Announcing the Connection, Community and Social Cohesion Academy

Publication Date:

12/12/2025

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KPMG Canada

— 1 minutes reading time

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s Strong Cities Network and KPMG Canada are proud to announce a transformative collaboration in which KPMG’s Corporate Citizenship Practice and Strong Cities will work together to cultivate cross-sector collaboration, drive community connection, and champion policy change for building resilient, caring, and socially cohesive cities across Canada and beyond.

Why This Partnership Matters
Local governments across Canada face growing challenges in addressing the deepening impacts of rising hate, growing polarisation, and declining trust between stakeholders, issues that erode social cohesion. Now more than ever, municipalities and cities need resources and training to adopt a whole-of-city approach that fosters community connection and belonging. This collaboration will focus on empowering municipalities to lead with care, combat polarisation, and rebuild trust through an ecosystem approach that creates environments where every person feels connected.

Lasting Impact Grounded in Experience
This Academy builds on Strong Cities’ proven Prevention Academy model and ISD’s broader 10+ year experience, which has delivered meaningful results in cities across Canada and beyond. It also draws on the sector-leading work of Strong Cities’ host organisation, the Institute for Dialogue, which for over 20 years has advanced research, analysis, and innovation to strengthen social cohesion and address emerging challenges. This collaboration will take this model further by enabling municipalities to not only build capacity but also deploy it immediately, enabling them, for example, to:

Build social cohesion: Through the Universities Challenges, academia and municipalities across Canada will crowdsource innovative initiatives to foster community.
Build cross-sector connections: Regional convenings will bring together leaders and sectors: government, not-for-profits, schools, and communities, to share leading practices.
Strengthen community resilience and foster a sense of belonging: Through the Connection, Community, and Social Cohesion Academy, cities will gain support to strengthen community belonging while advancing priorities like social inclusion and digital resiliency.
Advance inclusive policy and advocacy: Champion policy change and advocate for inclusive, community-driven approaches at provincial and federal levels.

For more information, please contact:

Eric Rosand, Executive Director, Strong Cities Network at [email protected]
Silvia Gonzalez-Zamora, National Corporate Citizenship Leader, Partner, KPMG Canada at [email protected]
Oriana Vaccarino, Director, Corporate Citizenship, KPMG Canada at [email protected]

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