CSD-20-004 - Advancing the City's Work on Equity, Anti-Racism, Indigenous Initiatives and Social Justice Issues

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contribute to community. In order to fulfill the legal responsibilities outlined in the Code, the City must provide resources and services which uphold the expectations of the Code, such as ongoing staff, volunteer and Council training, policy and process reviews, and the ongoing systematic collection and reporting of disaggregated demographic data. For the most part, this work is currently not being done by the Cityin a proactive and coordinator mannerand it will require internal staff expertiseand additional capacityto effectively move it forward. 3)City’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion(EDI)Workplan(2020/2021) Working with input from the EDI Task Force, staff have developed an updated EDI workplanfor 2020/2021which balances the need to make fundamental changes to the organization, with the need to respond to input from members of the local African Caribbean Black(ACB)and Indigenous communities, as well as many others. That workplan, which will significantly increase staff workload in these areas, is made up of8 specific bodies of work: 1)Create a new corporate equity and inclusion policyand make changes to existing policies through an equity lens. 2)Develop a comprehensiveand targetedEDI training program for Council, staff and volunteers. 3)Make changes to recruitment and promotional practices to remove systemic barriers. 4)Establish a strategy to collect and report disaggregated demographic data from staff, volunteers and service users. 5)Make changes to the City’s corporate communications from an equity-informed perspective, including how to recognize and celebrate specific events. 6)Develop a new mentorship program for youth living in low-income households. 7)Develop a program to help fund community groups working on issues of equity, anti-racism and Indigenous initiatives. 8)Create a team of permanent staff to provide municipal leadership on issues equity,anti-racism and Indigenous initiatives forward within the organization. In the months ahead, staff will work with members of the Task Force, as well as other subject matter experts and community partners, to move this work forward. Many of the workplan items listed above willalsorequire additional community engagement before they are finalized, and in most cases, brought back to City Council for its consideration. 4)City of Kitchener Housing Strategy TheCity’sHousing Needs Assessment,presented to Council in January 2020, outlined thefact that increases to the cost of renting or owning a home have far outpacedthe costs of inflationin recent years.That Assessment also documented increasing levels of homelessness within the City and the inability of the existing emergency shelter system to meet the needs of people who were experiencing homelessnessand challenged by addiction and mental health issues. In responseto these findings, theCity’sdraft housing strategy, which was presented to City Council in September 2020, focused on five main themes: 1)Meeting Needs – through the establishment of housing targets within the housing continuum; 2)What the City Can Do – through city policies, incentives and the use of city lands; 3)Working Together –through the development of a collaborative funding strategy, advocacy and partnerships; 3 - 5