Ontario Increasing Supports to Build Stronger and Safer Communities in Toronto
Ministry of the Solicitor General
2022-04-27 11:00:00

TORONTO — The Ontario government is investing more than $87 million over three years to provide the Toronto Police Service with significant new resources to protect the city’s diverse and growing communities and fight gun and gang violence fueled by illegal guns smuggled into Canada from the U.S.

“Our government recognizes the challenges of providing policing services in Canada’s largest and most diverse city,” said Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. “This significant investment will help the Toronto Police Service and their community partners protect neighbourhoods, fight crime and hold offenders accountable. It will help build a safer Toronto for all those who work, visit or call the city home.”

The Toronto Police Service is receiving more than $72 million through the Community Safety and Policing Grant Program for eight public safety initiatives focusing on local and provincial priorities such as gun and gang violence, sexual violence and harassment, human trafficking, mental health and addictions and hate-motivated crime. This includes:

  • $33 million for its Public Safety Response Team
  • $13.3 million for its dedicated shooting response team
  • $12.2 million for its Neighbourhood Community Officer program, a collaboration with residents and community agencies.
  • $12.3 million for digital tools, improved data collection and analysis, data governance and safe data storage initiatives; and
  • $1.5 million over three years to establish a coordinated genetics program to use advancements in DNA analysis to assist in the investigation of cold and historic cases provincewide.

“This will be a welcome investment for law-abiding local citizens who rely on the Toronto Police Service to keep them safe,” said Christine Hogarth, Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General and MPP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. “Our government is ensuring that policing and community partners have the necessary tools to provide immediate response in emergency situations and protect Toronto’s families and neighbourhoods.”

In addition to the Community Safety and Policing Grant, Ontario is allocating an additional $14.7 million over three years to continue the fight against gun and gang violence in the City of Toronto. Through the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy, with support from the federal government, this additional funding brings Ontario’s investment to combat gun and gang violence to approximately $203 million since 2018.

“This significant funding will allow us to enhance community safety resources in Toronto, including helping to address gun and gang violence and by expanding the Neighbourhood Officer Program, both of which are priorities of our communities,” said Toronto Chief of Police James Ramer. “This investment will help to keep the city safe and will allow the Service to redeploy our resources to the areas that matter most to the people of Toronto.”