LURA designed and led a community engagement initiative to listen to and engage with residents, key interest holders, adjacent landowners, nearby businesses, and impacted community groups in discussions to prepare for the upcoming shelter transfer at 310 Division Street (Cobourg). The 310 Division project aimed to address an urgent local need for housing and shelter services and provide improved support for vulnerable community members. As a result, it sparked a lot of community conversation.

We leveraged our expertise in listening, inclusion, understanding, and expert engagement design to facilitate generative community dialogue about this complex, sensitive community issue. The engagement plan included 3 phases: Listening to residents, Responding to residents’ concerns, and Sharing information with the community. LURA completed an interest-holder analysis to define clear messaging and media outreach. We held meetings with service providers, conducted door-to-door canvassing, small group and public meetings, and hosted public open houses to engage with the community.

The facilitation and engagement program was supported by LURA’s team, which developed clear messaging and coordinated media outreach. A final report that shared thematic findings from engagements was prepared and presented to Council for their consideration.

The HousingTO 2020 – 2030 Action Plan is a comprehensive solutions-based plan to address housing challenges from homelessness to rental and ownership of housing to long-term care for seniors in Toronto. LURA worked with the City to design and implement a wide-reaching engagement program that helped shape a practical and realistic long-range housing plan with the voices of Toronto’s diverse communities. Sensitivity, equity, and accessibility were at the forefront of our approach throughout the project.

The far-reaching nature of the subject matter (both geographically and demographically) necessitated a highly customized engagement program rather than a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Meeting formats and engagement channels were designed with equity and sensitivity to reduce barriers to participation. For example, paper copies of the online questionnaire were available at in-person events, and demographic questions (e.g., gender, age, etc.) on the questionnaire were optional. This aimed to ensure high-quality, insightful feedback from all participants on the personal topic of housing, regardless of their station in life, background, or current place on the housing spectrum.

Many organizations held DIY do-it-yourself”) workshops designed by LURA. The organizations were encouraged to modify the workshop format to accommodate participants of diverse backgrounds (e.g., non-English speakers, youth) and provide honoraria or transit fare when possible. A diverse mix of in-person and online approaches were used throughout the project and tailored to maximize reach and participation for each audience.

Close to 6,000 Torontonians were engaged, including individuals with lived experience of homelessness, Indigenous communities, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups.

The City of Toronto licenses multi-tenant houses, commonly known as rooming houses. However, zoning and licensing regulations for these houses have remained inconsistent across former municipalities since amalgamation. As of 2021, multi-tenant houses were permitted only in the former City of Toronto and parts of the former cities of York and Etobicoke. For this project, the City proposed a comprehensive city-wide zoning approach and enhancements to licensing and enforcement to promote safe, well-maintained, and affordable multi-tenant housing across Toronto.

From April to May 2021, the City launched a community engagement process. LURA was retained to facilitate this process, developing and implementing a comprehensive engagement, consultation, and communication plan. We used a project webpage, social media outreach, community networks, public notices, presentations, information sheets, and print and digital ads to reach as many people as possible. We held virtual public meetings, interest-holder meetings, and a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) meeting toolkit—ensuring diverse opportunities for residents to learn about and provide feedback on the proposed framework. Over 1,700 people were engaged throughout the project.

LURA was retained by the City of Toronto’s Housing Secretariat for Phase 2 of the Modular Housing Initiative to lead the Community Liaison process for two sites (540 Cedarvale Ave. (East York) and 175 Cummer Ave. (North York) in collaboration with Bruce Davis (Public Progress). LURA’s role included supporting the Housing Secretariat in hosting community conversations around each site to discuss the addition of these supportive housing sites in their neighbourhoods.

LURA led several outreach initiatives to ensure neighbours were aware of the project, including coordinating sign design and installation, designing and distributing notices, and conducting door-to-door outreach in the immediate neighbourhood of the site redevelopment. During the application review and construction phases, we organized, facilitated, and prepared summaries for the Community Liaison Committees (CLCs) and Public Community Meetings for each Modular Housing site.

Throughout the project, we also ensured there was always a way for people to connect to the project and contact the community liaison office by dedicated email and phone. LURA was responsible for tracking comments and questions from the community and logging responses provided by the project team.