Black community groups are accusing the Ontario government of withholding funding, with the Black

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Black community groups are accusing the Ontario government of withholding funding with the government denying these allegations instead saying that they are refining their approach on funding to focus more on employment.

[00:00:08]There's a program called the Black Youth Action Plan in Ontario and it helps to fund a thousands upon thousands of opportunities across Ontario for black youth. And while funding was supposed to come out in March, it has not come in.

[00:00:16]And this has led to many people losing their jobs and many programs not being able to run at full capacity. The ministry did inform these organizations that the funding was still coming and that they were changing the program to focus more on employment. But so far some of these organizations have had to lay off full-time staff. With some of these programs relying on this grant for about 75% of their funding to help new coming children and families navigate the Canadian classroom setting. So this funding, these programs that were designed to help black youth find activities and get engaged in their community and to develop their skills, it's now being focused on them just gaining employment. It just feels a little weird and a little icky. The potential refined approach would emphasize not only skills development, but also job placement, retention, and career progression. And that's not to say that that is not important. But the fact that funding is currently being withheld as this is being retooled and it seems like the main focus is going to be all about jobs, it just feels like we're taking away opportunities from black youth. And these agencies are struggling. They're saying that this is triggering widespread program closures and the loss of essential services and the layoff of up to 90% of staff. With the CEO of Parents of Black Children stating that they're troubled by the new strategy hinted at in the letter. Going on to say that while employment is important, other needs like education and mental health have to be met in order to set black youth up for success in the workforce. How do you feel about all this? Do you agree with the funding model changes? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below.