In a decision taken on 10 June in city council, the City of Toronto adopted the EUROCITIES Integrating Cities Charter. The largest city in Canada becomes the first non-European signatory of our charter. Officers from the Toronto newcomer office have been in regular contact with EUROCITIES since February 2013, and were present in Tampere in September 2013 during the Integrating Cities Conference where they had the opportunity to meet with several signatories of the charter about its commitments and implications.

They day of the official signature of the Integrating City Charter in Toronto will become the “Newcomer Day in Toronto”, an important commitment to enhance public perception of migration and diversity in the city.

The city council decision also lists a series of recommandations in the framework of an “Immigrant friendly city project”, with a first report on implementation to be published in February 2015. These 22 recommandations are in line with Integrating Cities standards as developped in the toolkits published in the framework of the MIXITIES and ImpleMentoring projects in terms of equality strategy, civic and political participation, language, service provision and employement.

The decision finally commits the city of Toronto to actively lobby the federal government of Canada on immigration issues, for example on the right to vote of foreign residents in municipal elections.