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Joint Statement:

Advancing Housing Equity for Black Youth in Peel and Toronto

REST Youth Council, REST Centre, and Community Allies

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A CALL TO BOLD ACTION

Black youth in Peel and Toronto are at the epicentre of a worsening housing crisis—driven not by personal failure, but by systemic racism, intergenerational poverty, and institutional neglect. Though a demographic minority, Black youth are vastly overrepresented in homelessness statistics. This is not coincidental—it is structural. This is a crisis of equity. It demands urgent, coordinated action across sectors, led by and accountable to Black youth.

A Snapshot of Systemic Failure

Black Overrepresentation in Homelessness

41% Black African, 13% Afro-Caribbean, and 4% Black Canadian/American (Peel PiT Count 2024)

Youth Homelessness

Nearly 1 in 5 unhoused persons in Peel is aged 15–24 (Peel PiT Count 2024)

Foster Care Transition Gaps:

33% of youth aged 16–24 with child welfare involvement are foster system alumni (Peel PiT Count 2024)

Framework for Change: The 5 Ps

Excerpts from the guiding principles:

  1. People First – Centre lived experience as policy expertise.

  2. Positioning – Shift narratives from trauma to resilience and leadership.

  3. Process – Institutionalize youth governance and decision-making power.

  4. Performance – Mandate disaggregated race-based data to drive equity outcomes.

  5. Policy – Enforce equity through legislation, funding, and accountability metrics.

Policy Demands

  • Demand that the housing support continuum is aligned with age and life stage ensuring continuity of care and support into adulthood.

  • Expand youth services to age 30 to reflect evolving adulthood.

  • Provide holistic supports—mental health, legal aid, mentorship, financial literacy—rooted in cultural safety.

  • Prioritize community-led, equity-driven models and collective ownership.


  • Strengthen tenant protections, enforce anti-discrimination laws, and build Black youth capacity through legal literacy and advocacy training

Fixing the Funding Architecture

  • Core, Multi-Year Funding:
    Shift from short-term projects to stable, long-term operational investments in Black-led (B3) organizations.

  • Simplified, Trust-Based Granting:
    Remove administrative burdens. Recognize lived experience as expertise.

  • Public–Philanthropic Alignment:
    Align funding with the priorities defined by Black youth and communities.

  • Ensure equitable access
    To safe, affordable, and culturally relevant housing for Black youth

Cross-Sector Calls to Action

To Governments:

  • Prioritize cohort-based youth housing supports in policy, equitable funding, and program design

  • Mandate and publish disaggregated race-based data.

  • Fund Black-led youth and housing initiatives directly.

  • Apply anti-racist, intersectional frameworks to all policies

To Donors:

  • Centre Black youth leadership in collective action.

  • Confront anti-Black racism across all sectors.

  • Resource youth-led organizing and long-term movement building.

To Philanthropy:

  • Prioritize core, unrestricted funding.

  • Invest in institutions, not just projects.

  • Honour lived experience as technical and leadership knowledge.

Get In Touch

Join us in calling on all institutions to move from words to action —advancing systems change grounded in equity, driven by Black youth and sustained by long-term investment. By adding your name, you amplify the Joint Statement for Black Youth Housing Equity and help push for meaningful change

As Black Youth: We will continue to organize, advocate, and care for each other with courage and imagination.

As REST Centre: We will embed youth leadership into our DNA and hold systems accountable.

As Community Allies: We commit to sharing power, resourcing youth-led solutions, and staying in solidarity.

ENDORSE THE STATEMENT

Supporters

  • Abel Ali

    Director, BLCK VC

  • Adam Spence

    Founder and Director of SVX

  • Adeola (Ade) Oladimeji

    Founder & Managing Partner at Ascendi Capital

  • Aisha Francis

    Interim Executive Director, Eva’s Initiative

  • Alex Tveit (he/him)

    Co-Founder and CEO at Sustainable Impact Foundation,

  • Alfred Burgesson

    Founder & CEO, Tribe Network

  • amanuel melles

    Executive Director of the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities (NABC)

  • Andre Cooper

    Founder Of CANCARO

  • Andrea Nemtim

    CEO of SI CANADA

  • Bryan Duarte

    General Partner of the BlackTech Capital

  • Camesha Cox

    Founder of the Reading Partnership

  • Carla Leon

    CEO of Just Like Family

  • Celina Caesar-Chavannes, PhD

    Executive Director of The Canadian CED Network (CCEDNet)

  • Charles Buchanan

    CEO of Technology Helps

  • Christie Nelson

    Executive Director of Family Fuse

  • Clement Esene

    Founder and Executive Director of the BIPOC Foundation

  • Craig Wellington

    Executive Director of the Black Opportunity Fund

  • Danya Pastuszek

    President & Co-CEO Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement

  • Darryl Kingston

    Executive Director, Digital Governance Standards Institute

  • Devon Jones

    Founder of YAAACE

  • Dipo Alli

    Executive Director of Black Business Ventures Association (BBVA)

  • Djaka Blais

    Executive Director of Hogan's Alley Society

  • Doug Minter

    Partnerships Sponsorship Manager, Canadian Chambers of Commerce

  • Dr. Marie Cecile Kotyk

    Assistant Professor & Design Justice Research Chair, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary

  • Dr. Prentiss Dantzler

    Associate Professor and Director of Housing Justice Lab at University of Toronto

  • Efia Tekyi Anan

    Executive Director of the Black Data Collective

  • Efosa Obano

    CEO Black Founders Network

  • Elizabeth Chick

    Executive Director of Buy Social Canada

  • Filsan Farah

    Fund Manager of Weave Community Capital Fund

  • Floydeen Charles-Fridal

    Executive Director of the Caribbean African Canadian Social Services

  • Fred Sherman

    Principal, Hill Solutions at Hill Solutions Public Affairs

  • Graham Singh

    CEO of Releven

  • Harper Nguyen

    Co-Founder of MIGR8

  • Hazel Corcoran (she, her/elle)

    Executive Director, CWCF

  • Isaac Olowolafe

    Founder of BEKN (Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub)

  • Jillisa Brown

    CEO of Funding Impact

  • Jonah Chininga

    Co-Founder & CEO

  • Josephine Grey

    Founding Director: St. James Town Community Cooperative

  • Justine Cleophas Pierre, Ph.D

    Director of Research and Business Development, Dunn Pierre Barnett and Company Canada

  • Kathryn Babcock

    CEO of CapitalW

  • Kayla Isabelle

    CEO of Start Up Canada

  • Keith Taylor


    Executive Director, DUCA Impact Lab

  • Kermana Mensah

    Franchise Owner of Just Like Family

  • Kizito Musabimana

    RCHC Founder & Executive Director

  • Liban Abokor

    Founder of Reimagine Labs

  • Liza Arnason

    Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors: ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities.

  • Maryam Mohiuddin Ahmed, PhD

    Assistant Professor, Stratford School of Interaction Design & Business, University of Waterloo

  • Melissa Ellis

    Founder & CEO, Nobellum

  • Melizia Mensah

    Managing Director of Sisters in Solidarity (SIS)

  • Michael Forrest

    Founder & Board Member Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce

  • Michael Toye

    Executive Director of Cooperatives and Mutuals Canada

  • Monique Olowolafe

    Executive Director of Dream Legacy Foundation

  • Neil Price

    Co-Founder & Executive Director of the LogicalOutcomes

  • Nene Kwesi Kafele

    Founder of the Tabono Institute

  • Nerissa Allen

    President & CEO, Black Business Association of BC

  • Norman Valdez

    Founder of Brain Trainer

  • Olutoyin Oyelade

    CEO, Casa Foundation

  • Omar Yaqub

    Servant of IslamicFamily

  • Peter Frampton

    Executive Director of the Learning Enrichment Foundation

  • Pharoah Hamid Freeman

    Founder of the OFC One Full Circle

  • Phil G Joseph

    Founder, Rep Matters

  • Rohit Mehta

    Founder & General Manager, DoGood Funding

  • Romeo Ware

    CEO of Stealth Foundry

  • Rosemarie Powell

    Executive Director Toronto Community Benefits Network

  • Ryan Oneil Knight

    Co-Founder and Executive Director of ACBN

  • Sarah Juma

    Founder & Director of Innovate Inclusion

  • Sara Wolfe

    Co-Founder, Equity Cubed

  • Shannin Metatawabin, ICD.D

    Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

  • Soniel Gordon

    Founder of Sunny Boy Farms

  • Stephanie Robertson

    Founder of Social Value Canada

  • Suzanne Faiza

    Founder of The Canadian Coalition for Community Capital

  • Thierry Lindor

    Co-Founder & CEO of Happly

  • Tiffany Callendar

    Co-Founder & CEO, The Federation of African Canadian Economics

  • Tonya Surman

    Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Social Innovation

  • Trevor Charles

    Executive Director, LBIH Black Innovation Hub

  • Victor Beausoleil

    Executive Director of SETSI

  • Wilfreda Edward

    Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience (CCNDR)

  • Wils Theagene

    Founder & Managing Partner, Citadel Capital

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