This is a time when Canada must harness its community-driven resilience. We’re asking you to share examples of how Canadian communities are responding to the crisis with creativity and imagination. Collective problem-solving and collaboration will be instrumental in how Canada mitigates the local impacts of COVID-19 and creates on-the-ground solutions.

Highlighted Initiatives

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Initiatives

Connecting neighbours in Vancouver looking for help during the COVID-19 pandemic

Food | Fundraising and volunteering | General: Crowdsourced tools and resources | General: Online communities and networks | General: Sector resources | Seniors | Social isolation

Coming Together Vancouver brings provides connections to share resources, extend a helping hand to our neighbours, show solidarity for healthcare workers and the vulnerable, and highlight social movements that are fighting for access to healthcare, housing, and workers’ rights.

Le podcast municipal World partage de nouvelles ressources de la ville et de la communauté

General: Crowdsourced tools and resources | General: Sector resources | Learning and education | Policy leadership

Mary W. Rowe est une avocate urbaine de premier plan et chef de file de la société civile qui a travaillé dans des villes partout au Canada et aux États-Unis , et elle n’est certainement pas étrangère à travailler avec les communautés en crise. Elle est actuellement chef de la direction de l’Institut urbain canadien et s’est jointe à ce balado pour parler des nouvelles ressources importantes disponibles pour les municipalités.

Municipal World podcast shares new city and community resources

General: Crowdsourced tools and resources | General: Sector resources | Learning and education | Policy leadership

Mary W. Rowe is a leading urban advocate and civil society leader who has worked in cities across Canada and the United States – and she is certainly no stranger to working with communities in crisis. She is currently the CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, and joined this podcast to talk about important new resources available for municipalities.

Webinar series on adapting personally and professionally to COVID-19

General: Online communities and networks | General: Sector resources | Learning and education | Local businesses

The University of Laval’s Faculty of Business Administration is hosting a three-part webinar series with advice on how individuals and organizations can adapt to the crisis.

Ressources pour les employés et les entreprises locales du centre-ville touchées par COVID-19

General: Sector resources | Local businesses

La LFI du centre-ville d’Edmonton a dressé une liste de ressources pour les entreprises touchées par la pandémie, ainsi qu’une pour les employés.

Resources for employees and downtown local businesses impacted by COVID-19

General: Sector resources | Local businesses

Edmonton’s Downtown BIA has compiled a list of resources for businesses impacted by the pandemic, as well as one for employees.

L’Association de la santé des Afro-Canadiens met à jour le COVID-19

General: Sector resources

L’Association de la santé des Afro-Canadiens, les professionnels de la santé de la Nouvelle-ŒN et le Centre culturel noir fournissent des mises à jour interactives sur le COVID-19 et les personnes d’ascendance africaine

Health association of African Canadians updates on COVID-19

General: Sector resources

Health Association of African Canadians, NS Health Professionals and the Black Cultural Centre is providing interactive updates on COVID-19 and people of African descent

B.C. farmers markets launching online store during COVID-19 pandemic

Food | General: Online communities and networks | Policy leadership

The B.C. Association of Farmers’ Markets is helping its 145 members set up digital shop. As part of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Buy BC program, the province is providing funds to cover fees for individual farmers markets to join. Each participating farmers market will create its own virtual store to best serve its communities.

Saving Canada’s Main Streets From COVID-19.

Local businesses | Policy leadership

Social distancing is devastating local small businesses and there’s not much time to save them. And the answer is not more debt.

COVID-19 emergency fund for journalists

Income support

National Geographic Society is launching an emergency fund for journalists all over the world who wish to cover COVID-19 within their own communities. This fund will place particular emphasis on delivering news to underserved populations, particularly where there is a dearth of evidence-based information getting to those who need it. They are interested in local and even hyper-local distribution models. This fund is designed to quickly deliver support so that both individual stories and longer series of content may be created.

Un service de restauration d’urgence livre des repas chauds et des boîtes de nourriture dans toute la communauté mohawk

Kahnawake est situé au sud de Montréal et a des cas positifs du virus. Ils ont lancé un service alimentaire d’urgence qui fournit des repas chauds deux fois par jour pour les aînés et ceux qui ont une mobilité limitée ou des restrictions alimentaires. L’expansion d’un service de banque alimentaire existant a également commencé à fournir une boîte alimentaire à ceux qui ont des difficultés financières, mais qui sont en mesure de cuisiner pour eux-mêmes.

Emergency food service delivers hot meals, food boxes across Mohawk community

Food | Frontline services | Indigenous | Policy leadership | Public health | Seniors | Social isolation

Kahnawake is located south of Montreal and has positive cases of the virus. They launched an emergency food service that is providing hot meals twice a day for elders and those with limited mobility or dietary restrictions. An expansion of an existing food bank service also started delivering a food box to those struggling financially but who are able to cook for themselves.

Tourism Vancouver makes improvements to its website during COVID-19

Food | General: Online communities and networks | Local businesses

The website now provides information and maps on open restaurants offering takeout/delivery across Vancouver

Aid Local not-for-profit initiative helping Canadian small businesses during COVID-19

Arts and Culture | Food | General: Crowdsourced tools and resources | General: Online communities and networks | Local businesses

The website includes a map and directory of businesses that have gift cards for sale or are delivering during the COVID-19 pandemic, to give people a way to support them during this time. Supported by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the BBB of Southern Alberta.

The Ramara Public Library is offering new services to help those who want to obtain services during the closure of the library due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

General: Tools for engagement | Policy leadership

Offerings include online resources — from learning new languages and computer skills, to learning new hobbies, gardening, health, business, ebooks and audiobooks, emagazines, and a poetry contest!

Libraries in Toronto, Kitchener and Stratford loan 3D printers to hospitals to make face shields for healthcare workers

Arts and Culture | Policy leadership

The Toronto Public Library just announced that they’re temporarily donating 10 of their Ultimaker 2+ 3D printers to a team at Toronto General Hospital making personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line healthcare workers. Other Ontario libraries, such as those in Kitchener and Stratford, have also agreed to loan their 3D printers to PPE production efforts.

While Halifax Public Libraries are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, their website continues to provide support

Arts and Culture | Children | General: Sector resources | Local businesses | Mental health | Policy leadership

The Halifax public library site contains information on public health, links to e-books/audiobooks; resources for small business; tips on how to talk to children about COVID-19; and mental health tips and support

Toronto’s Largest Food Bank to Open Pop-Up Locations – in closed libraries & parking lots

Food

Since the COVID-19 outbreak took hold of Toronto there’s been 20 percent growth in the number of clients making use of Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank over a span of the last two weeks. The pressure to provide food to new clients coupled with required social distancing has forced the food bank to change its operations in a dramatic way. They’ve partnered with GlobalMedic and set up a medical hospital mobile field tent in the food bank’s parking lot. Now the food comes out on a conveyor belt from inside the tent.

Alberta musicians deliver online self-isolation orchestral performance

Arts and Culture | General: Online communities and networks | Social isolation

Members of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) and Edmonton Symphony have combined to create one of their most viewed performances.After 66 Calgary musicians and an 18 staff members were temporary laid off, the group decided to reconnect for a virtual performance while in self-isolation.

Love for Local – Nouveau-Brunswick est un site Facebook pour soutenir les entreprises locales du Nouveau-Brunswick pendant la pandémie coVID-19

Local businesses

Vous cherchez à bâtir une communauté de personnes qui cherchent à soutenir les entreprises locales pendant la pandémie COVID-19 (@loveforlocal)

Love for Local – New Brunswick is a Facebook site to support local businesses in NB during the COVID-19 pandemic

Local businesses

Looking to build a community of people who are looking to support local businesses during the COVID-19 Pandemic (@loveforlocal)

Smart buildings harnessed for pandemic response: AI supports infection detection, remote operations and ongoing resilience

Public health

Smart buildings will play an increasingly important role to help detect and control their spread, facilitate the remote operation of buildings in lock down situations and interact with the grid to increase energy resiliency. Advanced applications, smart buildings and smart grids that offer trans active modes of generation and usage have the potential to increase safety and resiliency and increase the sustainable production and consumption of electricity.

Ten measures to support culture in the city in the face of COVID-19

Arts and Culture | Policy leadership

The crisis generated by COVID-19 also affects the city’s cultural network. In Barcelona, ten city measures are being implemented to mitigate the effects and keep culture alive, with the Catalan and Spanish governments also being urged to implement others.

Health Association of African Canadians updates on COVID-19

General: Online communities and networks | Learning and education

Health Association of African Canadians, NS Health Professionals and the Black Cultural Centre will lead a 2nd interactive update on COVID-19 and people of African descent.

COVID-19 – Racial Equity & Social Justice Resources

General: Sector resources

COVID-19 Racial Equity & Social Justice has put together information to help communities and activists as they work to understand and respond to the moment and for the long term.

The Assembly of First Nations declares a state of emergency

Indigenous | Policy leadership | Public health

Calling for increased resources for First Nations on a “needs and equity basis,” with specific consideration for northern, remote and isolated communities.

Campaign against increased Asian racism amid pandemic

A campaign by the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice is calling attention to the spike in racism that Asian businesses and individuals have faced since the outbreak.

Volunteers help people in Toronto by bike

Fundraising and volunteering | Mobility and transportation | Social isolation

The Toronto Bike Brigade calls for volunteer bicycle riders in Toronto to help deliver goods to people unable to leave their homes

Emergency Bike Network in a Week: Quick response to rapidly changing mobility patterns

Mobility and transportation | Policy leadership | Public health

Emergency bike networks are proving integral for getting essential staff to get to their workplace safely, creating additional space on strained or non-existent networks for people maintain physical distancing. They also present an opportunity to trial future bike lane roll-out. Under normal conditions, it can take several months – and sometimes years – to develop a bike network, but these times call for quick measures.

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