>>Councillor McKelvie: Hello, everyone, thank you for
joining us here at City Hall this morning.
I'm Jennifer McKelvie, Councillor for Scarborough Rouge Park
and Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee.
I'm pleased to welcome Mayor John Tory
and Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson today
for an announcement on behalf of the City and
its Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division.
I'd like to invite Mayor Tory to
come forward first to speak.
>>Mayor Tory: Well, Councillor McKelvie and
Deputy Mayor Thompson, thank you, and I
want to thank them both for being here.
Councillor McKelvie and Deputy Mayor Thompson
both have responsibility in the areas that are
covered by the literally thousands
of jobs that we are making
available today for application.
And I'll talk about those jobs
because they come open each year and
represent a very important source of
employment for
young people, principally but not
limited to young people.
And I think in this year of recovery,
they represent an important step forward in terms
of the availability once again of a
full roster of programs, but also
these employment opportunities
that go with them.
And I thank both Deputy Mayor Thompson and and Councillor Mckelvie
for their work chairing the
committees and looking after the
areas of the City's government that
put these programs forward and
create these opportunities for employment.
This is the day on which we launch
the annual hiring campaign
for Summer Parks and Recreation jobs.
And I think it represents another sign that we are moving
forward, that we are opening up
and that we're able to welcome more
people back to the city,
welcome more people back to work and
welcome more people to participate
in City programs and activities.
Throughout the pandemic we've seen
how important parks, recreation,
recreational facilities and programs
and other public spaces
and activities are for the mental
health and the physical health for
that matter of people
resident in the city of Toronto.
While in lockdown,
residents did use public spaces
as an outlet to get outside and to
have their daily walks and activities.
And this was very important to their physical and
mental health during a period of
considerable confinement.
And throughout the pandemic we made
an extra effort as a City government
to make sure that these spaces were open,
that they were safe
and that they were accessible to all of our residents.
We adapted to create new programs
like CampTO, Parks, Play T.O. and Summer in the 6ix
which were all about providing
recreational activities but
providing them in a way that was
safe, consistent with public
health guidelines in place at the time.
Understanding at those points in time through the two
years of the pandemic so far
the paramount importance of
maintaining public health.
With the end of winter now coming closer,
we're ready to welcome spring and summer with a variety
of programs that come each year in
spring and summer new programs for 2022.
Like every year, when the days get
longer and the weather gets warmer,
a hiring spree begins on the part of the City
to ensure that all of these programs are
properly staffed, and that the
thousands of jobs related to our
recreational programs and gardening are filled.
Today, I'm here with Deputy Mayor Thompson and Councillor McKelvie to
remind residents of the Parks and Recreation job opportunities
available for the spring and summer
that help keep these services
running safely and efficiently, and
that provide the employment
opportunities that are so important
for so many in our city.
Although hiring for Parks and Recreation is a year-round initiative,
there's a strong focus on summer employment.
The City itself is Toronto's
largest provider of recreation
services for all ages,
interests and skill levels
and with that goes a lot of good jobs.
Annually we as a City,
employ approximately 9,000
recreation workers year-round,
including 5,000 people who are
employed exclusively during the summer season.
And it's the case, and I know Deputy Mayor Thompson and Councillor Mckelvie
will back that up from
their own encounters with the staff.
Many, many of the staff that are
permanent today in their adult years,
if I can call it that or in their working careers,
had their start in one of the summer jobs,
and they are very devoted to
the well-being of these programs and
of the residents in parks and recreational facilities in the city.
So, once again this year, this means
that many different kinds of jobs
are open for applications.
And that includes lifeguards,
swimming instructors, camp counsellors,
fitness instructors, performing arts instructors and
hip hop and line dance teachers,
and many more in different categories.
These job applications are open now
and will be open into March and early April.
Additionally, over 900 seasonal
gardening and parks handy-workers
are employed each year.
And we're currently accepting
applications for seasonal gardeners
and parks handy-worker positions.
These people are responsible for
horticultural and turf maintenance,
for litter picking and for minor
repairs in parks across the city.
The posting for seasonal gardeners,
these postings will be open until
March 22nd, or until
the positions are filled.
So I guess the bottom line message
is that you can go now to have a look at these.
They do fill up fairly quickly because these are,
you know, good jobs there in many
cases, outdoor jobs and the kinds of
jobs that people find I think both
very fulfilling and also
very conducive to enjoying the summer.
The jobs are equally important for
people who are accessing these
services over the course of the
spring and summer.
Health measures for recreational
programs align with provincial
guidelines and rules that are in
place from time to time
and with Toronto Public Health
guidance, and these are the people
that not only offer these programs,
offer their expertize to transfer
a skill or to just have some fun.
But at the same time, they're also
the ones watching over the
safety of these programs in a
post-pandemic world.
We will be having two upcoming
specific information sessions
with respect to these spring and
summer jobs taking place tomorrow,
Saturday, February 26th with
further related sessions scheduled
throughout March and April.
At these sessions it's really meant
as much as anything else to learn
about the jobs, but also for people
who may not have applied for a job
like this before due to their age,
and it gives them a bit of a hand in
what to expect in the hiring process.
How do you make up a proper resume
and interview skills that are, of
course, going to be helpful in going
through application for these positions.
The sessions are geared towards
young people who are entering the
job market, sometimes for the first
time, and it's meant to make things
smoother for people who wish to
apply for these positions.
I hope all of this, you know, all
the different steps that we're
taking are signals of better
days to come because that is very
much how we feel.
It is very much how we can
be cautiously optimistic to use the
expression that Dr. de Villa uses in
light of the different numbers that
are in front of us, in the science
that we rely on so much in helping
to make the City's decisions as to
things we proceed with and
what measures we leave in place and
which ones we make modifications to.
We are talking today about 6,000 nearly 6,000
good summer jobs,
jobs that will move our city in the
direction of reopening,
jobs that will move our city in the
direction of recovery and jobs that
will help people move themselves
to a position closer to that
of a normal life.
The jobs will help to boost our
economy because it puts money in the
pockets of people who need that
money, whether it's to pay their
educational expenses or just to live.
And it will also put
some energy into our city its
vibrancy, providing new
opportunities for young people to
build up their working skills and
their confidence and their resumes
all at the same time.
These are impactful employment
opportunities for people of all
ages, but especially for young
people and for residents across
the different neighbourhoods in the
city from different age groups.
And I want to encourage everyone and
anyone who would have the interest
in the availability to fill one of
these positions to apply to
check them out at Toronto.ca
and to consider working with
the City to take advantage of these opportunities.
And I would now like to ask
Deputy Mayor Thompson to say a few
words about these programs and
opportunities that we're announcing today.
>>Deputy Mayor Thompson: Thank you very much, Mister Mayor.
Good morning.
I'm delighted to be here to
support the thousands of staff
members who create and
operate the City's high
quality public recreation programs.
These programs promote physical activity,
nurture social connections and of course,
develop and train future leaders.
Recreation plays a vital role
in promoting and reinforcing
personal, community and,
of course, economic well-being.
As the Mayor has indicated.
These programs also
offer another substantial benefit,
specifically the
excellent job opportunities they
create in our communities.
Work and recreation often leads
to a career in public service,
a career path built on compassion,
commitment, courage and leadership,
and I embody that.
The Mayor has spoken about the
opportunities that have come through
this programs.
I, in fact, worked
as a
Parks and Recreation
rink rat many years ago.
That has led me now to public service,
and it has actually
reinforced the fact that my career
is built on compassion, commitment,
courage and leadership.
So I embody the very
thing that we're speaking about today.
So for all those young people that are out there
looking for opportunity,
as the Mayor has indicated,
these are excellent opportunities for you to be able to
develop your skills and to
create a future where
you are able to develop leadership skills
and work with the community and so on.
I can tell you my experience, which has been
phenomenal, and I want to encourage
each and every one of you to take a
look at these opportunities
in terms of applying for these jobs.
It's a great start.
It's a great opportunity for each
and every one of you.
You can find details
and about these positions
that are available and any other
information by visiting the City's
website at Toronto.ca/recreationjobs
And it's now my pleasure to ask
Councillor Mckelvie to speak about
the parks jobs opportunities
that are now available.
Councillor McKelvie.
>>Councillor McKelvie: Thank you, Councillor Thompson, and
thank you, Mayor Tory, for both
sharing your strong commitment to
a fun and safe summer and
also the job opportunities that are
opening up today.
Toronto's more than 1,500
parks and green spaces are vital
for our urban environment.
Parks are where families and
communities gather outdoors, and
they rely on the city for those
spaces to be ready for them and
keep them safe and clean
for everybody.
We want young people, newcomers and
seniors to feel encouraged in their
job search efforts, and please apply at the City.
And want to take this opportunity again to encourage
people from all walks of life,
to consider working with the city
and to help create positive changes
within their community.
A very, very big thank you to
our City of Toronto staff in their
for their hard work and
dedication in making this happen
both this year and every year.
Thank you. And media will now
be able to ask questions.
>>Lawvin: Thank you Councillor McKelvie,
Mayor Tory and Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson
will not take questions from the media.
As a reminder one question, one follow up.
We do also have staff on the line if
you do have any technical questions.
First up, we have David Rider from the Star. Go ahead, David.
>>David: Hi all. I've read in some jurisdictions, both in
Ontario and also the United States,
that open their seasonal hiring
earlier than Toronto does, that
they've actually had some challenges
filling them that like we've seen in
many parts of the
job sector during the pandemic,
that in some cases it's a
bit of a shortage.
Is there any way
of saying yet right now whether
that's a challenge and if the City
might need to do anything to get to
fill all these positions?
>>Mayor Tory: Well, I don't know whether anybody
that's on the line from the staff at
wants to indicate based on
preliminary, because
some of these applications have been
open for a while now, whereas
the bulk of them, I think, are
coming due now, so we wouldn't yet
have an indication.
Does anyone want to address that
from the from the public service?
>>Lawvin: Aiden, do you want to go ahead?
Sorry, one sec.
Aiden, can you hear us?
>>Aiden: Yes, thank you.
>>Lawvin: Go ahead.
>>Aiden: I agree with the Mayor. I think at this time it's premature
to to comment on that as these
applications are
just coming in.
However, we will be in a better
position in a
few weeks from now.
Thank you.
>>Mayor Tory: And David, I'll just add to that.
I mean, my determination on behalf,
I'm sure of Deputy Mayor Thompson
and Councillor Mckelvie and the
whole of the City administration
will be to make sure if
things are a bit slower coming in
that we ramp up the publicity.
There's a lot of people out there
that need these jobs, especially
students, and I don't think they
would have been in the category of
people because they've been at
school that would not have been
coming back to work in the kind of
receding time of the pandemic.
So we'll ramp it up if we have to to
make sure those jobs get filled
because I think those programs are
more needed than ever.
There's been a lot of trauma that's
been, you know, caused by the
pandemic and all that has been
associated with it, all the
isolation and so on.
And I think these kinds of programs
in the summer months, hopefully with
the pandemic, you know, getting into
the rearview mirror are more
necessary than ever, and we need the
staff, obviously to make sure
they're properly run.
>>David: Thank you.
My follow up is about
vaccination, and
so a lot of teenagers have had
two doses of vaccine,
some have had three.
What is the requirement for
anybody who wants to work for
one of these jobs as far as
how many doses of COVID 19
vaccine they need to have?
>>Mayor Tory: I think I know the answer to that,
but I want to make sure by asking a
public servant to talk about
the definition of full vaccination
that still is in place.
Is there somebody that can answer
that question on me on the line?
>>Lawvin: We don't have anyone on
the line from Toronto Public Health,
so we can get you a specific answer after.
>>Mayor Tory: I believe the answer that they will
confirm, David, is that our
definition of what is required is
consistent with the City's policy
that is remaining to be in place.
The vaccine mandate that says two
doses are satisfactory
to pass that hurdle.
And I don't think that has been
altered for other jobs
or for these jobs, but we'll
get them to confirm that with you.
>>Lawvin: I'll I'll actually check if Aiden
does have an answer to that Aiden.
And you want to go ahead?
>>Aiden: Yes, sorry.
The Mayor is correct at this point
at this time, our vaccination policy
requires two doses.
>>Lawvin: OK, that's that's actually it
for today, David, was our only
question, so thank you, everybody
for joining us. Have a great day.
>>Mayor Tory: Thank you, everybody.