From reclaiming public space to opening up economic opportunities, a local women’s group in Toronto re-imagines what their neighbourhood park can and should be.

Built by the side of a railway track and tucked away from the main roads, Lotherton Pathway in North York, a 4,500-strong community made up of mainly visible minority immigrants, feels removed from its neighbours in Ward 15. This might be one of the reasons why its residents feel that their concerns about making change happen in their community need more support and urgency.

With immigration rapidly changing Canada’s demographic profile, it’s more important than ever to listen to new citizens’ perspectives on how Canada can accelerate their path to full inclusion.

Wrote this chapter for an anthology on the story of the growth and destruction of Toronto’s first ‘priority neighbourhood’ for the book The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto's First Immigrant Neighbourhood. From the 1840s until the Second World War, waves of newcomers who migrated to Toronto – Irish, Jewish, Italian, African American and Chinese, among others – landed here.

Municipal finance and governance is a topic that doesn’t get much attention. But interest perks when the Mississauga mayor makes a stunning admission about cancelling a planned LRT if the province doesn’t pay the full cost. Or when the Toronto mayor presents a budget that is all about “caring investments” while proposing to maintain property tax below the rate of inflation.

With various studies conducted over the past few years indicating that language is an enormous barrier for many newcomers when accessing healthcare, iamsick.ca, a social enterprise, has come up with a solution to bridge the gap.