The SNAP Program aims to accelerate the creation of sustainable neighbourhoods in older urban areas by providing a neighbourhood-based solution for achieving greater impact in urban renewal and climate action.
The SNAP Program consists of four activity areas:
1. Planning & Advisory Services
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) provides planning and advisory services, enabling the development of new SNAP plans within and external to TRCA’s jurisdiction.
Current Initiatives:
- FCM awarded TRCA a Transition 2050 grant to support nine interested municipalities in expanding the application of the neighbourhood model as a successful strategy for climate action.
- TRCA is applying a municipality-wide neighbourhood screening process to identify candidate locations for future SNAPs and integrated projects, where there is alignment of multiple TRCA watershed and municipal urban renewal and climate action priorities.
- Fletcher’s Creek SNAP, Brampton: TRCA is advising Credit Valley Conservation on the development and implementation of its first SNAP in the Fletcher’s Creek neighbourhood.
- New SNAPs: Discussions are underway with a number of new municipalities and community organizations interested in contracting TRCA’s planning services in the development of new SNAPs.
- East City-Curtis Creek and Kawartha Heights SNAPs, Peterborough: TRCA is advising GreenUp in the development of two SNAPs in Peterborough (in East City-Curtis Creek and Kawartha Heights neighbourhoods) in collaboration with the municipality, Otonabee Region Conservation Authority, and other partners.
2. Neighbourhood Implementation & Facilitation
TRCA works closely with partners in each neighbourhood SNAP to identify strategic implementation projects and responsibilities.
TRCA’s role ranges from providing support to an implementing partner to leading multiple implementation projects and ensuring coordination among them.
Current Initiatives (see also SNAP Neighbourhood Projects):
- New SNAP action planning processes are underway in Bramalea, Brampton and Thornhill, Vaughan.
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A neighbourhood-scale vulnerability assessment and adaption initiative underway in County Court SNAP, Brampton co-created by residents and stakeholders to prepare for extreme weather emergencies and inform final SNAP Action Plan implementation.
- Home retrofit programs delivering on multiple objectives through locally tailored one-window approaches that foster neighbour to neighbour connections (West Bolton SNAP, Caledon; Bayview Glen SNAP, Markham; Black Creek SNAP, Toronto).
- Stormwater management pond retrofit construction project to provide improved water management and supply local irrigation water as a public-private win-win (County Court SNAP, Brampton).
- Community animation and leadership in community resilience (County Court SNAP, Brampton, Black Creek SNAP, Toronto).
- Suburban park renewal as a new model for integrated infrastructure renewal and catalyst for community engagement in home retrofit action (Bayview Glen SNAP, Markham and County Court SNAP, Brampton).
- Multi-unit residential (MUR) revitalization through partnerships with private landowners, tenant engagement, community groups and the municipality, using multi-functional designs (Black Creek SNAP, Toronto; Burnhamthorpe SNAP, Mississauga).
- Capacity building for local social enterprise (Black Creek SNAP, Toronto).
- SNAP Action Plan completed for West Bolton, Caledon and implementation projects being launched including development of a Trail Master Plan for West Bolton as well as a public realm demonstration project.
3. Knowledge Sharing
TRCA facilitates intra-SNAP dialogue, knowledge sharing and connections with extended partner networks in the urban sustainability practice.
Current Initiatives:
- Hosting a forum of interested municipalities as part of an FCM Transition 2050 funded project aimed at developing recommendations for future application and refinement of the neighbourhood model as an effective municipal practice for climate action.
- Funded by CMHC’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) Demonstrations Initiative in 2019, SNAP is working on demonstrating and bringing forward a proven model for revitalizing aging, privately owned affordable housing, based on the successful San Romanoway Revival project in Black Creek SNAP, Toronto. The initiative includes capacity building for stakeholders that could play a role in tower revitalization, including housing providers, resident groups, NGO’s and municipalities. It also includes an evaluation of socio-economic impacts associated with tower revitalization.
- Evaluation of SNAP’s neighbourhood-based home retrofit programs and associated impacts.
- SNAP Socio-economic metrics: a project to refine indicators and metrics and provide a preliminary assessment of the socio-economic impacts of SNAPs
- Advancing Integrated Infrastructure Renewal: Lessons learned about barriers/enablers of innovation and recommendations from a process evaluation of SNAP projects.
- SNAP training at FCM’s 2018 Sustainable Communities Conference.
4. Scaling Up
TRCA seeks to identify opportunities for expanding and exporting successful solutions from pilot neighbourhoods for greater impact.
Current Initiatives:
- Documenting marketing strategies associated with different neighbourhood typologies (building stock and demographics).
- Expansion of the Harvest the Rain home retrofit program to Rexdale, another neighbourhood having similar characteristics as Black Creek SNAP. Success of this pilot expansion suggest potential scalability to 89,000 homes in the Toronto Region.
- San Romanoway Towers revitalization project: discussions are underway with prospective partners about the potential application of this approach with other towers.
- Transferring successful lessons in tower renewal from Black Creek SNAP and the San Romanoway Tower Revitalization in Toronto to Burnhamthorpe SNAP Tower Program in Mississauga.
- Contributing to the design of municipal scale Nurturing Neighbourhoods program in Brampton.
CONTACT
Sonya Meek
Senior Manager, Sustainable Neighbourhoods
416-661-6600 x 5253
sonya.meek@trca.ca