Greetings and the peace of Christ be with you, from Horseshoe Falls Regional Council, AKA HFRC. We are located in the Southern Ontario, including the Niagara Peninsula, and the western shores of Lake Ontario. Our geographical location has allowed us to share resources, mainly in the way of paid regional council staff, with Antler River Watershed and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils. This arrangement has allowed all three Regional Councils to have staff specialized in social justice, faith formation, right relations, and ministry pastoral support. Our last report was made to GC 44 in 2022. 

An explanation of the business model used at General Council.

To all 2S and LGBTQIA+ individuals who currently are, or have previously been connected with The United Church of Canada, We, The United Church of Canada, express our deepest apologies to all those who have experienced homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia within The United Church of Canada. This has at times looked like overt actions such

Our society is in the midst of overlapping crises, the impacts of the housing crisis cannot be separated from the increasing anti-immigrant and racist discourses and behaviours prevalent in Canada. As young people, we notice in our communities especially the impacts of lack of affordable housing and racist housing policies and practices especially on Racialized international students. As a Church we are called to notice and respond to injustice, as young people we are tasked with fighting now for a better world for us and for future generations to inherit. This proposal is important because it contributes to United Church’s goals and commitments to being and creating a diverse and just society. Housing inequality is a social justice issue and as such, the church should continue to respond in creative and meaningful ways.

In a societal context that prides itself culturally as a secular one, the Conseil régional Nakonha:ka Regional Council is working to push boundaries, speak to a society that has all but forgotten about faith, navigate a hostile government, live out our prophetic call as a justice-seeking people, research and innovate in every possible way, while supporting our communities of faith that face enormous challenges, in both of Canada’s official languages. We’re constantly looking for ways to ignite creativity and imagine the church of the future. In many respects, our secular context has a 10-year head start on the future in comparison with most of the rest of Canada. We need to be bold and daring. What have we got to lose?

Calls from our membership and civil society to end Canadian arms deals with Israel, as well as relationships that allow for the demonstration and marketing of weaponry and military technology, are increasingly urgent given the current and abhorrent violence in Gaza, Palestine and Israel.

The United Property Resource Corporation (UPRC) works with communities of faith, regional councils and other United Church of Canada entities to assist them in making informed decisions about their real estate assets and where possible to repurpose underutilized church spaces to serve broader community needs.

Like many other faith groups in Canada, congregations of The United Church of Canada have Comme beaucoup d’autres groupes religieux au Canada, les paroisses de l’Église Unie du Canada ont toujours assumé la responsabilité de veiller à ce que leurs leaders rémunérés soient logés pendant toute la durée de leur ministère. Si, pendant des décennies, le logement était un presbytère détenu en fiducie par la paroisse, cette aide au logement a progressivement et majoritairement pris la forme d’une allocation de logement au cours des cinquante dernières années.