Photo of a school hallway with a banner saying "EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE" on a background of raised hands of different skin tones, each of them holding a red heart. Next to it is another colourful banner saying "Love one another as I have loved you."

Anti-Racism Conference 2023

The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) maintains its commitment to equity and inclusion as ever-present goals, critical responsibilities, and moral imperatives.

This year’s theme is Advocacy and Activism - Creating Changemaking Communities. Students are invited to SPEAK UP and SPEAK OUT about their experiences with racism and how they advocated and actively participated to eliminate racism, and to be part of an affinity group to change communities for the better. The overarching vision of our 2023 Anti-Racism Conference for students in Grades 6-12 is to support the TCDSB call to equity advocacy and activism, which promotes action with sincerity, integrity, and commitment to ensure that everyone feels a sense of belonging and is encouraged and supported to thrive and succeed to the best of their abilities. This sense of belonging, carried out through advocacy and activism, is part of the nurturing goals of our Catholic community.

This event will be offered both in person and on live stream, and will feature an Anti-Racism Exposé. Students can present topics of interest through spoken word, interpretive dance, video production, speech, prayer, original music, or band (choice boards for art expressions and guidelines to follow registration).

The goals of the 2023 Anti-Racism Conference are to:

  1. Provide a platform for advocacy and activism through student voice.

  2. Connect like-minded individuals to create communities of support.

  3. Strengthen and solidify change-making communities and affinity groups.

  4. Showcase students’ expression of work about anti-racism.

  5. Put anti-racist words into action.

Date and Time

The conference will be held on

  • Elementary: April 25, 2023 (Tuesday)

  • Secondary: April 26, 2023 (Wednesday)

The conference will be held at the Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts and/or the Catholic Education Center from 10:00 AM to 2:15 PM.

How to Register

To register and/or express interest in participating in the Anti-Racism Exposé and to be considered for a live performance, complete our Registration Form by March 10, 2023 (Friday). All TCDSB schools are invited to participate in this conference. Please note that teachers must register for their classes (students should not be registering on their own). More information will be sent to teachers after registration, including preparation before the conference (e.g., choice board guidelines), expectation during the conference, and post lessons after the conference.

Contact Information

Please send your questions or comments about this event to Jody Huang at jodelyn.huang@tcdsb.org.

Conference Schedule

2023 TCDSB Anti-Racism Conference

9:45 AM

Arrival / Registration

10:00 AM

Opening Assembly, Welcome Address, Land Acknowledgment and Prayer, Video Winner Showcase

10:25 AM

Program Sequence Explanation

10:30 AM

Keynote

11:00 AM

Anti-Racism Exposé (Part 1): 7 Art Expressions (3 minutes each) with a debrief

12:00 Noon

Lunch Break

12:45 PM

Anti-Racism Exposé (Part 2):  7 Art Expressions (3 minutes each) with a debrief

1:45 PM

Take-away Summary, Post Survey

2:00 PM

Closing Celebration (End Prayer and Closing Remarks)

Resources