Good neighbourhoods are healthy neighbourhoods. But it’s not always the formal health system (doctors, drugs and hospitals) that make a neighbourhood truly healthy. The initial findings of the Wellesley Institute’s St. James Town  Initiative show that newcomer residents’ health and well-being are affected by neighbourhood issues, the majority of which are not within the realm of the health system. Our work in the Neighbourhood and Health initiative called Tackling Inequity through a Community Based Initiative on the Social Determinants of Health shows that to effectively address the social determinants of health such as income, living conditions, equitable service availability and accessibility (to name only a few), inter-sectoral and cross-government actions ranging from the local to the national levels are required. Also, a multi-sectoral approach, involving co-operation and collaboration across the private and public sectors should address the social and economic inequities that affect the physical, mental and emotional health of St. James Town newcomer residents.