Worksheet
Charting the Table
This tool outlines how you can create opportunities for transparency and accountability at any stage of the engagement process, especially when leading meetings.
Making Space Tools
Worksheet
Co- Creation for Power Sharing
This tool supports you in identifying opportunities to share influence over different parts of the planning process and outcomes with residents, and in doing so, begin to share power.
Worksheet
Flipping orthodoxies to design more inclusive meetings
This tool helps you understand how to shift the status quo by changing the experience, structures, and outcomes for all involved in a process.
Worksheet
Mapping and Goal Setting
This tool offers a series of questions for: identifying the equity-deserving groups and vulnerable communities to engage, considering the barriers these residents face, outlining tactics/strategies for reducing these barriers, and for considering how you set goals and monitor success.
Worksheet
Shifting Influence
This tool allows you to map the levels of influence that various groups within local communities have over planning and development decisions, and to identify ways to shift some of that influence to groups who carry less power within their neighbourhoods.
Additional Resources
Divisional engagement resources
Subject Matter Experts
- Accessibility Office - initiatives that reaffirm the City of Toronto's commitment to an accessible City of Toronto, including assistance in complying with the City's Accessibility Policy and commitments to accessibility and requirements of AODA
- City Clerks - provides polling services on behalf of divisions and policies on information management and privacy
- Community Development Officers - CDOs can work with you, your neighbourhood or organization on community planning, community safety, Tower Renewal and more
- Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit (CABR) - provides guidance and resources to promote a culture change at the City
- Indigenous Affairs Office - supports City divisions in their work with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and all urban Indigenous communities
- Open Data - provide guidelines for publishing engagement data
- Parks Forestry & Recreation - provides guidance and support for engagements involving parks, recreation and forestry-related issues, including PF&R capital projects
- Public Consultation Unit - delivers public consultation activities primarily for Infrastructure and Development Services divisions as well as some cross-corporate consultation
Engagement planning and design
Subject Matter Experts
- Addressing Privacy issues and concerns - Corporate Information Management Services (CIMS)
- Initiation and Planning: Policy Excellence at the City of Toronto
- Public Consultation Unit
- Strategic Protocol and External Relations
City guidelines and information
- Fact sheet: What you need to know when collecting personal information (PDF)
- Glossary of Engagement Terms (Word)
- Guidelines for sign-in sheets at City of Toronto public meetings (PDF)
- Using Incentives in Public Consultations (Word)
Tools
- 211 Toronto list of community organizations
- Consultation Plan - Key Activities (Word)
- Map of Toronto Stakeholders (Open Source Information)
- Map of Toronto Venues (Open Source Information)
- Template for Consultation Planning (Word)
Additional resources and examples
- 36 Ways to Encourage Civic Participation (PDF)
- City of Toronto:
- Consultation in Nottinghamshire (UK):
- Introduction to public consultation (PDF)
- Design - Planning effective consultation (PDF)
- Targeting - Selecting your audiences (PDF)
- Consulting with people we find hard to reach (PDF)
- Methods - Capturing people's views (PDF)
- How to design and use questionnaires (PDF)
- Focus groups (PDF)
- Events (PDF)
- Analysis and writing up the consultation (PDF)
- Feedback - Keeping consultees informed (PDF)
- Influencing decision makers (PDF)
- Evaluation (PDF)
- IAP2's Public Participation Toolbox - International Association for Public Participation (PDF)
- Tamarack Institute Tools:
- Appreciative Interviews (PDF)
- Hosting a Citizen Jury (PDF)
- The Deliberative Poll (PDF)
- Citizens at the Centre (PDF)
Equity and accessibility
Council Advisory Bodies and Program Advisory Bodies
- Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Committee
- Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee
- Film, Television and Digital Media Board
- Greater Toronto Airports Authority Consultative Committee
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S+) Council Advisory Body
- Lived Experience Advisory Group
- Senior Tenants Advisory Committee - Seniors Housing Unit, Toronto Community Housing Corporation
- Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee
- Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee
- Toronto Music Advisory Committee
- Toronto Public Art Commission
- Toronto Seniors' Forum
Subject Matter Experts
- Accessibility at the City of Toronto:
- Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit
- Equity, Diversity & Human Rights
- Indigenous Affairs Office
- Technology Services Digital Accessibility Project
City guidelines and information
- NEW Meeting in the Middle Indigenous Engagement Strategy and Action Plan (PDF download) – Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council and the City of Toronto (PDF)
- A Guide to Good Practice: Providing equitable service to individuals of all abilities (PDF)
- AODA Digital Accessibility Standard (PDF)
- Creating Inclusive Consultations: a guide for City of Toronto staff on working with Not-For-Profits (PDF)
- Indigenous Land Acknowledgement (PDF)
- INVOLVEYOUTh3: a guide to meaningful youth engagement (PDF)
- List of Indigenous Engagement Circles at the City of Toronto (Word)
- Planning accessible meetings and events: Guide for City of Toronto employees
- Youth Engagement Strategy: Getting Involved in City Planning (PDF)
Tools
- Anti-Black Racism analysis for radically equitable COVID -19 Response (PDF)
- City resources supporting the creation of Accessible Documents:
- Training Guide - Essentials of Creating Accessible Documents (PDF)
- Creating Accessible PDF documents Quick Reference Guide
- PDF format (PDF)
- Excel format (PDF)
- PowerPoint format (PDF)
- Word format (PDF)
- City Training module - Adobe Acrobat X Pro & Creating Accessible Documents (*requires running Adobe Flash in browser; recommend using Firefox, Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge browsers)
- Creating Authentic Spaces: a Gender Identity and Gender Expression Toolkit to support the Implementation of Institutional and Social Change (PDF)
- Equity Lens Tool
- WebAIM - Introduction to Web Accessibility
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
Additional resources and examples
- New Engaging Black People and Power (Canadian Urban Institute)
- 15 Tools for Creating Healthy, Productive Interracial/Multicultural Communities: a Community Builder's Tool Kit (PDF) - The Institute for Democratic Renewal & Project Change Anti-Racism Initiative
- A Guide to Good Practice: Providing equitable service to individuals of all abilities (PDF)
- About Face: A Toolkit for Community Collaboration on Diversity (PDF) - United Nations Association in Canada
- Cultural Mapping Toolkit (PDF) - 2010 Legacies Now & Creative Cities Network of Canada (English Version)
- Guide to Accessible Public Engagement (PDF) - Ontario Municipal Social Services Association (OMSSA)
- Guide to Conducting Accessible Meetings (PDF) - Ontario Municipal Social Services Association (OMSSA)
- Invited, Understood and Embraced: a Board Governance Toolkit for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PDF) - Ryerson University Chang School of Continuing Education
- Planning and Engaging with Intercultural Communities: Building the Knowledge and Skills Base (PDF) - Academy for Sustainable Communities
- The Kit: A Manual by Youth to Combat Racism Through Education (PDF) - The United Nations Association in Canada
Engagement and consultation communications
Surveys
City guidelines and information
Tools
- Updated Survey Question Bank of pre-approved demographic and service questions and links to the City’s Data for Equity Strategy
Evaluation of engagements and consultations
Issue-specific resources
- Evaluating New Shelter Community Engagement (PDF) - Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) presentation to Civic Engagement Divisional Leads
Tools
- Open Engagement Performance Indicators (PDF) - findings of a Special Meeting on Evaluation held by the City's Divisional Leads on Engagement
Additional resources and examples - Governments
- City of Edmonton - Review of Public Engagement, 2015 (PDF)
- City of Mississauga - Community Engagement: State of the City (PDF)
- City of St John's - Public Engagement at the City of St John's: an evaluation - City of St John's (PDF)
- Government of Canada - Evaluating Your Citizen Engagement Activity
- House of Lords, United Kingdom - The Government's Review of Consultation Principles (PDF)
Additional resources and examples - NGOs/Academia
- 2016 Connecticut Civic Health Index (PDF)
- A Manager's Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation (PDF)
- Assessing Public Engagement Effectiveness: Rapid Review Worksheets (PDF)
- Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool (v1.0) (PDF)
- Public Spending, By The People: Participatory Budgeting in the United States and Canada in 2014-15 (PDF)
- Whose input counts? Evaluating the process and outcomes of public consultation through the BC Water Act Modernization (PDF)
Examples from Toronto and beyond
City examples
- A Guide to Good Practice: Providing equitable service to individuals of all abilities (PDF)
- Creating a Culture of Change at the City (PDF) - Combatting Anti-Black Racism Unit
- Development of the Multilingual Information Provisions Policy (PowrPoint) - Strategic Communications
Issue-specific examples
- City-Wide Heritage Survey Feasibility Study (PDF) - City Planning, Heritage Preservation Services
- Evaluating New Shelter Community Engagement (PDF) - SSHA
- King-Parliament Pop-Up (PDF) - City Planning
- Talking to companies: Applying a user-centred design approach to stakeholder consultations (PDF) - Economic Development and Culture
Tools
- Inclusive Resident Consultation presentation (PDF) - Example
- Open Engagement Performance Indicators (PowerPoint) - City Clerk's Office
Additional resources and examples - Canadian Governments
- City of Burlington (ON) - Burlington's Approach to Citizen Engagement (PDF)
- City of Calgary
- City of Edmonton - Involving Edmonton: A public Involvement Initiative (PDF)
- City of Guelph:
- City of Hamilton - Public Engagement Policy & Toolkit (PDF)
- Town of Oakville - Public Engagement Guide (PDF)
- City of Ottawa - Public Engagement Strategy (PDF)
- City of Waterloo - Public Involvement: Guidelines, tools and worksheets for successful community engagement (PDF)
- Health Canada - Policy Toolkit for Public Involvement in Decision Making (PDF)
- Ontario:
Additional resources and external examples - International Governments
- City of Bristol (UK) - Consultation Toolkit (PDF)
- City of Newcastle (Aus) - Community Engagement Framework (PDF)
- Consultation in Nottinghamshire (UK):
- Introduction to public consultation (PDF)
- Design - Planning effective consultation (PDF)
- Targeting - Selecting your audiences (PDF)
- Consulting with people we find hard to reach (PDF)
- Methods - Capturing people's views (PDF)
- How to design and use questionnaires (PDF)
- Focus groups (PDF)
- Events (PDF)
- Analysis and writing up the consultation (PDF)
- Feedback - Keeping consultees informed (PDF)
- Influencing decision makers (PDF)
- Evaluation (PDF)
- Engaging Queenslanders: Evaluating community engagement (PDF) - Queensland Government, Department of Communities
Additional resources and external examples - NGOs
- Action Catalogue
- Community Power Pack (PDF) - Toolkit for Communities and Neighbourhoods (PDF)
- Democracy Cookbook (PDF)
- IBM Centre for The Business of Government:
- International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Canada
- International Association of Facilitators
- Liberating structures
- Public Agenda:
- Tamarack Institute
- Vital Signs 2019/20 - Civic Engagement and Belonging (PDF)