Diversity and Inclusion

As part of the Council Resolution, and the signing to become a member of the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities, the Town of Cobourg created an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion 2022-2026 Strategy. 

This page will have all the up to date information on the Town of Cobourg's strides in becoming more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. The Town of Cobourg is incorporating their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion into the Accessibility work we are completing through the Multi-Year Accessibility Plan.

The Town of Cobourg's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee of Council has been established and held their first meeting on March 25, 2021. They will meet on the second Thursday of every month via Zoom teleconferencing at 6:00 p.m. EST.

If you self-identify as Indigenous and would like to participate as a voting member of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee of Council, please contact Yasmyn Belle, Accessibility Coordinator, at diversity@cobourg.ca!

You can read the Terms of Reference for the EDI Advisory Committee of Council.

You can learn more about the EDI Advisory Committee.

Town of Cobourg employees can include their personal gender pronouns in their email signature block. This is optional, not mandatory. We have let our employees know that this is optional and to do so if they feel comfortable.

Using someone’s correct personal pronouns is a way to respect them and create an inclusive environment. It can be offensive or harassing to guess at someone’s pronouns and refer to them using those pronouns if that is not how that person wants to be known.

Or, worse, actively choosing to ignore the pronouns someone has stated that they go by could imply the oppressive notion that intersex, transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people do not or should not exist.

When we use pronouns like “she” or “he” to identify a person without asking them what pronouns they use, we might be making an assumption about that person’s gender that differs from their gender identity.

Some people express their gender in a non-binary way and use pronouns such as they/them or ze/hir/hirs.

People who look to be one gender to you may identify as another gender.

The Town of Cobourg has announced and approved the Women in Governance: Leadership and Mentoring Program. This program is designed to begin to break down the barriers for women to enter into the political sphere, whether they are starting their careers or wanting to pivot to something new.

The Women in Governance: Leadership and Mentoring Program is a twelve (12) week program for women and gender non-conforming individuals to learn more about working in public sector. The program will allow each participant to be matched with a mentor who identifies as a woman or gender non-conforming and is an elected official.

You can read the full press release about the program to learn more about what we're hoping to achieve.

Applications are now closed for the program - keep a watch for our next cohort!

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee (EDIAC) is requesting that Council endorse the 2022 Dates of Significance Calendar as selected by the EDIAC.