC and its development partner, Tridel. The agreement is designed to ensure that redevelopment in Regent Park delivers long-term social and economic benefits for residents alongside new housing and infrastructure. The CBA was shaped through an extensive community consultation process. Residents and local agencies participated in meetings, workshops, and surveys led by the Community Benefits Oversight Working Group (CBOWG), a body made up of Regent Park community members and organizations. Through this process, three potential investment packages were co-designed, each outlining different priorities for education, employment, community space, and local initiatives. In the summer of 2025...

Community leaders, legal experts, and elected officials gathered for a public panel raising a critical question: is Ontario still functioning as a healthy democracy? Hosted by NDP MPP Chris Glover and moderated by MPP Jessica Bell, the discussion brought together a diverse group of speakers, including Indigenous activists, education organizers, and academic experts. The panel focused on growing concerns that major provincial decisions are increasingly being made with limited transparency and reduced public accountability. More than 100 people attended the event, with a strong turnout from Toronto’s Downtown East communities. A public Q&A allowed residents to share lived experiences and ask how recent policy changes affect their neighbourhoods directly. Panelists pointed to decisions involving public lands, essential services, and billions in public spending that they say are moving forward with less community input and oversight. Speakers warned that concentrating decision-making p...

Toronto is advancing a major plan to improve youth employment, following a key discussion at the Economic and Community Development Committee chaired by Councillor Alejandra Bravo. With youth unemployment at 19.7%—and even higher among Indigenous, Black, newcomer, and 2SLGBTQ+ youth—the issue is especially urgent in communities like Regent Park, Moss Park, and St. James Town. During the meeting, youth residents, community advocates, and members of the Toronto Youth Cabinet delivered strong deputations outlining long-standing barriers: limited access to quality jobs, unfair wages, lack of mentorship, and unclear pathways into stable careers. Their input helped shape a series of committee recommendations designed to remove systemic barriers and expand opportunities. Key proposals include calls for increased provincial funding for the Focus on Youth Program, inflation-linked investments for youth services, and new citywide employment targets through the Youth Employment Table. Councillors...

Ontario’s newly passed Bill 60 is sparking deep concern among tenant advocates and local leaders, especially in neighbourhoods like Regent Park where many residents already face housing insecurity. The legislation expands landlords’ ability to fast-track evictions and restricts what tenants can argue at Landlord and Tenant Board hearings—changes critics say will disproportionately impact low-income families, newcomers, and vulnerable households. Tensions reached a peak at Queen’s Park during the final vote, when protesters shouted “people over profit” before being escorted from the public gallery. Ontario’s NDP has since introduced a motion calling for Bill 60 to be repealed, warning that it will further erode fairness at the already backlogged Landlord and Tenant Board. In Regent Park, where a large share of residents live in rental units—including Toronto Community Housing buildings—advocates fear the legislation will accelerate displacement. With fewer protections and shorter timeli...

On November 25th, the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee gathered at City Hall to review the proposed 2026 budget allocation for Social Development Plan implementation across Toronto’s priority neighborhoods. The discussion highlighted the plan’s success in Regent Park and its potential to guide equitable development citywide. Chaired by Deputy Mayor Amber Morley, the committee heard from residents, advocates, and city staff about the tangible impact of Regent Park’s plan. Outcomes cited included zero gun-related deaths in 2023, expanded youth employment and leadership programs, and strengthened community cohesion. These results showcase how coordinated, resident-led strategies can make neighborhoods safer and more equitable. Speakers emphasized the ongoing challenges facing priority neighborhoods with significant Black and racialized populations, including housing instability, economic pressures, and systemic inequities. Expanding Social Development Plans citywide would ...

As part of our ongoing Indigenous reporting, we share an interview with Ramon Kataquapit, a young leader from Attawapiskat First Nation and founder of the Okiniwak Indigenous Youth Movement. RPTV met Ramon at the Indigenous Youth Gathering and Pow Wow in Regent Park, where he spoke about the urgent need for youth leadership as Ontario moves forward with Bill 5 — a provincial law that opens the door to large-scale development on Indigenous lands without proper consultation. For many Indigenous youth, the response to Bill 5 is about more than policy. It is about defending land, language, identity, and the right to self-determination. Throughout the year, organizers have held gatherings, cultural teachings, and rallies across Toronto, including a summer encampment behind Queen’s Park that called attention to the lack of consent and the ongoing impacts of colonial land decisions. Regent Park TV has followed these actions closely, documenting how culture, ceremony, and community care guide ...

Skilled trade workers rallied outside Queen’s Park after the Ontario government abruptly cancelled 2,600 applications submitted through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). The province suspended the skilled trades stream, citing what it called “systemic misrepresentation or fraud,” and returned all applications without offering individual explanations. Workers Kulginder and Gurjeed told RPTV they followed every requirement. They submitted documents on time, paid the $1,500 application fee, and waited more than a year with almost no communication from the program. Now, they say the province has labelled thousands of honest applicants as fraudulent with no clear evidence. Many workers are facing severe consequences. Some have lost their status, can no longer work, and now struggle to support their families—at a time when housing costs, food prices, and basic expenses are already out of reach for many in Toronto. Kulginder Singh explained that they were trained in Ontario, work ...

Representatives from more than 68 food banks and community groups gathered at Queen’s Park to deliver a clear warning: Ontario’s Bill 60 could worsen housing insecurity and push more residents toward emergency food services already struggling to meet record demand. Speakers at the media conference said the bill would speed up evictions, reduce the time tenants have to catch up on rent, and limit their ability to defend themselves at hearings. Chiara Padovani and Sarah Watson from North York Harvest stressed that food banks are seeing unprecedented demand, driven largely by households spending nearly all their income on rent. Diana Chan McNally, a Community Outreach Worker, highlighted how shelters, municipalities, and frontline agencies are stretched thin, while Megan Kee of No Demovictions emphasized that vulnerable communities would bear the brunt—facing worsening housing and food insecurity as landlords and developers gain more power. For Toronto’s Downtown East, the message hits cl...

Food insecurity in Toronto’s Downtown East continues to reach new and alarming levels, with the Allan Gardens Food Bank now facing one of the highest surges in demand in its history. Each week, hundreds of residents — including many from Regent Park, Moss Park, and Cabbagetown — rely on the service as rising costs and stagnant incomes push more families into hardship. Volunteers say the pressure has never been greater. Paul Uytenbogart, longtime volunteer and former director, describes a growing gap between what the food bank can provide and what the community urgently needs. With limited supplies and no sustained public funding, the strain is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. Uytenbogart emphasized that while volunteers remain committed, elected representatives must pay closer attention to the realities unfolding on the ground. Recent data underscores the severity of the situation. The Who’s Hungry 2025 report shows 4.1 million food bank visits across Toronto. At Allan Garden...

A virtual town hall hosted by MPP Jessica Bell on Monday, November 17 brought residents together to examine how Bill 60 could reshape life in Toronto — from renters’ rights to local planning, sustainable transit, and climate action. Held over Zoom, the event focused on what the province’s proposed changes could mean for neighbourhoods already facing high rents, rapid development, and mounting transit needs. For Regent Park and surrounding Downtown East communities — where most people rent and rely on stable public transit — the concerns raised struck close to home. Participants shared stories about affordability pressures and fears that Bill 60 could accelerate displacement, weaken tenant protections, and give developers more control over neighbourhood planning. Advocates warned that loosening planning rules and limiting community input would make it harder to build fair, climate-resilient neighbourhoods. Speakers also stressed that housing and transit can’t be separated. With rising c...

Toronto City Council has delivered a strong rebuke of Bill 60, the Ford government’s proposal to amend the Residential Tenancies Act. Councillors voted overwhelmingly to oppose the legislation, warning it would weaken tenant rights and accelerate evictions across the city. The province argues Bill 60 will speed up development and reduce Landlord and Tenant Board backlogs. But City of Toronto staff and housing advocates say the opposite — the changes could put thousands of renters at greater risk of losing their homes. At a media conference this week, Mayor Olivia Chow said the bill fast-tracks renovictions and owner move-ins, giving tenants far less time to challenge evictions or seek legal support. Council’s response is not just symbolic. The city is formally requesting that Ontario reinstate full rent control on units built after 2018 and bring back vacancy control — measures aimed at curbing rent hikes and preventing displacement. Chow also pointed to existing supports for strugglin...

A new report from the Chiefs of Ontario reveals that First Nations people are dying from opioid overdoses at nearly nine times the rate of non-Indigenous residents. In 2022 alone, the crisis claimed Indigenous lives across the province at devastating levels, highlighting a widening health and social emergency. Hospitalizations linked to opioid toxicity are also disproportionately high, especially among those living away from their home communities. In downtown east Toronto, including Regent Park, Indigenous residents face an even steeper challenge as several supervised consumption sites have closed in recent months. These sites once offered safe spaces for drug use under trained supervision, access to sterile supplies, and immediate medical support in case of overdose. Research consistently shows that supervised consumption reduces harm, prevents public injection, and connects people to social and health services. Since the closures, staff at local drop-in centres have reported a rise ...

At City Hall, Toronto has taken a step forward in tackling inequities in social housing. On October 28, the Economic and Community Development Committee approved a motion that strengthens accountability in how the city collects and uses eviction data. The decision follows growing advocacy from community groups and residents — including voices from Regent Park — who have urged the city to confront systemic barriers that put low-income and racialized tenants at higher risk of eviction. The motion directs the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit to work with Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) and the Housing Secretariat to present updated equity-based eviction data by early 2026. This data will help identify where and why tenants are most vulnerable and guide future housing policy across Toronto. During the meeting, community members emphasized the importance of transparency and evidence-based decision-making, noting that eviction prevention must start with understanding who is most affected....

A new program in Regent Park is helping young people build confidence and practical skills in money management and entrepreneurship. The Youth Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship Program, hosted at the Regent Park Community Centre of Excellence, is an initiative of the Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurial Society Hub (F.L.E.S.H.), a nonprofit dedicated to financial empowerment and equity. F.L.E.S.H. provides culturally relevant and socially responsive financial education through online and in-person workshops, mentorship, and community-based support. The organization’s programs are designed for participants who identify as Black, Indigenous, Women, Persons of Colour, or 2SLGBTQIA+, with a mission to make financial literacy more inclusive and accessible. In Regent Park, the youth-focused workshops guide participants through real-world financial skills — from understanding paycheques and budgeting to saving, building credit, and exploring the basics of starting a small business. ...

A downtown Toronto condo board is taking legal action against a long-standing church and drop-in centre, raising questions about safety, compassion, and the city’s deepening housing crisis. The board of CASA Condos, at 33 Charles Street East, is suing Sanctuary Ministries for more than $2.3 million, alleging that the organization has allowed drug use, violence, and disruptive behaviour to spill into the neighbourhood, creating fear and extra costs for residents. None of these claims have been tested in court. Sanctuary, which has served people experiencing poverty and homelessness for more than 30 years, says the lawsuit misses the larger issue — Toronto’s housing and mental health emergency. The church provides meals, health care, and outreach programs, and members describe it as a lifeline for those living on the margins. The dispute has sparked a broader conversation about coexistence in the city’s downtown east. For Regent Park and nearby communities, the story hits close to home, ...

A powerful march for justice filled downtown Toronto on Friday, October 24, as youth, families, and community members gathered for the Save Our Children Rally at Queen’s Park. Organized by the ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency, the demonstration called for unity and accountability to protect children impacted by violence. The march began at Nathan Phillips Square and moved to Queen’s Park, where participants delivered a petition demanding stronger youth protections, justice reforms, and deeper community investment. The rally was held in memory of eight-year-old Jahvai Roy, an Anishnaabe and Bajan boy tragically killed by a stray bullet while lying in bed beside his mother in North York on August 16. His death has sparked citywide grief and urgent calls for action against gun violence, particularly affecting Indigenous and racialized children. Speakers at Queen’s Park connected the crisis to poverty, trauma, and systemic neglect, urging long-term investments in prevention and healing. The e...