Strong Cities Network
Sixth Global Summit

About the Summit

This Sixth Global Summit is being co-hosted by the City of Toronto and will convene mayors and other local leaders together with local government practitioners, civil society actors and national and international partners from around the world to showcase how cities are preventing and responding to rising levels of hate, extremism and polarisation.

The Summit will also showcase progress made in implementing priority areas and learnings from the Fifth Global Summit, held in Cape Town (South Africa) in December 2024, which gathered more than 140 participants, including 60 mayors, governors and other city leaders, as well as local officials, practitioners and partners from more than 90 cities and 40 countries.

Cities, organisations, private institutions and donors interested in supporting the Sixth Global Summit are encouraged to contact the Strong Cities Network at [email protected].

Together in Toronto

The City of Toronto joined the Strong Cities Network in October 2024 and has since played an active role in sharing its experiences in prevention and response with peers across the Network. Toronto has contributed to several in-person and virtual exchanges, helping advance local approaches to building resilience and social cohesion. During the Fourth Global Summit in 2023, the city signed the New York City Mayoral Declaration against Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, reaffirming its commitment to practical solutions to rising levels of hate, extremism and polarisation, while promoting a human rights-based approach.

In 2023, the city launched Toronto for All, a public education initiative that brings residents together to challenge and eliminate systemic discrimination through awareness campaigns, dialogue and community collaboration. Each campaign focuses on a specific issue — including anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, anti-Indigenous discrimination, transphobia, and more — working to foster understanding and reduce the barriers faced by equity-deserving communities. By centring education and action at the local level, Toronto for All reflects the values at the heart of the Strong Cities Network: that cities play a vital role in building more inclusive and resilient societies.