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In 2002, focus groups were held among the Aboriginal, Francophone, multicultural and educational sectors. The overall message repeated was that the City of Greater Sudbury must address service deficiencies and break through institutional racism. Subsequent to the focus groups, a community working group was formed and chaired by Councillor Ted Callaghan. The group set out to design a comprehensive strategy to develop a diversity plan that would provide implementation steps for creating a community in which all citizens, particularly Aboriginal, Francophone, immigrant and multicultural groups, have an effective infrastructure of services to meet their needs.
In many ways, support was gained to encourage community initiatives that embraced diversity. In early 2004, funding was obtained from Canadian Heritage and many events were held throughout the year. The Diversity Plan for the City of Greater Sudbury, a central part of the Diversity Thrives Here! project, was developed through the efforts of more than 300 citizens over three years and included the creation of the Diversity Advisory Panel.
On January 26, 2005, City Council at the Priorities Committee passed the resolution to officially establish the Diversity Advisory Panel. On July 4, 2005, the City Council of the City of Greater Sudbury unanimously adopted the Diversity Plan. The Diversity Plan seeks to make improvements in eight priority areas:
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