Toronto to fund more summer programs for youth aimed at violence prevention

TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the city’s summer safety plan will focus on violence prevention measures through programs that help youth build skills and secure jobs.

Chow announced the new plan at an event today that gathered dozens of local organizations, Toronto police chief and several city councillors.

She says the safety plan will help 3,000 young people and more than 500 families to participate in summer recreation and youth violence prevention programs.

Chow says the city added an extra $5 million in funding toward anti-violence programs for young people in its budget this year, on top of $43 million in funding for its anti-violence plan.

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw says the summer safety plan was designed to make it easy for youth and families to find violence prevention resources and it’s an opportunity for the police and young people to learn from each other.

The city says the plan will increase parks and recreation youth drop-in programming by 50 per cent throughout the summer and deliver more than 140 youth and family programs, grants and drop-ins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.

The Canadian Press