Caledon Institute

Special Projects

The Role of the Caledon Institute within Vibrant Communities

The Caledon Institute is engaged in a major national effort called Vibrant Communities. Initiated in 2002, Vibrant Communities was developed in partnership with Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. Selected conveners from 15 cities across the country are involved in a Pan-Canadian Learning Community in which they come together on a monthly basis to share ideas, resources and strategies on local solutions to reduce poverty. They scale up their individual efforts through this collaborative strategic approach.

Vibrant Communities also involves a ‘Trail Builder’ component. At least five communities are developing multifaceted, multi-year poverty reduction initiatives in their local settings. Each Trail Builder engages four key sectors in its work: business, government, non-profit organizations and low-income residents. These initiatives test out a series of promising approaches to poverty reduction including comprehensive thinking and action, multisectoral collaboration, community asset building and community learning and change. The practical experiences of Trail Builders are used to stimulate discussion among all members of the Learning Community.

One major role of Caledon is to support the work of the Pan-Canadian Learning Community. We help identify and document various models for poverty reduction that have been employed successfully both within and outside the country.

As part of this effort, Caledon is playing a lead role documenting the work of the Trail Builder initiatives. A series of ‘community stories’ will capture the experience of each Trail Builder as it evolves from year to year. Other stories will focus on specific poverty reduction strategies these initiatives employ. Annual reflection papers will identify commonalities and differences from across the communities and draw out lessons for the continuing work. This documentation and reflection process is in its early stages. Stories will be added as the initiatives unfold.

Caledon is also responsible for the policy aspects of this national initiative. As a national policy institute, we work continually on policies related to employment and income security that seek to reduce the overall burden of disadvantage by tackling structural sources of inequality. Appropriate income support, adequate minimum wages, and educational and employment programs can help significantly reduce poverty. Caledon also seeks to identify and reduce policy barriers rooted in federal or provincial policies and practices.

In this capacity, the Caledon Institute has produced a series of reports related to the work of Vibrant Communities. These reports were prepared with funding support from various government agencies including the former Human Resources Development Canada, Status of Women Canada and the Canada School of Public Service.

The third dimension of our policy work involved a policy dialogue, which we hosted over an 18-month period. Representatives from 10 federal departments, including health, human resources, the Urban Aboriginal Strategy, justice, citizenship and immigration, housing and heritage were invited to participate in the monthly discussions.

While the government representatives met in person, we hooked up phone lines across the country so that the 15 communities could participate as they wished. Each session was organized around a specific agenda that was of interest both to government and the communities. We also discussed the barriers that government requirements create from an administrative perspective. Lessons from this policy dialogue are now being applied to other community-based projects in which we are involved.

The reports related to Vibrant Communities are listed below:

Vibrant Communities Stories and Reflections

Community Snapshot: Hamilton's Best Start Network

Anne Makhoul, October 2007

Community Snapshot: Hamilton's Mohawk College Builds its Community Partnership

Anne Makhoul, October 2007

Community Snapshot: The Hamilton Spector's Focus on Poverty
Anne Makhoul, October 2007

Community Snapshot: Edmonton’s Job Bus Preparations

Anne Makhoul, September 2007

Trail Builder Update: Make Tax Time Pay 2007

Anne Makhoul, May 2007

Vibrant Communities Calgary: Community-Driven Policy Change