Toronto: Planning for Diversity, Inclusion and Urban Resilience

Recent waves of global migration have led to profound social, cultural, economic, political, physical, and environmental effects in metropolitan regions of major immigrant settlement. As noted in the World Migration Report, more scholars are exploring the relationship between migrants and cities.1 Cities play an important role in the processes of immigrant settlement and integration. Not only do they serve as reception areas for newcomers to live, work, learn, play, and socialize like other city inhabitants; they are also important places for building diverse, inclusive, resilient, and equitable communities in the long term. It has become imperative for municipalities to understand the dynamics and complexity of the global migration phenomenon and tackle the challenges and opportunities it presents locally. This report presents the key takeaways from Toronto’s planning practices as part of the Building Inclusive Cities initiative.