Work at CSI for the day with our new Lounge Pass!

Toronto Vital Signs Report – Issue Seven: Civic Engagement and Belonging

Toronto Foundation has just released Vital Signs Report 2019: Growing Pains and Narrow Gains. This report provides a consolidated snapshot of the trends and issues affecting the quality of life in our city and each of the interconnected issue areas is critical to the wellbeing of Toronto and its residents.

Vital Signs examines ten issue areas. We are going to explore highlights of each of these sections. Issue Seven is Civic Engagement and Belonging.

Social capital is the essential “lubricant that makes it possible for societies to function.” Overall, sense of belonging has improved in the city, and most people have close friends and feel like they can trust their neighbours.

  • Sense of belonging has been improving over time in Toronto, though it is far lower among younger people
  • Most people feel connected to friends and family, and they feel like they have people to rely on when needed.
  • Low-income residents in Toronto are far more likely to be socially isolated than higher-income residents, while newcomers often do not have anyone to rely on in an emergency.
  • Donor rates and donations as a percentage of income are falling in Toronto since the financial crash, while high-income donors give less of their income to charities than low-income donors.
  • Volunteering hours are declining in Toronto, while volunteer rates remain steady.
  • Most residents believe that working together can make a difference in their community, and this is higher in Toronto’s neighbourhood improvement areas.

The Centre for Social Innovation was created to give people a sense of belonging. If you are looking for a community, we have built one of the best that there is. Since 2004, we have become the home-base for thousands of smart, warm, and principled people. Do you want to work with others to put people and planet first? We’d love to meet you! Here are four ways to connect with us.

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CSI Spadina in the ground floor kitchen, looking out towards the lounge and meeting rooms. In the foreground is a kitchen counter, with waffles, toppings, and glasses of coffees and teas. In the background, CSI CEO Tonya Surman is speaking into a microphone on the left. In the middle and on the right, a variety of people stand and sit, listening to her speak.
One of the keys to CSI's magic is our Community Animator Program (CAP) and, specifically, the Community Animators themselves! Through this program, we've worked with more than 1,000 exceptional individuals who have each brought a little something different, and a little sparkle, to our spaces. And we're so glad to have had them in our community, because we've learned that each and every one of them has some exceptional talents, skills, and experiences to offer the world!  
Third floor lounge of CSI Spadina. In the foreground is a light blue loveseat sofa. In the background, we see two people working separately at coworking desks and tables. On the ceiling is a chandelier; to the right, a progress Pride flag.
The CSI staff team includes Pride veterans, newcomers, and everywhere in between! This year, as we celebrated Pride in our spaces and with our member community, we turned to our staff team to learn what Pride means to them. Some experienced it for the first time this year and were awash in the joy; others delighted in the fact that Pride remains such a fun celebration decades later. Others noted the increasing corporatization, which draws our attention away from the central premise of Pride - a protest.
whai header
CSI is many things - a coworking space, a non-profit organization, and a launchpad - but, first and foremost, we are a community. A community of innovators, of changemakers, of neighbours, of people putting people and planet first. And the awesome work that our members do, each and every day, never ceases to amaze us! So of course, we do our best to highlight our members whenever possible. Recently, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Molly Bannerman, Director of Women HIV/Aids Initiative (WHAI), a community-based response to HIV and AIDS among cis and trans women in Ontario. Below is an edited summary of our chat, where we discussed the work of WHAI and their latest Collective Action Community Change report.
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