1 COMMUNITY SOCIAL DATA STRATEGY TORONTO CONSORTIUM UPDATE Calgary Meeting May 19, 2009.

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COMMUNITY SOCIAL DATA COMMUNITY SOCIAL DATA STRATEGYSTRATEGY

TORONTO CONSORTIUMTORONTO CONSORTIUMUPDATEUPDATE

Calgary MeetingMay 19, 2009

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Toronto Consortium – 34 Members (May 2009)

LOCAL GOV’T and PUBLIC SECTOR AGENCIES1) City of Toronto Departments2) Toronto Community Housing Corporation3) Toronto District School Board4) Toronto Public Health5) Toronto Public Library6) Toronto Transit Commission

MAJOR HOSPITALS and HEALTH CENTRES1) Mt. Sinai Hospital2) St. Joseph's Health Centre3) Note: Several more interested in joining.

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NON-GOVERNMENT COMMUNITY AGENCIES1) Access Alliance Multicultural Health &

Community Services 2) Black Creek Community Health Centre3) Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives4) Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture5) Central Toronto Community Health Centre6) Centre for Addiction and Mental Health7) Centre Francophone de Toronto 8) Community Social Planning of Toronto9) Daily Bread Food Bank10) Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre11) Family Service Toronto12) New Heights Community Health Centre13) Planned Parenthood Toronto14) Regent Park Community Health Centre15) Scarborough West Community Health 16) Social Planning Toronto17) South Riverdale Community Health Centre18) The Four Villages Community Health Centre19) The Salvation Army Canada 20) Toronto Central Community Care Access

Centre21) The STOP Community Food Centre22) Toronto Central Local Health Integration

Network23) West Hill Community Services24) United Way of Greater Toronto25) Women's Health in Women's Hands26) Wood Green Community Services

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City of Toronto off-sets costs by paying a larger share

Remaining costs are spread among remaining

members

Any revenue left over is put back into a budget envelope to be used to off-set future costs

Meet about 3-4 times a year

Operate under local Terms-of-ReferenceTerms-of-Reference that re-enforces philosophy of sharing and collaboration

ADMINISTRATION

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RESEARCH:• Better understanding of populations geographically• Supplement local data for social research, reports, and

presentations• Comparison of demographics to actual populations• Comparisons with other cities

ADVOCACY & OUTREACH:• Foster advocacy and increase awareness on social issues• Metrics to justify service expansion and funding• Organizational outreach and communication for the

purposes of better service provision

AGENCY DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT:• Support strategic and program planning

e.g., strategic plans, catchment area analysis, site plan development

• Inform Boards of Directors

HOW ARE THE DATA BEING USED?

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• City of Toronto’s review of Neighbourhood Investment Strategy• Toronto Public School’s Learning Opportunities Index• Toronto Library’s 2008-2011 Strategic Plan & Active Older Adults Task

Group• Social Planning Toronto’s new Social Landscape Profile • Public Health’s Lead Drinking Water Risk Management Strategy• Community Coalition “Recession Relief Fund” – indicators on recession

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES:

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• One-stop, cost-effective access

• Searchable catalogue that is intuitive

• Solid start on website with good information (e.g., Q&A’s)

• Consolidates sharing of member initiatives, resources etc., that helps keep members up-to-date on latest research and social trends

• Access to data that was hard to get in past (disabilities)

ADVANTAGES OF THE CSDS

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1. A “What’s New?” button or email. 2. Listserv or emailing updates to users monthly.3. Common repository on the web for data sharing (data that

is not in consortium) among partners.4. More data at lower levels of geography such as Census

Tracts.5. Finer breakdown of language data.6. Other survey data such as EDI.7. Research ideas for future consideration.8. Linkages with other data liberation such as CIC-CERIS.9. More cross-tabs – particularly by single years of age.10. “Conversion files” to convert between geographies (need

the Postal Code Conversion File!).

SUGGESTIONS

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Member Comments

“An important initiative for the community sector that benefits greatly from the data and can’t afford to buy it.”

“The data has been put together very well.” “Easy to manipulate and find data.”

“The open mapping function is our favourite – saving an investment in special software and presenting complex data much more simply.”

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1. Local collaborative community profiles.

2. Interest of some members in participating in a CCSD National Poverty Report.

3. City of Toronto: more in-depth work on poverty for 25in5; ethnic enclaves, etc.

4. Moving data into web GIS possibly leveraging the mapping through the CSDS.

NEXT STEPS

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For more information contact:

Harvey Low

City of TorontoSocial Development, Finance and Administration

Social Policy, Analysis and Research

Telephone: 416-392-8660Fax: 416-392-4976

Email: [email protected]