Community Safety and Well-Being Plan

Community Action Tables (CATs) are collaborative networks that bring together key partners including local residents, service providers, York Regional Police, and local municipalities to co-design and implement up-stream solutions that address the root causes of social challenges. Each CAT focuses on three key priorities:

• Mental Well-Being
• Housing Stability
• Economic Stability

Focus Areas and Lead Agencies

1. Northern Georgina
   1. Lead: Routes Connecting Communities  
   2. 📧 Sandra Hanmer | @email
   3. 🌐 Georgina CAT – Linking Georgina
2. Central Newmarket
   1. Lead: Routes Connecting Communities  
   2. 📧 Sandra Hanmer | @email   
   3. 🌐 Linking Newmarket – Connecting Communities in Newmarket and the surrounding area
3. South-Central Richmond Hill  
   1. Lead: Family Services York Region
   2. 📧 Tricia Ali | @email
   3. South-Central Richmond Hill Community Action Table - Family Services York Region
4. South-Central Markham
   1. Lead: Agincourt Community Services Association (ACSA)  
   2. 📧 Camilla Singh | @email
   3. 🌐 South Markham Connects | SMCAT | Housing Stabilty | Mental Health | Mental Well-Being

Highlighting Plan Momentum

• Over 33,000 residents engaged across all CATs
• 116 of 122 CAT actions projected to be completed or underway (end of 2024)
• Quick Action Grants funded 58 resident- and agency-led projects, reaching over 10,000 people

Examples of present and past local initiatives:  

• Northern Georgina: Career mentorship and training for youth
• Central Newmarket: Pay-what-you-can food markets with housing supports
• South-Central Richmond Hill: Multilingual Ambassador-led food box delivery program, housing workshops, “Wellness Wednesdays” and a tool lending library
• South-Central Markham: Intergenerational spaces (benches) to reduce loneliness and promote inclusion, housing summits

To connect with a Community Action Table, please visit How to get involved.

Co-led by The Regional Municipality of York and York Regional Police, CYF Situation Tables aim to reduce crime, victimization, and reliance on enforcement by addressing situations of Acutely Elevated Risk (AER) through rapid, coordinated intervention.

Launched in January 2023, four CYF Tables are now active:

• Richmond Hill–Vaughan
• Newmarket
• Markham
• Georgina

These multi-sector collaborative tables meet weekly to identify individuals or families facing imminent harm. If a case meets AER criteria— meaning there’s a high likelihood of significant harm that can’t be addressed by a single agency — an intervention team is mobilized within 72 hours using an integrated, culturally informed response.

Goals of CYF Situation Tables

• Reduce harm and victimization
• Improve service coordination
• Address systemic risks and trends
• Strengthen community safety and well-being

Check out this video to learn more about how CYF Situation Tables are supporting the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for York Region.

For additional information, please email @email

This initiative is funded by Public Safety Canada's Building Safer Communities Fund.  

Community Violence Prevention Fund – 2024 Summary

York Region’s Community Violence Prevention Fund (CVPF) supports local efforts to reduce risk factors linked to youth crime, harm, and victimization. Through two funding streams — Agency and Resident — initiatives focused on mental well-being, housing stability, and economic stability.

Agency Stream

Five agency-led projects delivered targeted supports across York Region:

• CCMF & 360°kids – One-on-one counselling for at-risk youth, onsite and in the community.
• Playforever – Sports, mental health workshops, and employment training for marginalized youth in Richmond Hill.
• Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation – Aims to improve community well-being and youth development through comprehensive, culturally informed services and programs. Partnering with local service providers, the project leverages collective expertise to address the unique needs of First Nations children and enhance community safety.
• The Housing Help Centre – Support for women experiencing violence, including legal, housing, and mental health services.
• South Asian and Tamil Women’s Collective – A community conference to empower young women through advocacy and skills-building.

Resident Stream

Fifteen grassroots projects were delivered by residents, reaching 2,044 individuals, engaging 61 partners, delivering 73 sessions, and making 32 referrals. These initiatives strengthened community safety, connection, and youth well-being.

Resident-Led Projects:

• Artful Empowerment and Expressions of Peace
• Box of Chocolates
• Community Anti-Bully Education Program
• Denison Newcomer Club
• Echoes of Empowerment: Art Against Abuse
• Empowerment Day at Centre Island
• Gen-Connect
• Know and Love Your Body Through Dance
• Markham Youth After School Program
• Onwards March to a Brighter Future
• Stamp Out Stigma
• Toastmasters for Violence Prevention
• Violence Prevention and Interventon Program
• Youth Against Drug Abuse
• Youth Driven Watershed

The Mobile Youth Services Hub supports vulnerable youth, including those at risk of homelessness or involved with the criminal justice system. 

Key services include:

• Food provision
• Nutrition education
• Pre-employment opportunities
• Mental health and addiction support
• Life skills workshops
• Recreational activities
• Crisis intervention and prevention for substance abuse, alcohol, and gang-related activities

The Hub travels to high-traffic areas like streets, parks, community centers, and schools, using real-time data to provide timely services.

The pilot program aims to:

• Increase access to services
• Enhance social inclusion
• Improve community safety through crisis intervention and prevention. 

Check out this video to learn more about how the Mobile Youth Services Hub is supporting the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for York Region.

This initiative is funded by Public Safety Canada's Building Safer Communities Fund.

The Service Navigator pilot program, developed in collaboration with local community partners and York Region’s Community Action Tables, has been actively supporting vulnerable youth and families across the region. Service Navigators serve as a trusted point of contact—helping clients access the supports they need with empathy and without judgment.

Their role includes helping individuals navigate barriers, offering emotional support, explaining service-related terminology, making referrals, coordinating with providers, and responding to each client’s unique needs.

The purpose is to provide timely and coordinated support to communities impacted by violence and traumatic incidents in York Region through community healing which will increase community resiliency.

The goal of community healing programming is to enhance trust and foster safety and well-being within the community and build community connections.  

A traumatic incident is any event which has community level impacts and may include but not limited to a shots fired. 

The Youth Supporting Youth pilot is a peer support program that will support marginalized and vulnerable youth, including those at risk of or involved with gang violence.

The pilot should provide peer support certification and workshops at local schools and in the community on violence prevention, life skills training, building healthy relationships, employment skills, trauma, stress, and self-care strategies. The program should equip youth with systems and coping mechanisms to increase protective factors and prevent/reduce underlying risk factors that lead to crime, harm, and victimization.

Peer support training and certification assist mentors with healing from past traumas just as much as the program intended to support the mentees.

Download the Youth Supporting Youth Pilot Program Fact Sheet.

This initiative is funded by Public Safety Canada's Building Safer Communities Fund.

The Plan targets communities with the greatest need, building on local strengths to improve mental well-being, housing, and economic stability.

Input from over 700 York Region residents and stakeholders helped identify top risk factors in four focus areas:

• Northern Georgina – Mental well-being, economic stability
• South-central Markham – Mental well-being, housing stability
• Central Newmarket – Mental well-being, housing stability
• South-central Richmond Hill – Mental well-being, housing stability

Community input and data will continue to inform future focus areas. 

The CSWB Plan built off of/leverages/furthers the work of existing plans:

• York Region’s 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan, Housing Solutions: A Place for Everyone, York Region Economic Development Action Plan: 2020 to 2023, The Inclusion Charter for York Region and York Regional Police Business Plan: Our roadmap for 2020 to 2022
• Georgina’s Economic Strategy and Action Plan  
• Newmarket’s Council Strategic Priorities  
• Richmond Hill’s Affordable Housing Strategy  
• Markham’s Diversity Action Plan  

If you live or work in one of the four focus areas and would like to share your ideas with your local Community Action Table to help set priorities, plan activities and take action to improve your community, connect with the representative in your area:

Northern Georgina
Sandra Hanmer 
@email

South-Central Markham
Jen Fabico
@email

Central Newmarket
Sandra Hanmer 
@email

South-Central Richmond Hill
Tricia Ali
@email

For other questions about the Community Safety and Well-being Plan for York Region, please email [email protected]