September 12 2025 Newsletter

Dear Emma,

This past week has been a heavy one for me and my family. After two years of treatment for cancer, my father, Tak Kwan Wong, passed away on Saturday, September 6, surrounded by his children and in the embrace of his loving wife, Mee Ling, of 55 years. 

Dad was a strong, curious, and kind man who travelled the world with the Royal Navy. In Montreal and Toronto, he worked professionally in the top hotels as a chef garde manger and sous chef. Dad carried a quiet demeanour, always speaking calmly and with intention. Never one to pass on the opportunity to go fishing or to cheer for his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs, Dad’s love of these pastimes was surpassed only by his love for his wife, three daughters and their spouses, and seven precious grandchildren. May he now rest in everlasting peace and love. 

I have taken some time to be with my family this week, especially my wonderful mom, and have been overwhelmed by the messages of support I have received. Thank you to everyone who has reached out – your words gave me comfort and strength. It has been a blessing to feel your support during this difficult time of heartbreak.

Even as we face personal tragedies, it is hard to ignore the structural failings that the people of Ontario are facing and the stress that they bring. 

The new jobs and housing numbers published this week reflect what people in Toronto Centre have been feeling for years: good jobs are hard to come by, especially for young people, and housing is too expensive and in short supply. 

We need a Premier who will step up to address Ontario’s rising unemployment and continued job losses, instead of blaming young people and workers for his government’s failures. 

Evidence of the government’s mismanagement of the economy is everywhere. 800,000 Ontarians are out of work right now, with 26,000 jobs lost in August alone, but Doug Ford is more interested in pointing fingers at young people than taking responsibility for his role. Instead of stepping up to save jobs in our public colleges, preserve shifts on manufacturing lines, or create a youth jobs plan, Ford is blaming the very workers who are just trying to get by. 

This year, Toronto is on track to have the lowest housing starts in 30 years, and we know that project cancellations are likely to continue. The Ford government has failed on every metric when it comes to increasing housing starts. Ford says that the government doesn’t build homes, but then turns around and demands that municipalities spur housing construction. Then he contradicts his own policy experts' advice to allow for more housing in more places, and claims that it won't help to increase the number of homes being built. Ford’s epic incompetence on the housing file is embarrassing. 

The NDP has proposed a practical plan to double the supply of deeply affordable non-market homes through the establishment of Homes Ontario, and we will continue to champion the solutions that give all Ontarians a fair chance to find a safe, affordable place they can call home. 

Just as Ontarians deserve good jobs and affordable housing, we also deserve high-quality, accessible, and public healthcare, regardless of our ability to pay. However, we are seeing more for-profit healthcare providers enter our province, from for-profit surgery delivery to for-profit primary care clinics.

Join me, MPP Jessica Bell and MPP Dr. Robin Lennox for an important update on what we’re seeing in Toronto in the healthcare sector, how to protect yourself from being improperly billed for medically necessary care, and how we can all protect our healthcare system.

When: Wednesday, September 17 at 7 PM

Where: Zoom (RSVP for Link)

Hope to see you there,

Kristyn Wong-Tam

MPP, Toronto Centre

P.S. We finally have a way to contact the Ford’s hand-selected TDSB Supervisor, Rohit Gupta. (Remember him? The former Metrolinx advisor with zero experience in education?) You can now email him at [email protected] 

• Supporting Striking College Workers
• St James Town and Cabbagetown Festivals
• Coffee with Kristyn in the Church-Wellesley Village
• GameChangers Program Tour
• AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) Closing Its Doors
• Rekai Centre Rainbow Wing Celebration
• This Week’s Meetings
• This Week’s Headlines
• Local Community Events

Yesterday, I joined the picket line in solidarity with striking full-time and part-time College Support Workers and other OPSEU/SEFPO Members at George Brown College. You can watch me speak to the workers here. 

College sector workers are on strike for the future of our public post-secondary education! Ford has underfunded post-secondary education for years, forcing colleges to rely on international student tuition to subsidize domestic students. With student visas slashed, the underfunding has finally been revealed. This government has eroded colleges to the point where programs are being cut and staff fear for their jobs. Only fair funding can give Ontarians the education system we deserve and workers the conditions they deserve. Email Ford telling him that you stand with striking workers by using my tool here: kristynwongtam.ca/save-our-colleges 

The 46th Cabbagetown Festival last weekend was amazing! I’m so grateful for all the work the Cabbagetown BIA team does every year to make this super fun event happen and draw people from across the GTA to support our local small businesses. I had so much fun “slaying the cabbage” and connecting with neighbours and local business owners during the festival. Thank you to everyone who dropped by our booth to say hello!

Simultaniously, the St. James Town festival brought the community together last Saturday for a day of delicious food, beautiful performances, and vibrant exhibitors! I am deeply grateful for The St James Town Community Corner, sponsor organizations, and all of the volunteers who made this festival possible. Saturday was a perfect celebration of our community's diversity and cultural richness!

My first official "Coffee with Kristyn" was a success! A heartfelt thank you to all the residents who stopped by the amazing Church Street Espresso to connect and chat about the issues that matter most to our community, including safety, housing, and healthy neighbourhoods. I truly appreciated the thoughtful conversations and insights you shared. Stay tuned for more "Coffee with Kristyn" events coming to a cafe near you!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of visiting Westview Centennial Secondary School in North York to learn more about the Game Changer program operated by The Neighbourhood Group. I was blown away by the positive impact the program is having on students, increasing student success by supporting them through challenging life moments, mediating conflict, and reducing violence. Against the backdrop of Ford’s controversial Bill 33, which places cops in classrooms, Game Changers, led by youth justice workers, has proven cost-effective and trusted by students and educators. We need this program in schools across the province! I am excited to become a Game Changers champion and thrilled to know they are already operating a similar program at Jarvis Collegiate. You can learn more about the program here. 

AIDS changed the world, but ACT changed Toronto. The entire community was changed when ACT announced the devastating news that they would be closing their doors for good on March 31, 2026. 

This closure must be a wake-up call for all levels of government to better fund HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. For decades, funding for organizations like ACT has flatlined under provincial and federal governments. Nonprofits like ACT are not safe from government indifference and the rising cost of operations. ACT’s closure is a canary in the coal mine for the Ford government. Hundreds of nonprofits and healthcare services are struggling to stay afloat across Ontario. Charitable giving is down and unemployment on the rise during the trade war as Ontarians tighten their belts.

Since 1983, ACT has worked on the frontlines of preventing and treating HIV/AIDS in Toronto. For over 42 years, ACT has fought stigma in healthcare and apathy from all levels of government. Toronto is a healthier city thanks to everything ACT has done. 

The viability of organizations like ACT and other AIDS service organizations are contingent on sustained government funding and fundraising efforts. AIDS is not over. The number of HIV/AIDS survivors in Ontario is increasing, especially among women, BIPOC, immigrant and refugee communities, and they will need better public health education and ongoing mental, social, and medical support in a broad range of languages and cultural competencies. People at risk need better access to testing and publicly funded pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), services and HIV medications that the Ontario NDP has been calling for since 2018. The Ford government needs to ensure that ACT can wind down in a manner that carries forward the knowledge, work, and expertise it has built up. The relationships and institutional knowledge contained in services like ACT are priceless. 

To everyone who has been part of ACT for the last four decades: Thank you. I am so deeply grateful to your leadership at ACT. I know that you and allied organizations must have struggled enormously at being forced to close your doors because of inadequate government support. I trust that you made this decision with the same care and love that is the hallmark of how ACT has made our city better. 

The Rekai Centre's Rainbow Wing in Toronto Centre is the first-of-its-kind long-term care space for 2SLGBTQI+ seniors. Last night I was thrilled to join residents and community members in celebrating 2SLGBTQIA+ trailblazers who have shaped Toronto and the Rekai Centre! It brings me so much comfort to know that there is a place where our seniors can receive inclusive aging support.

• Neighbourhood Legal Services
• Cooper Coo Family YMCA
• OASIS Food Hub
• Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
• Ontario Ombudsman

9 condo projects cancelled this year in Toronto, and trend will likely continue

Don't ditch speed cameras, Ontario municipalities association urges Ford 

Internal government documents reveal grim housing climate in Canada

Plan pitched to fix Toronto’s burnt-out Luminous Veil in phases

Toronto Catholic trustees plot meeting, consider taking Ford government to court

Toronto committee calls for race-based data on social housing evictions

Webster Street ACORN Tenant Union wins renoviction fight

Join the Bloor East Neighbourhood Association to celebrate the reopening of the newly modernized Morley Callaghan Bridge (aka Glen Road Pedestrian Bridge), Tunnel and Walkway.  Neighbourhoods are reconnected, residents and visitors can enjoy easier access to our green spaces, as well as a new connection to the City’s transportation network.  This is an important piece of infrastructure with historic significance restored and revitalized.

Features:

• Rebuilt bridge to the City’s Multiuse Trail requirements
• Revitalized tunnel with Artwork
• New public square outside the entrance to the Sherbourne Subway off Glen Road south of Bloor Street East enhancing the Village of Glen Road South
• Fully accessible path from the bridge to Bloor Street East with entrance/exit just east of Sherbourne (across the street from the Sherbourne Subway entrance/exit with elevator to the subway platforms)

Join BENA on Saturday September 13 from 5:30 to 9 PM with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 6:30 PM, family-friendly activities as the community celebrates this important milestone together. 

Rally against a racist and anti-immigrant event that’s been called on September 13 at Christie Pits Park. This counter-rally is community-led and family-friendly, with music, speeches, snacks and workshops.

Christie Pits is for the people, not for racists. The park has a history of anti-fascist organizing. To this day, it’s an important gathering space for migrants, Indigenous people, queer and trans people, survivors of sexual violence, unhoused people, students, and families. The park links Koreatown to Bloor West that is home to Toronto’s beloved East African, Latinx and South Asian communities. Bring your friends and make it clear: there is no space for hate at Christie Pits Park.

Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025

Time: 12 PM to 4:30 PM

Location: Christie Pits Park, 750 Bloor St W, Toronto

Join your neighbours for a fun, sustainable yard sale right in the heart of the Canary District!

Participants can buy and sell gently used items, connect with others, and enjoy a great day outside.

When: September 14, 2025 at 11 AM – 3 PM

Where: Front Street Promenade

Participate by:

• Renting a space and selling your gently used items, items you make such as crafts, or services (Compose a song! Tell fortunes! Paint their portrait!)
• Volunteering to help set up, manage, and/or clean up the event
• Just coming out to the Promenade and enjoying the day!

Space Rental Pricing: 

• Standard: Just a table ($30), or
• Premium: Table + 1 folding chair ($35)

Interested in applying? click here!

Whoa where did the summer go? It's time again for the Canary District’s twice-yearly neighbourhood cleanup! 

Participants will meet outside Rock On Climbing (NW corner of Tannery and Front) at 10 AM. All volunteers will be provided with gloves, bags, and trash grabbers and will be assigned to a street. 

When: Sepember 28, 2025 at 10 AM – 12 PM

Where: (In front of) Rock on Climbing, 474 Front St E, Unit 4

Learn more and RSVP here!

Optional: If you can't make it on the day, reach out to [email protected]. They will set you up a special shift on another day!

An outdoor evening celebration with live music, circus arts, kids’ activities, and seasonal treats in David Crombie Park.

• Date & Time: Saturday, October 4, 2025 | 6–8 pm
• Location: David Crombie Park (Berkeley & The Esplanade)
• Performances:
  • The Enchanted Forest by Hercinia Arts Collective (aerial arts, stilt dancing, physical theatre)
  • Roda de Samba with Carlos Cardozo & ensemble
• Activities: Face painting, craft table, juggling workshop for kids
• Treats: Hot chocolate & apple cider
• Cost: Free, open to all ages

Learn more here!

Join us for a night of joyful connection, beautiful entertainment and generosity that will fuel the next chapter of Holy Trinity.

TICKETS for the Gala here.

Check out our SILENT AUCTION (open to anyone interested) here. 

Homeless Connect is back with another One Stop Shop event! Unhoused and precariously housed individuals are invited to come to the Mattamy Athletic Centre to receive a variety of free services including health and personal care services (dental, hearing, vision, haircuts, foot care, etc), practical assistance (employment, legal, housing support), plus clothing, a hot meal, and more. 

Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025

Time: 10 AM - 3 PM

Location: Mattamy Athletic Centre, 50 Carlton Street

This event is walk-in only and no pre-registration is required. 

Homeless Connect is always looking for volunteers for this event. Sign up here to help!

Experience the City of Toronto’s free full-day signature in-person event at Meridian Hall to support small businesses in Toronto.

This year focuses on helping small businesses navigate and find opportunities in a rapidly changing globalized economy and international business landscape:

• Main stage sessions featuring spotlight speakers, fireside chats and expert panels,
• Speed mentorship with international business leaders and seasoned entrepreneurs ready to share insights and tackle your biggest questions, and
• Trade show of diverse small business services and goods providers.

Date: October 29, 2025

Time: 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Location: Meridian Hall, 1 Front Street East

Registration is required. 

Community Consultation for Queer East & Southeast Asian Older Adults

A gathering to share stories, insights, and lived experiences about aging in the community. The goal is to help shape future care and support for queer Asian older adults in Toronto.

• Who it’s for:
  • Self-identified East or Southeast Asian
  • Self-identified LGBTQ+ or queer
  • Age 50+
  • Living in Toronto
• What to expect:
  • 90-minute consultation (in-person or online, in English)
  • Honorarium provided
  • Light refreshments offered
• Purpose:
  • Connect with others on similar journeys
  • Envision a future where queer Asian older adults thrive with dignity, love, and connection

click this link to register: Community Consultation Registration

Interested or have questions? Contact Alex Ma (he/him) at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.

Join the Corktown Residents & Business Assoc., Inc. (CRBA) board and contribute to the vibrancy of your neighbourhood. Bring your ideas, skills, and enthusiasm for building community

There are many ways to get involved and make a difference, limited only by your imagination and time commitment. We welcome a diversity of interests and skills including, but in no way limited to, bookkeeping, WordPress, social media, email marketing, fundraising, and grant writing.

As a member of the CRBA board, you will help set and enact an agenda for public events and initiatives that build a more engaged, connected, safer, sustainable, and beautiful home for you and fellow residents.

For more info send your request to: [email protected] 

Studio RAW, as a brick-and-mortar extension of RAW Taiko, seeks to empower and encourage people, prioritizing people of colour and of marginalized genders, to find and express their own voice and power, and to influence positive personal, group and societal development, through the practice of taiko drumming. 

Find all of their program offerings here. 

The Hello Neighbour app is a new tool designed to help residents stay connected with their community. It provides quick access to local programs, services, news, and events, all in one place.

Features include:

• Find what you need – Search for programs and services, check who they’re for, when they’re open, and even get directions.
• Neighbourhood news – Stay updated with the latest stories and newsletters from your area.
• Events and job opportunities – Discover local events and find community job postings.

The app is available for download on Google Play and the App Store.

This initiative is brought to the community by Yonge Street Mission (YSM), Regent Park Neighbourhood Association (RPNA), the Social Development Plan Communication Working Group, the City of Toronto, and Focus Media Arts.

The Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) National Accelerator is an initiative initially focused on the Greater Toronto Area and now expanding nationwide. This program supports mission-driven organizations through networking, capacity-building and professional support, in the development of thoughtful and realistic development proposals that can supply the missing housing, services and other social infrastructure needed in our communities.

Applications open and close September 15th, 2025. Apply here!

Toronto Centre’s Corktown is about to get a whole lot leafier!

The Corktown Residents & Business Association is giving out beautiful indigenous trees and shrubs to plant, nurture, and enjoy for years to come. Apply by September 3 by clicking here. The giveaway date is September 20! If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

The Daily Bread Food Bank has shared important information about the new Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), which officially opened for applications on June 20, 2025.The CDB is a monthly federal benefit designed to reduce poverty among low-income, working-age persons with disabilities.Eligibility includes:

• Ages 18 to 64
• Hold a valid Disability Tax Credit (DTC)
• Filed a 2024 federal income tax return (including spouse or partner, if applicable)
• Be a Canadian resident

Those without the DTC can apply through the Government of Canada, with part of the form completed by a medical practitioner. Applications for the CDB can be submitted online, by phone, by mail, or in person at a Service Canada centre. The Daily Bread Food Bank has also created a helpful guide to explain how much recipients may receive, what documents are needed, and how the application process works. For more details, visit the Daily Bread Food Bank website to download their printable guide.