Toronto Mayor John Tory speaks at a press conference on March 3, 2016.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The federal, provincial and Toronto governments are partnering to combat violence in Canada's most populous city, which has seen a recent spike in gun crime.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi met with Toronto Mayor John Tory today and announced three initiatives aimed at increasing community safety.
A new intervention fund is being set up to provide counselling and crisis teams in neighbourhoods that have experienced violence, a program to identify and help those at a high risk of criminal behaviour is being expanded and a program to direct youth charged with a criminal offence to community service instead of jail will be piloted in the city this fall.
Tory says the objective of the initiatives is to "arrest" some of the "concerning" trends.
He also says Toronto remains a "very safe city."
As of early June, 21 people had been shot dead in Toronto, up from the nine recorded in the first five months of 2015.