Item - 2021.EX20.7

The Executive Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, in collaboration with the General Manager, Toronto Employment and Social Services, the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture and the Chief Purchasing Officer, to report to the Economic and Community Development Committee in the third quarter of 2022 with a Progress Update on the design and pilot testing of the Community Benefits Framework implementation models, as well as a proposed approach to prioritize community benefits projects and initiatives to be supported and implemented by the Community Benefits Framework.

2.  City Council direct the Chief Procurement Officer, in collaboration with the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, the Manager, Confronting Anti-Black Racism Office and the Manager, Indigenous Affairs Office, to aspire to an annual 10 percent increase starting in 2021, in the number of vendors on the City's diverse supplier list, with a focus on increasing representation of Black-owned and Indigenous-owned businesses, to be in alignment with the Confronting goal to achieve 7.5 percent Black business enrollments in the City's diverse supplier list, by identifying or creating business development opportunities, conducting targeted outreach with business and community stakeholder groups, and reviewing and addressing potential barriers to participation including supplier council certification.

3.  City Council direct the Chief Procurement Officer, in collaboration with the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, to conduct a five-year review (2017-2021) of the Social Procurement Policy to identify successes and improvements needed in the Social Procurement Policy, and to report back to the Executive Committee in the third quarter of 2022.

4.  City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to consult with the Toronto District School Board leadership of Step to Construction regarding their vision, program and recommendations to have students placed on job sites on Toronto's publicly funded construction projects; and explore and consider a minimum hard target for equity seeking groups for hiring in construction across all large scale infrastructure projects. 

When the Community Benefits Framework was adopted in 2019, it signaled the City of Toronto's commitment to maximizing the use of City levers to create social and economic impact through community benefits initiatives. A number of key factors have led to high demand and expectations for community benefits in Toronto today. Major public infrastructure investments across Canadian provinces and municipalities, the looming shortage of skilled trade workers in construction, and the establishment of high- profile precedent-setting community benefits agreements, including those that directly involve the City such as Rexdale - Casino Woodbine, and those led by external partners such as Metrolinx's Eglinton Crosstown, are all contributing factors.

Additionally, the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 and the emphasized need for a recovery and rebuild strategy that prioritizes Indigenous, Black and equity-seeking communities, have highlighted the importance for community benefits initiatives to maximize municipal levers to create inclusive economic opportunities.

The City of Toronto currently has four established and active community benefits initiatives: Social Procurement Policy and Program, Housing Now Initiative, Rexdale - Casino Woodbine Community Benefits Agreement, and Imagination, Manufacturing, Innovation and Technology Program. In addition to these four initiatives, there are at least ten new community benefits initiatives that are currently being reviewed across City divisions and corporations. Six of the new initiatives are directed by City Council to include community benefits.

This report responds to direction from Toronto City Council in 2019 to report back with recommendations and an indication of required resources to move the Community Benefits Framework forward.

Implementing community benefits is complex and resource intensive. Given the high demand and significant potential of community benefits initiatives, it is now necessary to dedicate greater staff resources in order to address the challenges and maximize the opportunity. The report outlines the key areas of work that will be prioritized, specifically the development of:

• Coordinated systems approaches to local and social hiring pathways that connect employers, job seekers, employment agencies, training programs, unions, and community partners[1];
• Monitoring and evaluation framework that guides disaggregated data collection and analysis on common outcomes, outputs and socio-economic impacts to be tracked across all community benefits initiatives; and
• Community benefits implementation “How To” protocols and processes to guide the City of Toronto and its stakeholders. 

Additionally, the report highlights the broader systems and policy issues that will be addressed in the next phase of work, including: better defining equity-seeking populations, establishing processes to set hard targets, developing mechanisms to expand the pool of diverse and local suppliers, and strengthening engagement with employers and industry leaders to forecast opportunities.

While there is tremendous enthusiasm for the pursuit of ambitious community benefits at the City of Toronto, the work of achieving and reporting on those community benefits has only just begun. Investment of time and resources are required to enable the City to maximize the potential of community benefits as part of inclusive economic recovery and growth.