← A Plan for Toronto | Families & Community
Families & Community
Keeping Toronto’s Children Safe
Every child, every neighbourhood: a plan for the whole of a child’s safety
What I will do as mayor
| Commitment | Who delivers |
|---|---|
| Take the mayor’s seat on the Toronto Police Service Board myself, and make child exploitation, trafficking and youth gun violence top priorities in the police budget | City: I deliver |
| Fully resource the city’s anti-trafficking strategy, survivor housing and victim services | City: I deliver |
| Require anti-trafficking training and reporting in city-licensed hotels, short-term rentals, taxis and rideshare | City: I deliver |
| Train every city worker who serves children to spot and report abuse, trafficking and bullying | City: I deliver |
| Expand after-school, recreation, library and summer youth programs, with first jobs for teenagers, in every neighbourhood | City: I deliver |
| Give parents a real voice and full transparency in the city’s own children’s programs | City: I deliver |
| Move sexually explicit books out of the children’s and youth sections of public libraries | Toronto Public Library board: I will press for it |
| Keep dedicated boys’ and girls’ washrooms for children in parks and city facilities, with single-user rooms added as an option | City, within the Ontario Human Rights Code |
| Safe school zones: slower traffic, crossing guards, lighting and cleared sidewalks | City: I deliver |
| Fix crumbling schools and strengthen child-protection agencies and online-safety laws | Province and Ottawa: I will advocate |
A mayor cannot do everything. But a mayor decides where the city’s money goes, what its workers are trained to see, and whether children are treated as the priority they are.
What the city can do
- Fund the Toronto Police Human Trafficking Enforcement Team and child-exploitation units properly, with a victim-centred approach, through the mayor’s seat on the Police Service Board.
- Use city licensing of hotels, short-term rentals, taxis and rideshare to require anti-trafficking training and reporting.
- Give survivors priority access to safe social housing and long-term support.
- Protect youth leaving care, the group traffickers target most, with housing, mentors and jobs.
- Train every city worker who serves children (librarians, recreation staff, camp counsellors, shelter workers) to recognize the signs and report.
Child protection agencies, criminal law and the Amber Alert system sit with the province and Ottawa. A mayor must press them hard, and must never wait for them to act first.
Read the full article: Keeping Toronto’s Children Safe
Questions? Email bethechangeno1@gmail.com, call (647) 785-3729
