Jane and Finch - History

History

Jane-Finch was originally developed as a model suburb in the 1960s in response to the rapid urban growth of Toronto. The community was planned to accommodate a socially diverse population and included a substantial amount of public housing, but insufficient thought was given to the social infrastructure needed to sustain community life. (A historical name for the general area from 1878 to 1956 was the neighbourhood of Elia.)

The 1960s development plans spearheaded by the Ontario Housing Corporation (OHC) coincided with North York Planning Department’s goal of creating a more urban-looking suburb. Known for its series of high-rise buildings and, concomitantly, its above average population density, Jane-Finch experienced astronomical growth from 1961 to 1971 when the population went from 1,300 to 33,000, thereby accounting for more than 40% of the growth in North York (Sakamoto, 1986). In general, urban planners, local politicians, residents of Jane-Finch, and others today are of the opinion that the OHC and North York erred seriously, contributing to rapid population growth in the area without anticipating its negative consequences.

In 1973, a group of dedicated residents, politicians and community workers started identifying ways to address community problems. They concentrated their efforts on improving their neighbourhood’s negative image and creating a sense of community pride. Since then the neighbourhood has developed over 30 grassroots associations, including social and health service organizations, based on principles of mutual aid. Jane-Finch residents managed to create the infra-structure that their community needed to become healthy and sustainable. They succeeded in bringing together various sectors to address a wide range of economic, social and recreational needs. (Trillium Foundation, Press Release, 1998 cited by MacNevin, Wanda, From the Edge: A Woman’s Evolution from Abuse to Activism, Picas and Points Publishing, 1999, p. 236-37). The United Way’s “Poverty by Postal Code-The Geography of Neighbourhood Poverty: 1981-2001” (2004) report explained that by 2001, there were more highpoverty neighbourhoods in the former City of North York than in any of the other former cities. More than one in five families in North York live in poverty, and in the Jane-Finch region.

The Toronto City Summit Alliance’s Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force identified the Black Creek Neighbourhood as one of the 13 Priority Neighbourhoods across the city, where there are not enough social services to address the growing needs of the community. The United Way “Strong Neighbourhoods: A Call to Action” (2001) Fact Sheet on Black Creek also reports that the Black Creek Neighbourhood, which is encompassed in the catchment region of this project, has a higher rate of racialized groups, immigrants, recent newcomers, children, youth, lone parents, low income families, low income unattached individuals, lower median household income, higher percentage of households with incomes below $30 000, higher proportion of rental households, higher unemployment, lower percentage of population with university education, and higher percentage of population with less than high school education.

Between 1981 and 2001, the total population of North York grew by 8.7%; higher economic families by 9%, but poor economic families by 80.5%. Poverty intensified in 5 main areas. The most prominent is the Jane-Finch area, where four poor neighbourhoods turned into regions of very high poverty, and a region that previously had low to moderate poverty became classified as having high levels of poverty. By 2001, a major shift had taken place, with the immigrant family population now accounting for 62.4% of the total family population in these communities, and Canadian born families making up the remaining 37.6%. The immigrants were disproportionately poor, as 65% of the ‘poor’ family persons were immigrants. Between 1981 and 2001, the number of racialized individuals also increased by 219%. The racialized family population then accounted for two thirds of the total family population in higher poverty neighbourhoods. Jane and Finch also contains the highest rates of malnutrition and hunger in Canada. See related articles, Poverty in Canada and Economic impact of immigration to Canada As a result, many more children in this area are being raised in high poverty households than in the city as a whole. A community action plan is therefore needed (Jane Finch Neighbourhood Action Plan Report).

Currently, several community-based organizations, businesses, community residents and city staff have joined together to form the Black Creek West Community Capacity Building Project. Funded by the City of Toronto, the project aims to “improve the quality of life for residents living in the Black Creek West community by placing emphasis on building on assets and capacities, prevention, community involvement, diversity and community well-being.” There are also a number of other organizations and networks that have come together to develop programs and solutions to the problems that have been identified in the various reports.