Overview
On June 22, 2022, City Council approved the Anti-Racism Strategy [5.35 MB]. The strategy is a five-year plan to proactively identify and remove systemic barriers in City policies, programs and services. This strategy proposes an action plan with seven areas of focus, 28 recommendations and 132 actions to be implemented over the next five years. Achieving racial equity is critical for the City to develop and deliver programs and services that respond to the diverse needs of Ottawa residents and create an equitable and inclusive workplace.
[Mayor Mark Sutcliffe] Our goal is to ensure that racism is no longer a barrier to an individual’s safety, resources, and opportunities.
[Councillor Rawlson King] The Anti-Racism Strategy has seven priorities: institutional practices, housing, governance, the economy, health, children and youth, and racial equity in the workplace.
[Interim City Manager Wendy Stephanson] This Strategy is a call to action for all people of Ottawa to work together to understand, confront and dismantle systemic racism.
Priorities
Engagement with community partners, residents and City staff played a major role in shaping the priorities of the strategy. It includes seven priority areas of focus:
- Governance
- Housing
- Economic development
- Health outcomes
- Children and youth development
- Achieving racial equity in the workplace
- Institutional practices
Learn more about the actions by reading the Anti-Racism Strategy [5.35 MB].
Next steps
The strategy will be implemented in two phases:
- Phase 1 of the strategy (2023 to 2025) is underway and focuses on building internal support and awareness in the workplace and collecting race-related data. Continuing to engage and build relationships is important to this phase, with the goal of applying recommendations and actions from the strategy. Phase 1 includes a mid-term review. Findings from the review will be built into the design of phase 2.
- Phase 2 (2025 to 2028) will focus on including feedback, documenting data and lessons learned from phase 1. Implementing actions outlined in the plan will continue to be a priority in this phase.
Anti-Racism Advisory Table
Mandate
The goal of the Anti-Racism Advisory Table is to raise awareness about systemic and individual experiences of racism. The group will provide insights and guidance to implement the actions of the strategy.
Members
Anti-Racism Advisory Table members will:
- Build knowledge and contribute to map key issues, risks and opportunities in implementing the strategy
- Engage in dialogue with community groups on trends, community concerns and best practices for action
- Identify opportunities to further the progress of the strategy within the City and in programs and services