Toronto Urban Fellows Program: A Young Professional's Guide to Municipal Impact

Jonta during her time as a Toronto Urban Fellow Research Associate.

This post is guidance on applying to the Toronto Urban Fellows (TUF) Program at the City of Toronto, as a program alumnae. Some advice might apply to other fellowship programs as well.

Note: I am just sharing my personal experiences and advice I would give. This post is not affiliated with the City of Toronto.

To be transparent, I applied to this program twice. The first time, I did not pass the cover letter and resume review. If you do not get accepted your first time, try again, but make sure you strengthen your application!

I would say the main difference between my applications was that the second time, I spent more time, had someone review the application, and had a stronger resume. The first time I saw the position was 2 days before it was closing, so I did not have a lot of time to have someone review it. As it was a year later, I had more experience and publications on my resume.

Applying to the Program

During the process, there is usually one information session at lunch to provide more information about the program. It’s okay if you are not able to attend it; still apply! Also, the program likes a diversity of candidates, so do not worry about what you studied; focus more on the skills you have and how they are transferable to the City of Toronto.

• Early May: Application opens, usually for the first 2 weeks. Check the City of Toronto jobs webpage to apply. (I know this year it opened earlier in April.)

• End of May: Notification if you are selected to participate in the assignment

• Early July: Notification if you are selected for an interview. I would recommend to start speaking to potential reviewers then as references will be requested if you pass the interview.

• End of July: Notification that you are a Toronto Urban Fellow and receive an offer letter

• August: Sign paperwork and submit documents

• Early September: The program starts, and onboarding begins

Cover Letter Advice

• Follow the format

• Talk about your lived experience as they focus on equity, diversity, inclusion

• Be specific and include measurable details where possible

• Ensure that your skills are clear, and use the same words in the job description

• For achievements/accomplishments, include awards, presentations, opportunities you were competitively selected for, and publications

• The cover letter is short, so provide a brief overview of all you have done and the skills you’ve gained rather than focusing on a couple of things in detail

Resume Advice

• There is no limit for resume pages, but make sure all your experiences are relevant to the job description (I suggest keeping it to 3 pages)

• Focus on your qualifications and competencies and link these to the Toronto Public Service values and skills listed on the job description.

  • You may even want to save the job description in a Word document and highlight important skills so you can make sure your resume has them listed

• Highlight your research experiences, publications, and analytical skills (qualitative & quantitative)

• Include an Awards/Honors, Publications, Speaking Engagements, and Peer-reviewed sections if those apply to you

Assessment Advice

•  Assessment is written, and in the past, candidates were tasked to come up with a City Project that they should link to Toronto city strategies (given 3 to 4 days)

• Read the assignment several times and brainstorm different ways you can answer it

• Once you brainstorm different approaches, select the one you think will help you answer the assignment best

• Include City of Toronto priorities such as Indigenous communities, Black communities, and low-income families

• Balance the words and details required for each section

• Spend time researching the City’s strategies, priorities, and communities of focus and integrate this into your response

Interview Advice

• The interview is a panel with structured questions where you will be graded on points (similar style to federal government jobs)

• You will also be sent the questions 30 minutes before the interview so you can prepare

• Be familiar with the job description and your experiences

• Be able to provide examples of work you have done that aligns with the skills

  • If you highlighted skills in the job description, you can write examples of your work under this

• Prepare questions ahead of time to ask the interviewers

My Experience

I was a TUF from September 2023 to July 2024. My first rotation was in Children’s Services, and my second rotation was in Employment and Social Services. At Children’s services, I supported the Middle Childhood Strategy, and at Employment and Social Services, I supported the social and health advisory committee and stability supports transition. Ideally, I wanted to get matched with the public health project, which was not the case. Instead, I  had the opportunity to learn about how different sectors function while applying what I have learned about social determinants of health. This has helped me understand how other sectors work, which has been important as public health is interdisciplinary.

In both roles, I developed my research skills as I had to scan both quantitative and qualitative data sources and my writing skills as I created various documents, and my oral communication skills through presentations and leading a brainstorming workshop. I also had the opportunity to attend workshops and events such as Gardiner Science Week and the Ontario Social Services Association (OMSSA) Policy Conference. 

• Children’s Services Deliverables: (1) 90-Page MiddleChildhoodReport, (2) 3-PageBriefer, (3) Presentation

• Employment and Social Services Deliverables: (1) Renewed Terms and References for Social and Health Advisory Committee, (2) Stability Supports Global Jurisdiction Scan, (3) Stability Supports Ontario Survey Analysis

Speaking to previous fellows, everyone has a very different experience depending on the project they are working on and the division they are in. This is a good opportunity to learn about yourself as you will be working with different teams and people who have different mentoring styles, so you will learn a lot about which work environments you thrive in, in addition to the City of Toronto’s work.

I enjoyed this opportunity as I learned a lot about public policy in Toronto and how the City functions. This was also my first time working on projects based in Canada, as my previous experience was on global projects. There are information sessions held by the TUF team, which provided discussions on municipal finance, the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit, Visit to Old City Hall, to name a few.

A skill I developed from the speed interview sessions was how to sell myself in 15 minutes. Before matching takes place, TUFs get sent a project booklet so you can rank them and prepare for the speed interviews. I ranked the projects based on the skills I could gain, the subject area, and how it matched my current skill set. TUFs then have to do 15-minute speed interviews with each project. This was a tiring exercise, but it has been useful, and this was a skill I used in the application process for another interview. It was also a good way to network and meet other staff at the City, which I connected with later on.

Advice for Soon-To-Be TUFS

• Embrace the experience of working in a new division and be adaptable

• Network within the City and attend events

  • TUFS are highly valued and respected within the City so use your title as an opportunity to network and meet people

• During your first weeks, when you are not busy, spend time getting to know people in your division

• If there are ever times when you are not too busy, consider registering for courses at the City of Toronto

• Connect with your mentors: We had 3 mentors: (1) Project Buddy, usually a former TUF in your division, (2) Project Mentor, project lead mentor, (3) Alumni Buddy, a former TUF usually in a different division

  • There were a lot of opportunities to meet people and make connections

Advice for the Speed Interview Process

• Practice your elevator pitch to sell yourself in 2-3 minutes

• Ask about mentoring style and try to get a sense on the project funding, likelihood for the project to change, and staff that will be able to support you

• Directly tell projects if you are interested and if you are not intersted

• Be strategic with how you rank projects (If you do not think one is a good fit, then do not rank it high)

Good luck to anyone applying! Feel free to leave questions in the comments, and I will get back to you.