Today marks 75 years since JVS Toronto first opened its doors on June 16, 1947 to welcome Holocaust survivors and veterans in need of employment after the Second World War.  

At the time, the tremendous distress and uncertainty experienced by these individuals required much more support than just help finding a job. JVS Toronto developed a work-adjustment program to prepare them for employment and to build meaningful lives in Canada. We expanded our reach, building off that model to support individuals with disabilities, mental health issues or addictions creating pathways to more fulfilling lives.

We started with humble beginnings in a small office on Spadina Avenue and now, 75 years later, we have 9 locations across the GTA and served close to 16,000 individuals last year. Today, JVS Toronto continues to meet the needs of an ever-changing world. Whether we are responding to crises occurring on a global scale, such as providing support to refugees escaping the war in Ukraine, or addressing local needs in our community, we continue to honour our roots. JVS Toronto remains committed to breaking down barriers faced by marginalized groups to help them achieve self-sufficiency through employment.

We are grateful for the generosity of our donors that help us meet the needs of those who need us most. If you would like to provide support for those looking for meaningful employment, please visit jvstoronto.org/donate.

With gratitude,

Allison Steinberg
Chief Executive Officer, JVS Toronto

 JVS Toronto held its 75th Annual General Meeting virtually on September 21. We thank everyone who celebrated this milestone anniversary with us.

Our decades of experience are what guide us as we strive to stay true to our founding values. We remain committed to a highly individualized approach to breaking down barriers and helping our clients achieve self-sufficiency. The organization is well-positioned to bring new, innovative, and dynamic programming to our community.

We’d like to thank our staff, volunteers, donors, funders, employers, and community partners for their generosity and dedication over the last 75 years. May we go from strength to strength as we embark on 75 more.

Read JVS Toronto’s 2021-2022 Annual Report

This past year, over 13,000 individuals, each with their own unique story, came to JVS Toronto in search of support. While they all shared a common goal of finding meaningful employment, each represented much more than just a number in our database. Our staff, volunteers, donors, and funders all played a role in impacting the lives of those 13,000 individuals. Read some of their stories.

Celebrating 75 Years

Since 1947, JVS Toronto has impacted the lives of thousands of individuals by helping them plan their careers, find meaningful employment and build sustainable livelihoods. Many dedicated people have made it possible for the Agency to carry out our mission over the last 75 years. 

Watch our 75th anniversary celebratory video.

Announcements

In Memoriam

At our AGM, we took time to honour two individuals who passed on this year. Both were strong supporters of JVS Toronto, and their family legacies live on through their commitment to the Agency.

Congratulations to this Year’s Award Recipients!

We thank our family of donors who make our annual awards ceremony possible and congratulate the following award winners on their outstanding accomplishments. Read their stories in our Annual Report.

Freedman Family Award for Young Entrepreneurs – Valerie Amponsah
This award recognizes a young person who has overcome challenges who has completed one of JVS Toronto’s youth entrepreneurship programs, and is successfully operating their business on either a full-time or part-time basis

Joseph Skolnik Award for New Canadians – Carla de Sousa
This award recognizes a JVS Toronto client who is a newcomer and has been in Canada for more than 1 year. The candidate must have overcome barriers of language, culture, lack of updated skills; and has successfully integrated into Canadian society.

Kim Coulter Career Counselling Award – Nancy Chicas
This award recognizes a JVS Toronto Career Counselling client who has demonstrated resilience, motivation and perseverance to successfully overcome personal obstacles in their life and take actionable steps towards realizing their goal.

Betty Skolnik Award for Emerging Professionals – Anonymous (not pictured)
This award recognizes a young professional new to their career who has a promising future ahead in their chosen occupation. The candidate must show potential for growth and a dedication for learning.

Manny Mitchell Award for Excellence in Volunteerism – Kanwardyal “KD” Singh
This award recognizes a current JVS Toronto volunteer who makes a valuable contribution to the program they are volunteering in and has demonstrated consistent commitment, dedication and reliability to both staff and clients.

Berger Family Inspirational Award – Michael Rice (not pictured)
This award recognizes personal perseverance and community engagement. It acknowledges the achievements and contributions that individuals with a disability make to the community.  The award is given to a current JVS Toronto client who has faced and overcome obstacles.

And the 2 winners of Eunice & David Mouckley Employer of the Year Award – Dodds Garage Doors (Zack Belzberg) and Swish Chalet (Sam Ho)
This award recognizes a JVS Toronto employer who has worked with us for more than 1 year and has provided special initiatives to clients with barriers to employment whether in language, culture, disability, or lack of updated skills.

Local MPP Robin Martin recently met with the team at JVS Toronto to hear more about the three-month, $21,900 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) that was used to purchase check-in and registration stations for seven JVS Toronto locations. The new stations were implemented to reduce in-person touchpoints and streamline the check-in and registration process for clients coming in to JVS Toronto locations.

“I am happy to learn that the Ontario Trillium Foundation continues supporting JVS Toronto,” said Robin Martin, MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence. “JVS Toronto helps people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada, at-risk youth, and other groups of employment seekers to find meaningful careers and access training. Support services like this are extremely important to our community and to the province as a whole.”

“JVS Toronto is committed to serving its clients in the safest manner possible,” said Allison Steinberg, Chief Executive Office of JVS Toronto. “We want clients to feel comfortable coming in to our various locations for in-person services.”

The OTF mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Since 2020, OTF has supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. 

Every individual has opportunities for employment.

JVS Toronto is a non-profit leader in career and employment services for jobseekers and employers. For 75 years, JVS Toronto has played a vital role in providing career and employment services across the Greater Toronto Area and served more than 13,000 clients last year. 

On November 29th, JVS Toronto held an Open House event to celebrate our milestone 75th anniversary. We were honoured to receive congratulatory remarks from The Honourable Monte McNaughton, MP Ya’ara Saks, MPP Robin Martin, Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak and a certificate of recognition from MPP Tom Rakocevic.

We were also joined by long-time supporters like David Berger, employers such as Zack Belzberg from Dodds Garage Doors, past JVS Toronto leadership and community partners. It was especially meaningful to hear from past program participants, like Olha Sysoieva, who recently arrived in Canada from Ukraine and now works at JVS Toronto herself, and Ayesha Khan, who not only represented MPP Tom Rakocevic, but also shared her own personal story as a past client.

Festivities also included booths showcasing our variety of programs, memorabilia of our 75 years of community service, and cupcakes made by participants in our Al Green Resource Centre for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

It was wonderful to celebrate the many lives this Agency has touched over the last 75 years and the many more we will impact in the years to come.

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