Park People’s Executive Director, Erika Nikolai, has been honoured with the Distinguished Individual Award from World Urban Parks—an international recognition that celebrates her leadership and the growing national movement Park People has helped build here in Canada.
Why are events in parks important? How do grants fit into Park People’s larger goals for creating change in city parks?
For years, Geri and Gary James drove an hour outside Toronto to find nature — not realizing one of the…
In 2026, 72 community groups and organizations across the country are receiving TD Park People Grants. They’ll be bringing people together in parks and green spaces through creative, inclusive, and environmentally focused events.
Ready to rally your crew and make a visible difference in your local park? This guide walks you through everything you need to host a successful community clean-up in Toronto
Explore key findings from five years of the Canadian City Parks Report, highlighting significant trends, issues, and practices shaping urban parks across the country.
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Park People
Jan 1, 2017 Canada-wide Toronto, Ontario
Sparking Change: The Social Impact of Parks
Sparking Change explores the social impacts of communities in underserved neighbourhoods becoming involved in animating and improving their local park, and identifies common strategies taken by both community members and partner organizations to support this work. The report tells the story of communities that have taken action through spearheading improvements, engaging diverse community members, and organizing events and activities that draw people into the park—a process we refer to as park engagement.
Through interviews with community volunteers, partner organizations, and city staff in seven different North American cities, including Toronto, we highlight five major social impacts of park engagement.
“Parks are not simply green places of respite with grass and trees–they are critical pieces of the social infrastructure of our cities. And we believe they have a role to play in creating more inclusive, equitable places that are shaped by and for the people living there.”
Social impacts of communities becoming involved in animating and improving their local park
A guidance and resources to measure the impact of your park work on community health and wellbeing, integrating a social equity lens.
Discover the impact of the Sparking Change program in Toronto on community health, equity, human-nature connection, and ecological integrity.