Resources

Top Ten Reasons to Support Public Space – Bilingual

There are so many reasons to support increased access to public space. Here are ours: SPACE – Top Ten bilingual – in English and French!

Responses from Political Parties

In preparation for the provincial election on October 6, 2011 the SPACE Coalition prepared questions and circulated them to all four major political parties. As of August 19th we have responses from the Liberals and the Green Party. Check out them out here: Liberal Party response to SPACE questionnaire. Green Party response to SPACE questionnaire. [...]

Political Leadership with a Focus on Children and Youth – OPSBA Member Boards Challenge all Provincial Candidates

OPSBA is recommending to member boards that on September 20th, all candidates meetings be held in local schools throughout the province on the theme of public education. To coincide with the all candidates meetings, the Association is inviting Dalton McGuinty, Tim Hudak, Andrea Horwath, and Mike Schreiner to a leaders’ debate. For more information check [...]

Questions for Political Parties

In preparation for the provincial election on October 6, 2011 the SPACE Coalition has prepared these questions and has circulated them to all four major political parties. We will post their replies after the requested response date of August 10. If you are attending any political events or have candidates knock on your door please [...]

Resource – Where You can Access Space

Space is hard to find! This document has some ideas about where to start and who to contact. Check it out here: Resources for Accessing Space 2011 Please send us any ideas that you have to expand the list. Good luck!

New Report Released- Another Winter, Another Spring: Toronto Youth Speaking Out about Space

Social Planning Toronto and the SPACE Coalition release their report entitled Another Winter, Another Spring: Toronto Youth Speaking Out about Space, highlighting the lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate space in Toronto for the City’s youth A report released on July 5, 2011 by Social Planning Toronto and the SPACE Coalition (Saving Public Access to [...]

Press Release: Social Planning Toronto and the SPACE Coalition release their report entitled Another Winter, Another Spring: Toronto Youth Speaking Out about Space

Toronto’s youth face barriers in accessing the space they need to work, gather and play Social Planning Toronto and the SPACE Coalition release their report entitled Another Winter, Another Spring: Toronto Youth Speaking Out about Space, highlighting the lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate space in Toronto for the City’s youth July 5th, (Toronto, Ont.) [...]

Opening the Doors to Ontario’s Schools: Community Use of Schools Program One Year Impacts and Opportunities

Schools have a long tradition of serving as “community centres” or “hubs” in many communities. In Ontario, community groups have historically used school space for free or at a nominal cost to organize activities and events for all age groups ranging from children and youth to seniors. The activities were carried out after-school, in the [...]

How to Host an All Candidates Meeting

The provincial election is approaching – October 6, 2011 is not that far away. It’s never too early to get issues on the table and a candidates meeting is a great way to do this. Check out this checklist to help get you started: How to Host a Candidates Meeting

SPACE Lobbying Handbook

This handbook was developed by the SPACE Coalition as a handbook to assist parents, volunteers, youth, and other citizens to share their concerns about rising
rental fees and the ever-shrinking space available for community programs in schools and other public buildings in Ontario.

Click here to see the full document.

Community Resources

Complete list of PSI Schools 2011-2012

Take a look at the the Ministry of Education’s website for the list of all the 220 PSI free-access schools across the province.

Community Use of School & City-owned Space Summary Report of Survey Findings

Community Use of School & City-owned Space Summary Report of Survey Findings A Joint Study by the City of Toronto & United Way of Greater Toronto, May 2002 Community agencies, groups and networks have strongly opposed fee increases and reduced hours of access. They have argued that the new fees are beyond the financial reach [...]

Citizen’s for Public Justice Advocacy Handbook

This toolkit provides useful information on different methods of advocacy, when to use each, and how to get your voice heard most effectively. Click here for more information.

TDSB – Community Use of School Resources

From this TDSB webpage, you can access info on a number of subjects including the new Priority School Initiatiave (PSI- free permits after school in 77 TDSB schools). This section of the site also lists the names and links to the 4 new Community Use of Schools Facilitators.

School Closures and Social Spatial Justice

Social Planning Toronto hosted a lively discussion back in September on the issue of public use of schools, community hubs and school board processes in school closure situations. The audience included not only students and community members, but also a number of senior politicians and school trustees. Here we present the slides from the presentation of Ranu Basu, from the Geography Department at York University, who has mapped school closings and analyzed for spatial justice.