The Etobicoke Stake
Why Now
Decades of austerity haven't just strained services—they've transferred ownership of Toronto from its residents to an investor class that answers to shareholders, not neighborhoods. The people who clean, build, and fuel this city are being priced out of the very place they sustain.
Nowhere is this wealth transfer felt more than in North Etobicoke. This ward sends taxes to City Hall, profits to distant corporations, and its best talent downtown. In return, it gets aging infrastructure and shrinking opportunity. It’s not a community—it’s a pipeline.
We need a different model. One that stops treating residents as customers and starts treating them as co-owners of the city’s future. That means redirecting public spending—not as charity, but as investment—to build community wealth from the ground up.
The Etobicoke Stake is that vehicle. By channeling the City’s $30B+ procurement power through Humber’s existing training infrastructure, we can anchor worker ownership, workforce integration, and neighborhood revitalization in one simple, radical idea:
The people who live here should own a stake in what’s built here.
How Does This Impact Me?
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You get paid, resume-building work experience close to home (Commons Crew) and a chance to test-run your business ideas through specialized programs that are designed to help young entrepreneurs launch business ventures structured as co-operatives.
Unlike traditional startup accelerators that focus on individual equity and venture capital, these incubators guide youth through democratic governance, shared ownership, and community-centered business models.
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As Ward 1 Councillor, I'm piloting a Citizen Developer Incubator with Humber College to create work-based learning opportunities for students of all ages.
My office can't mandate OSAP change, but we can improve your chances for employment—connecting local talent to real projects in North Etobicoke. This is a practical, low-cost way to upskill residents, test new ideas, and deliver value to our community.
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When we talk about community wealth, we're talking about your family's bottom line. It means your teenagers aren't just hanging out after school—they're gaining real skills through paid placements right here in Ward 1.
For your household budget, it means real relief at the checkout—thanks to a public, non-profit grocery store option that prioritizes fair pricing, local sourcing, and reinvestment in the neighborhood, rather than extracting profits for distant shareholders. -
For seniors on a fixed income, community wealth development means lower food prices at our local public grocery store—and it means turning empty mall space into safe, welcoming hubs where you can connect with neighbors, not just walk past empty storefronts. It's about keeping value in our community, not in corporate pockets.
Beyond lower prices and better spaces, community wealth development creates local jobs, supports small-scale production, and gives seniors more stability, more dignity, and more opportunities to age in place without being priced out.
First 100 Days
Day 30: Work with the City’s youth employment programs to identify the first cohort of the "Commons Crew".
Day 45: Establish a Citizen Developer Incubator at Humber College to build skills in business management, democratic leadership, and community-minded economics.
Day 60: Secure vacant pop-up shop locations for Humber College’s student entrepreneurs at a local mall.
Day 90: Launch the “Citizen Developers" program for Humber Valley Commons.
Road MAP
(1-4 Year Projects)
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The Commons Crew is a 12‑month pilot that brings City maintenance services closer to home. Aligned with Council Motion MM40.30's Ward‑Based Maintenance Teams framework, the Crew transforms how Solid Waste, Parks, and Transportation work together—not by cross‑training staff, but by uniting them around a shared workflow that completes small repairs within 48 hours of a 311 call.
Staff are recruited by their proximity to Ward 1 or their project history here, creating a work‑from‑home effect that keeps talent local. For youth, the Crew serves as a launchpad—connecting them to Youth Climate Corps, OYAP, and Employment Ontario pathways, with guaranteed hours through training agreements with intermediaries like Building Up and TCBN.
As your Councillor, I will convene these partners to use social procurement as a workforce activation tool—creating a localized talent pipeline without displacing civil servants. Apprentices earn while they learn through the Red Seal Program, Canada Apprentice Loan, grants, and Team Canada Strong training initiatives.
The Commons Crew doesn't reinvent the wheel. It steers the wheel closer to where it's needed most.
Major activities:
Recruitment & Training – Partner with trades-based social enterprises like Toronto Community Benefits Network, Chandos Construction, and Building Up to recruit equity-deserving apprentices, providing paid on-the-job training toward Red Seal certifications with wraparound supports to ensure retention and success.
Resource Access & Workspace – Secure tools, makerspace access, and training facilities through partnerships with Woodbine Mall, Humber College, Home Hardware, Tool Library, and Repair Café, creating a shared infrastructure for hands-on skill development.
Social Procurement & Wealth Reinvestment – Leverage Toronto's Social Procurement program to prioritize living-wage employers over low-bid contractors for city contracts, to promote reinvesting surplus into worker dividends, new tools, and bursaries for future apprentices.
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The Citizen Developer Incubator complements Toronto's leading civic training organizations as a dedicated incubator for municipal-college partnerships that helps local workers and small businesses team up to deliver city projects they couldn't tackle alone.
By sharing resources and risk, participants cut waste and build viable teams. Backed by Toronto's Social Procurement program, we offer wraparound support and apprenticeship-style assignments designed to move adults from survival jobs to owner-operator roles. It's local problem-solving that builds community wealth from the ground up.
Major Activities
Pipeline & Gap Identification: Partner with leading civic training organizations (CivicAction, DiverseCity Fellows, Infrastructure Institute, Monumental, School of Cities, Civic Tech Toronto, Democratic Engagement Exchange) to refer early- and mid-career professionals, while conducting community mapping to pinpoint gaps in city-funded services suitable for cooperative delivery.
Cooperative Incubation & Training: Partner with Ontario Cooperatives Association to providing training on cooperative governance, financial management, and business planning, access to legal services to develop cooperative management agreements.
Procurement Integration & Launch Support: Align cooperative service offerings with Toronto's Social Procurement program, secure initial municipal contracts, and provide operational support during the first 12–18 months, tracking wage progression and service outcomes to scale the model citywide.
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Ward 1's food network is powerful but fragmented. Nearly one in four Toronto households face food insecurity, with North Etobicoke hit hardest by high costs, low incomes, and limited fresh food access.
City Council has already adopted a motion to pilot four municipally operated grocery stores, with a staff report due Q2 2027.
I will convene Ward 1's organizations—Albion Food Space, Mabelle Food Program, Kingsview Eats, Rexdale Community Grocery Market, Urban Harvest Toronto, Summerlea Park Garden, Rexdale Hub Garden, Zawadi Farm, Humber College's Food Learning Garden, and TRCA's Rexdale SNAP—to operate our city-owned storefront as a cooperative.
This hybrid model—city-owned storefronts, community-operated co-ops—transforms isolated efforts into a cooperative value chain that builds on the proven Rexdale Community Grocery Market pilot by the Rexdale Community Hub. The goal of the cooperative would be to replicate New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's a 30% discount on staples—saving families $90 monthly.
Major Activities:
Open a shared food hub: with centralized buying, cold storage, and delivery—cutting waste and lowering costs.
Advance worker ownership: with fair wage ladders, apprenticeships, and a real voice for community members.
Secure city contracts: to supply shelters, nursing homes, and the $32 million school food program.
Integrate medical nutrition programs: Food Rx: Food as Medicine and the Healthy Food Prescription Trial (MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions) will be approached as partners to help patients with chronic and acute dietary issues.
