St. James Town Neighbourhood Improvement Area

Exciting improvements are coming to St. James Town for Potential Inclusion as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area.

In 2019, City Council directed the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to determine the suitability for the North St. James Town neighbourhood, focusing on the neighbourhood east of Sherbourne Street, to be identified as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area when the next City-wide review to identify Neighbourhood Improvement Areas is complete and report back to the Economic and Community Development Committee in the fourth quarter of 2020 as part of this process. As a result of COVID-19, this review has been delayed and the work is now not scheduled to be completed before 2024.

Two major incidents in apartment buildings in St. James Town have created a significant push by local community organizations and service providers to have the City re-evaluate the neighbourhood for inclusion as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area when the City updates its Strong Neighbourhood Strategy 2020.

In 2014, City Council designated 31 neighbourhoods as Neighbourhood Improvement Areas as part of the Strong Neighbourhood Strategy 2020. As part of that work, staff scored 140 neighbourhoods across the City to create a Neighbourhood Equity Score as well as a benchmark to determine which neighbourhoods would be strengthened through the strategy.

Since 2014, residents and community organizations in St. James Town have reported that their low-income neighbourhood continues to struggle. The St. James Town neighbourhood is one of the City's most densely populated neighbourhoods, with a high immigrant population, a lower proportion of post-secondary education and a high proportion of impoverished residents.