Community Action Grants (CAG) support neighbourhood-focused initiatives that advance key priorities and actions that are informed by the community and identified in local plans. Currently, these grants are active in three neighbourhood – Jane Finch (Toronto), Cooksville (Peel) and South Markham (York).
CAG has two streams of funding:
Resident / Grassroots Group Stream – Intended to support resident-led projects occurring within a 6-month timeframe with funding up to $20,000 per project. Resident-led projects are trusteed and supported by Jane/Finch Centre (in Jane Finch), Indus Community Services (in Cooksville) and ACSA Community Services (in South Markham).
Agency / Collaborative Stream – Intended to support projects led by a local agency or a collaboration between agencies occurring within an 18-month timeframe with funding up to $75,000 per project.
In 2025, the CAG focused on the following priorities:
Jane Finch
- Employment/ economic development
- Community safety and well-being
- Anti-displacement
- Food justice and sovereignty
- Vibrant spaces
Cooksville
- Employment / economic development
- Health and well-being
- Vibrant spaces
- Housing stability
South Markham
- Mental health and well-being
- Employment / economic development
- Community safety and violence prevention
- Vibrant spaces
- Housing stability
Below is a full list of resident and agency projects funded through the Community Action Grants program since 2024:
- Anchorpoint (Agency-Led: 2025) – A program for Black, Indigenous and racialized youth in that will combine opportunities for creative expression and professional counseling to manage stress, build resilience, and support overall mental well-being. (Led by Inner City Outreach)
- A Place That Tells Our Stories (Resident-led: 2025) – A participatory art project that reconnects displaced and current residents in the Firgrove community to develop a web-based story platform, community murals, and a stewardship framework guiding future public art, placemaking, and activation of community spaces.
- Beyond The Game: professional development for youth (Agency-Led: 2025) – A workforce development project to engage Jane Finch youth in sport-related job opportunities. (Led by Jane/Finch Community Tennis Association)
- C.O.U.R.A.G.E. (Resident-led: 2025) – A community wellbeing project engaging youth in the Shoreham and Driftwood neighbourhoods in weekly workshops on life skills, emotional and mental wellness, conflict resolution, healthy relationships and leadership.
- Grow Our Grassways (Agency-Led: 2025) – A project to develop a resident-led land stewardship framework for the Firgrove-Grassways revitalization site to prevent displacement. (Led by Jane Finch Community Ministry)
- Harvesting Wellness – Jane Finch Food Sovereignty & Healing Project (Resident-led: 2025) – Project enabling residents to grow and share culturally relevant food, participate in traditional wellness practices, and training six peer wellness navigators.
- Jane and Finch Community Arts Festival (Agency-Led: 2025) – A free, two-day, community-run celebration spotlighting 2SLGBTQ+ women and gender-diverse artists and small business owners. (Led by Success Beyond Limits and Flaunt It Movement)
- Jane Finch Futures: A Community Fellowship to Redesign The Element Centre (Agency-Led: 2025) – A resident leadership and engagement project to refine the design blueprint and programming for the Element Centre innovation hub, embedding resident decision-making and reflecting local priorities. (Led by Black Creek Community Health Centre)
- Jane Finch Networking & Career Labs (Resident-led: 2025) – A series of networking and mentorship labs, enabling youth and young professionals to use AI-powered tools to identify mentors, craft their career plans and support professional communication.
- Jane Finch Vibrant Murals and Storytelling (Resident-led: 2025) – An intergenerational storytelling and mural initiative, engaging youth and elders through art and digital design activities.
- Nourish & Empower A Meal Prep Workshop for Students and Seniors (Resident-led: 2025) – An intergenerational meal prep program connecting students and seniors to improve food literacy, reduce isolation, and increase access to culturally relevant meals in Jane Finch.
- Pathways to Masonry (Agency-Led: 2025) – A workshop series supporting residents enter into bricklaying and skilled trades and pursue hands-on pre-apprenticeship training. (Led by Jamaican Canadian Association and 29 Roots Youth Services)
- Stage Impact (Resident-led: 2025) – A mental wellness program providing youth impacted by violence, trauma, or bullying with a safe space for drama therapy, culminating in live vignettes based on personal experiences.
- Unity through Unison (Resident-led: 2025) – A youth program focused on strengthening youth leadership, inter-neighbourhood connections and safe engagement spaces using basketball as a platform for engagement.
- Youth Overcoming Mental Health Stigma Through Sustainable Employment (Agency-Led: 2025) – An initiative to support Black youth impacted by violence in Jane Finch through mentorship, healing circles and employment training to get youth on a pathway to become community crisis workers. (Led by Youth Now On Track)
- Afrocentric Parenting Program (Agency-Led: 2024) – A program focusing on Black parents impacted by the justice system, providing culturally relevant tools for justice system navigation and Afrocentric parenting. (Led by Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education)
- Black Creek Community Farm Youth Leadership Program (Agency-led: 2024) – An urban agriculture and food justice initiative engaging Black youth in regenerative farming, food preservation, cooking, and organizing community markets. (Led by Black Creek Community Farm)
- Confronting Anti-Black Racism in Planning and Development (Agency-Led: 2024) – An anti-displacement initiative to document the history of anti-Black planning policies, develop a toolkit for Black-led planning conversations, and engage African, Caribbean, and Black residents to influence urban development. (Led by Growing In Place and Jane/Finch Centre)
- Finch is Burning (Resident-led: 2024) -A vibrant arts program for Black, 2SLGBTQ+ youth aiming to empower youth by fostering connections within the ballroom scene and promoting cultural pride within local community spaces.
- From the Roots Up (Agency-Led: 2024) – A project based in Jane Finch schools to support high school youth, specifically those at risk of criminal justice involvement, with coping strategies, identity, conflict resolution, trauma prevention. (Led by The Neighbourhood Group)
- Steps to Success (Resident-led: 2024) – An employment and entrepreneurship initiative with job fairs connecting participants to local employers like TTC and Metrolinx, and business planning workshops.
- The Smile Society (Resident-led: 2024) – Bi-weekly workshop sessions that blend trauma recovery, mentorship, and career development, supporting young Black males in the area impacted by gun violence.
- Cooksville Digital Employment Bridge (Agency-Led: 2025) – A digital skills building project supporting residents with essential digital literacy, remote work readiness, and digital career certifications , along with a digital inclusion toolkit for partners. (Led by Newcomer Centre for Peel)
- CRAAF Seeds of Change: Cooksville Edition (Resident-led: 2025) – An arts-based program supporting intergenerational community gatherings and enabling residents to develop creativity, confidence, communication skills and cultural pride.
- Enhancing Cooksville Community Development (Agency-Led: 2025) – A peer support initiative to enable isolated seniors and residents access essential health and wellness services. (Led by Seniors Tamil Society of Peel)
- Establishing a Cooksville Community Land Trust (Agency-Led: 2025) – An initiative to develop an operating, governance and financing model for a community land trust-type entity in Cooksville in partnership with the Peel Community Land Trust. (Led by CP Planning)
- Extra-Judicial Employment Fast Track (Agency-Led: 2025) – A skilled-trades placement initiative providing youth involved with the justice system with hands-on work experience in trades such as carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing. (Led by Aspire for Higher)
- Healthy Minds – Therapy and Art for Healing Journeys (Agency-Led: 2025) – An art-based and healing focused therapy initiative to foster safe, inclusive, and stigma-free spaces that promote healing, community well-being and access to culturally relevant mental health supports. (Led by Heart Comonos)
- Vibrant Cooksville – Celebrations & Empowering Community (Resident-led: 2025) – A space activation project animating underutilized local public spaces in Cooksville through cultural engagement and wellness activities, promoting and community connection, neighbourhood pride and outdoor engagement.
- Cultural Arts for Holistic Healing of Mind, Body, and Spirit (Resident-led: 2025) – A mental wellbeing arts-based initiative engaging seniors through weekly cultural activities to reduce social isolation and enhance local connections.
- Employment Counselling and Co-op Program for Youth with Developmental Disabilities (Agency-Led: 2025) – A tailored employment training and placement program for youth and young adults with disabilities in South Markham, supported by training and the development of an employer toolkit for workplace inclusion of people with developmental disabilities. (Led by Cherish Integrated Services)
- Empower, Enhance, Engage (Agency-Led: 2025) – A cultural competency training project with a focus on reducing stigma and increasing understanding of settlement-related mental health stressors through culturally grounded programming. (Led by The Cross-Cultural Community Services Association)
- Mental Wellness: From Stigma to Strength (Agency-Led: 2025) – A series of biweekly sessions to empower racialized communities better understand, prevent, and manage mental illness while supporting those diagnosed and their caregivers. Led by A Rose for Grandma Wellness Hub)
- South Markham Seniors Circle: Wellness, Connection, Empowerment (Resident-led: 2025) – A series of peer-led workshop cycles for Black, Caribbean and South Asian seniors focusing on topics such as isolation, emotional fatigue, and culturally relevant supports.
- Stitching for Everyday Convenience (Resident-led: 2025) – A series of sewing workshops for South Markham residents to create daily-use items through creative entrepreneurial skill-building and providing a culturally safe, welcoming space to support mental well-being.