"Since 2023, the city has received a total of $16.6 million from the federal Crime Prevention Action Fund and the Building Safer Communities Fund, but both are set to end on March 31. The conclusion of the funding streams means the city's social development department will see a $6.2-million reduction in its budget compared to last year, according to a briefing note prepared as part of the city's ongoing 2026 budget process."
"It's a situation that Scott Mckean, the city's director of community safety and well-being, describes as history repeating itself. He said in 2018, a gang violence intervention program run by the Agincourt Community Services Association similarly lost federal grant funding. And then we saw an escalation of violence in Scarborough, Mckean said in an interview with CBC Toronto. Our concern is like, here we are again, where we're actually making significant headway and the funding is going to end and we're really concerned about the impact on the community."
"The city made encouraging progress in 2025, the briefing note says, with a 35 per cent drop in youth shootings. But the loss of the federal funding could limit Toronto's ability to sustain its progress, the note says. WATCH | Police Chief Myron Demkiw talks youth crime in interview with CBC Toronto: In a year-end interview with CBC's Dwight Drummond, Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw discusses bail reform, policing on transit and a troubling rise in youth crime."
Federal Crime Prevention Action Fund and Building Safer Communities Fund provided $16.6 million to Toronto since 2023 but will end on March 31, 2026. The funding conclusion will reduce the city's social development department budget by $6.2 million compared to last year. Toronto recorded a 35 per cent drop in youth shootings in 2025, but the funding loss could hinder sustaining that progress. City officials recall a 2018 federal grant loss that preceded escalated Scarborough violence. City staff are advocating to higher governments and exploring internal options to preserve violence-prevention programs.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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