Projects

Hamilton Safety Summit

 Twice in November, community organizations, residents, and institutions were brought together by the city to talk about Community Safety[…]Both these events point to a deeper problem – a lack of government priorities to meet even basic needs, let alone support the conditions for people to be well with each other and their environment. As austerity only increases under both the Provincial and Federal governments, and as policing solutions from tightening borders and immigration controls to restricting bail are increasingly presented as the only solutions to safety problems, does this city have the courage to say what is really going on here? City Council at least agreed that Ontario’s Bill 60 is going to make things worse by putting more tenants at risk of eviction. So much more is needed. Inequality and oppression create a lack of safety and we can’t police our way out of this.

Community Response to White Nationalist Group in Hamilton

In response to a white nationalist group planning to host an event in Hamilton, HCCI alongside other community organizations put out a statement with information on the group and a call for community members, groups, organizations, elected officials, and institutions to take action by publicly denouncing and opposing what the group called their “terror tour”.

Thoughts on social media, Islamophobia, and not really talking about Antisemitism

“The social media platforms we use for communicating ideas and opinions are shrinking in their viability and humanity. Instead of keeping us connected, informed, and empowered as active participants in our communities, these corporate platforms throw up barriers, divert our attention, and channel us into conversations that serve purposes most of us do not intend or want to serve.”

Open Letter on Housing & Homelessness in Hamilton

“In the lead up to Hamilton City Council’s vote to rescind the encampment protocol, a coalition of organizations and individuals who want the city to use a human rights based approach to housing and homelessness wrote an open letter encouraging Hamiltonians to have a different perspective when it comes to our neighbours in encampments. This coalition and the letter called on the City of Hamilton to do better by responding to the needs of all those living outside by providing accessible housing for all. The letter also called for an end to the criminalization, persecution, displacement, and surveillance of those living outside.

Read the full report here.

5 Questions for Election Season from HCCI

As the 2025 Federal Election approached, HCCI wrote and shared some important questions for community members to consider. The goal was to make sure people felt empowered to question candidates who want their vote to fully explain what they mean with the words they use and what impact they will actually have in our community if elected. HCCI decided to do this instead of posing questions to political candidates and sharing their responses. We asked questions like “how are my emotions being used?” and “Does this align with who and what I care about?”

PAMP – Public Art Report

HCCI contributed to the 2025 Public Art Master Plan (PAMP) with interviews, focus groups, and a survey that were all guided by the core belief that Public Art can both be a means for communities and individuals to express their complexity and share stories and can be structured in ways that may replicate forms of exclusion and marginalization. What we heard from participants reflected this dichotomy and also revealed many ways to think about public art we had not been expecting.

ABRAR Brave Space

Considering the rise in Islamophobic violence in Canada, Brave Space was created by Abrar Trauma & Mental Health Services (ABRAR) as an early intervention model of support group sessions for Muslim women. Brave Space was successfully piloted in Hamilton November and December 2021 with support from the Hamilton Centre for Civic inclusion, the Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton & Area), and Councilor Nrinder Nann.

In remembering the tragic loss of the Afzaal Family in an Islamophobic attack in London, Ontario and honouring the family, HCCI collaborated with ABRAR to host a remembrance event, inviting keynote speakers and a panel of inspiring Muslim women to discuss the impact of Islamophobia on mental health and to highlight resilience.

Anti-Racism Conference

HCCI received funding from the Ministry of Canadian Heritage to hold an Anti-Racism Conference planned for March 28 and 29, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was changed to a virtual format. Sessions were held live via Zoom webinar, and the recordings of these sessions are still available on YouTube as a permanently accessible archive of the conference.

The theme of the conference was “Combating the Rise of Hate: Exploring the Context of Race and Racism”.

View the listed recordings linked below:

• Discrimination in COVID-19 Times
• Solidarity in the Wake of COVID-19
• Combating Racism in the Media

Safety Plan for Black Students

Hamilton secondary school students worked together to advocate for support around issues of racism and hate speech. Students conducted and released reports and met with school board administrations in attempts to create safe environments for students to share their concerns.

Since the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, organizations across Hamilton have asserted a need to address anti-Black racism. Calls to action culminated into the 2020 Black Friday Rally in Support of Black Organizations. This rally focused on elevating support of Black-led institutions in Hamilton. The Black Friday Rally saw Black-led organizations outline the need for education-based anti-racism support for local youth. Additionally, there was a surge in calls from local Black youth for educational institutions to address anti-Black racism and policing in schools. This resulted in the termination of the police program in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB).

Based on these catalysts, HCCI conducted a report to address community safety, well-being and create an action plan for Black youth in Hamilton schools.

Restructuring the Hamilton Board of Health

HCCI worked with community partners to support efforts to restructure the Hamilton Board of Health in 2022. This was an effort to include members of the public and health leaders from the following equity seeking groups, including but not limited to: women, people with (in)visible disabilities, Indigenous peoples, low-income communities, Black and Racialized communities, 2SLGBTQIA+, and newcomer communities. The call to restructure the Hamilton Board of Health was in response to the disparities seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to build structural awareness and action on health issues facing the Hamilton community. More recently, after the provincial government asked for public comment, the official creation of the semi-autonomous Board of Health had their first meeting in July of 2025.

Just Recovery

During the COVID-19 pandemic a coalition of community organizations with expertise on a wide range of issues such as climate change, disability justice, housing rights, and anti-racism came together to make recommendations to the City of Hamilton to advance a just recovery.

The recommendations were framed around nine key principles:

1. Investing in Women
2. Mobility Justice
3. Disability Justice
4. Housing as a Human Right
5. Tackling Systemic Racism
6. Investing in decent jobs, decent wages, and our local economy
7. Focus on Inclusive City building
8. Investing in Green Ingrastructure
9. Supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ communities

HCCI was a member of the coalition, championed the calls that were in the report, and spoke to them at city council.