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What Toronto told city hall to spend its money on in 2025 — and what not to

Torontonians made heartfelt pleas, gave angry lectures and implored city hall’s budget subcommittee on what services should be a priority.

This article was written by Mahdis Habibinia and Ben Spurr, and was published in the Toronto Star on January 27, 2025.

Rikki LaCoste lost everything after a house fire in 2015: he was homeless, his mental health plummeted and he pushed his friends away out of embarrassment.

“I was struggling to see any value in myself or my place in the world or any prospects of the future,” said LaCoste, who has now completely rebuilt his life. “It was the Weston King Neighbourhood Centre (in 2017) that stepped in to hold me together when I couldn’t.”

LaCoste was among the hundreds of Torontonians who showed up this week to a series of public consultations about this year’s proposed city budget. Over two days in person and online, deputants made heartfelt pleas, gave angry lectures and implored city hall’s budget subcommittee on what services should be a priority at a time when money is short. The city’s operating shortfall was estimated at $1.2 billion heading into 2025.

LaCoste, a 53–year-oldmental health advocate, was among multiple community workers who said they want to see an extra $3 million allocated to citywide drop-in agencies to extend hours, hire more staff and improve services. The proposed 2025 budget currently allots $12.87 million for the agencies, an increase of more than $1 million over last year’s funding.

Without the additional funding, LaCoste told the Star in an interview, he and his colleagues at Weston King will need to start turning people away because drop-ins — which he called “a lifeline” and a “cornerstone of Toronto’s social safety net” — are at or over capacity.

I ran a community program on a $10,000 budget. Toronto’s social services are dangerously underfunded

“There is nothing like having someone metaphorically and literally hold you together in your darkest moments,” said LaCoste. “Too often the city’s response to visible poverty has been to fund reactive measures such as increasing police budgets, but that doesn’t address root causes.”

Last fall, the city sent out digital surveys and hosted meetings where it received more than 22,200 responses that informed its budget plans. There were several recurring issues the public said they wanted addressed through this year’s spending: affordability, community services including shelters, safety, climate action and mobility, including better transit or congestion management. Respondents picked the police service, meanwhile, as the number one area the city should give less money to.

Many of those sentiments were reflected in this week’s public deputations. Mayor Olivia Chow is expected to consider this public input as she crafts her final version of this year’s budget, which she said she plans to release on Thursday.

Police

Dozens of Torontonians came out to talk about the $46-million increase to the police’s operating budget in the proposed 2025 spending plan — mostly asking to divert the funds to other city services.

Christina Vladimirov, a university student, recalled witnessing what she described as “the misuse of police resources” in 2020 on the evening her cat was hit by a car.

“We were heartbroken and spent most of the day crying,” Vladimirov told the budget committee. That night, officers knocked on her door after someone called the police because they heard shouting.

Toronto police board approves $1.2B proposed budget for 2025

“Why were six police officers, three squad cars and hours of work used to bother two women grieving their cat?” Vladimirov said.

Whether it was Vladimirov mourning her cat, a senior arguing “the biggest threat is climate change, not auto thefts,” or pro-Palestinian protesters saying they were being overpoliced, many argued those millions could instead be put to social supports, including the now-citywide mental health crisis service.

New mother Michelle Neal spoke of consoling her neighbour who witnessed police “hog tie” a naked man to the ground. The man only stopped screaming when paramedics arrived, placed a blanket over him and asked him his name.

“My neighbour was almost in tears as she recounted … how grateful she was someone showed the man humanity and respect,” said Neal, who also wants to see some of the additional police spending diverted to transit.

Transit

Candice Zhang is turning 13 this year and told councillors that the $2.40 youth fare is unaffordable — especially coupled with the fact her parents, at $3.35 each, take the subway to school with her everyday because they don’t think the TTC is safe.

“Please consider discounted fare policy for youth,” she said. “Please increase frequency of security patrols.”

Parks and wrecks: Toronto is set to spend a record amount on fixing public greenspaces and potholed roads — and it still won’t be enough

Those like homeowners Tony Saunders, who oppose the property tax increase, understand the importance of transit but questioned why the city should solely bear the burden of subsidizing the TTC to the tune of an extra $85 million this year to improve service and safety. “It shouldn’t be the responsibility of Toronto residents to cover this a hundred per cent,” he said.

Budget chief Shelley Carroll said council has been advocating for a “return to the Bill Davis deal” for two decades now, referencing Ontario’s former premier at a time when the province funded 75 per cent of the TTC’s capital spending on transit improvement and 50 per cent of its operating costs.

“There wasn’t this constant panicky back and forth, and in fact, it was a very stable property tax at the time,” Carroll told Saunders.

Property taxes

Anne Keary told the budget committee she’s lucky to be a homeowner and if it means her property taxes build a more “livable, affordable and sustainable city for everyone,” then so be it. “I see an extra $5 a week as money well spent if it advances the community and climate programs that we need,” she said.

City council has noted at almost every turn how local governments lack revenue tools, get the least share of tax dollars compared to higher levels, and that the property tax base is one of the city’s major revenue sources.

“If we want better services, we have to collectively pay for them,” resident Val Endicott said. “Perhaps people need to be reminded of this more often when they grumble about taxation.”

Toronto’s property taxes are going up. Here’s how much you could end up paying — and how that compares to Mississauga, Hamilton and other Ontario cities

But others were quick to emphasize that a 6.9 per cent hike this year, after last year’s historic 9.5 per cent, is unaffordable and exceeds the rate of inflation.

Millie Devillis, a senior, remembered Chow’s 2023 campaign which promised a “modest” tax increase. “This is outrageous,” she said. “How can she now possibly justify (this) … as modest?”

“I don’t know a lot of people whose incomes have gone up 17 per cent,” said Paul Beatty. “The pockets are not getting any deeper … Things are not getting any cheaper in this country and I’d hate to see what happens when Trump and his tariffs come in.”

Housing and affordability

Housing and the affordability crisis, including food insecurity, were also top of mind for dozens.

Gabe Ermatinger, a senior and a volunteer, said helost three brothers to drug overdoses in the last five years and pleaded for more funding for addiction, homelessness and mental health. “Supportive housing would have saved people like my brothers, who did not have access to safe and affordable housing to assist in their recovery journey,” he said.

Ten big problems define Toronto’s housing crisis. Here’s what every level of government is promising to do about it (and whether it will work)

A day after deputations wrapped, the need for more supportive housing was front and centre at the city’s planning and housing committee on Thursday. A new report looked at the city’s recent progress, and pointed to a federal funding program it has relied on heavily in recent years, which provided $4 billion nationally over three years starting in 2020. That program was replaced with one that offers only $963 million over five years. The report appeals for a “significant increase” to this federal program — to at least $1.5 billion per year.

Tenant Millicent Parke wanted more investments in RentSafeTO and frequent enforcement of property standards. Her bedroom windows are leaking heat, she said, so she bought a heater and is sleeping in her living room.

“The pests that are in there?” Parke added. “My refrigerator is their holding house. I think they’re getting more accommodation from my refrigerator than me getting from the house itself.”

Climate action

Tom Angellotti’s home in Etobicoke has flooded 12 times since 1976 with sewage backup from the city’s sanitary system. As climate change exposes how unprepared the city’s aging infrastructure is to manage its stormwater runoff, Angellotti had two simple questions for councillors: “Can you tell me what the plan is? … Why isn’t the city doing its job?”

The city’s budget plans include new line items to start addressing the risks and impacts posed by extreme weather, including a $200,000 operating fund to help vulnerable residents install indoor cooling and $500,000more in its capital plans for greener streets to help capture rainwater and prevent flooding.

Toronto is losing its fight against climate change amid budget squeeze

The Toronto Green Standard, which sets out greenhouse gas levels and other requirements for new private developments, saves the most GHG emissions of any city program, other than replacing TTC buses with electric ones. The initiative, at a community level, is slated to get $48 million in operating funds this year — but a recent legal challenge by a group of developers to strike this down threatens the city’s climate plans, which were already off track to achieve net zero by 2040.

There are also investments in converting TTC buses and city vehicles to electric, shifting waste trucks away from diesel, creating a new program so residents can find solar and heat pump installers, among other measures. While overall plans in general mean more money this year compared to past climate investments, some residents said they believe the city’s climate plans are moving too slow.

Virginia Thomson pointed to the L.A. fires devastating local communities as a reminder of what climate change is capable of. “There’s no time to move at a snail’s pace,” said Thomson, who supports the commercial parking levy, which is on the chopping block, and would give the city an extra $100 million a year.

Correction – Jan. 27, 2025

This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said that under the Bill Davis deal, the province funded half of the TTC’s operating budget, while the federal government covered 75 per cent of its capital spending. In fact, Ontario funded half of the TTC’s capital expenditures and 50 per cent of its operating costs. The federal government did not contribute.

Commute times in Toronto among North America’s worst, study finds

This article was written by Nathan Bawaan and was published in the Toronto Star on December 12, 2024.

At some point while riding the TTC, we’ve thought it — but now it’s official: Toronto has one of the worst transit commute times in Canada.

A new report from Moovit, a commuter app, says taking transit through the city takes about an average of 55 minutes, the second longest commute in Canada and the U.S. And, across a Torontonian’s lifetime, they will spend one year and seven months taking transit.

Vancouver tops the list as the Canadian city with the longest commute times, with an average trip of 60 minutes, while Mexico City has the longest commute time worldwide, with a trip taking around 67 minutes.

Moovit compiled its study based on data gathered from 50 cities in 17 countries.

Along with commute times, the app’s report found that transit riders in Toronto spend the same time waiting for a ride — 14 minutes — as those in New York, Boston and Chicago. Miami has the worst wait time, with 21 minutes, and Seattle has the shortest, with 12.

However, Stuart Green, senior communications specialist at the TTC, criticized Moovit’s report. In an email to the Star, he said that it doesn’t take into account distance travelled or ridership, and compares cities with varying modes of transit.

“More than half of TTC customers rely on the bus network, which would be slower than rapid transit,” he wrote.

“So comparing a city that has a robust rail network like London, Paris or NYC is difficult.”

Raktim Mitra, an urban and regional planning professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, agreed that the report’s findings should not come as a major concern.

The TTC says the report by commuter app Movit doesn’t take distance travelled, ridership and types of transit into account

“In general, people travel longer distances, so it’s not surprising that the commute time would be longer as well,” he explained. “If anything, the data represents the importance and significance of public transportation for people living within the wider geographic region.”

On a brighter note, Torontonians are able to get to wherever they need to go without any transfers more than in other cities, according to the report, although the same percentage also said it takes three or more transfers to get to a destination.

When asked what could be fixed about the city’s transit system, 29 per cent of Torontonians said having more vehicles and 26 per cent said lower fares. Nineteen per cent said more accurate arrival times.

Toronto transit ban on e-bikes threatens to freeze out gig workers

This article was written by Jeff Gray and was published in the Globe & Mail on December 6, 2024.

In eerie social-media footage, a mangled electric bike lies on the floor of an empty Toronto subway car, bathed in bright orange flames and a haze of smoke.

The afternoon fire last New Year’s Eve on a Toronto Transit Commission train as it pulled into a station caused only minor injuries and little damage. But nearly a year later, the incident has prompted a sweeping crackdown that is aimed at the growing legions of food-delivery workers who routinely drag their e-bikes onto public transit.

The TTC’s board this week voted to institute a winter ban on all e-bikes and e-scooters. There are fears that potentially faulty lithium-ion batteries, damaged by melted snow and salt, could burst into hard-tofight fires and cause a catastrophic scenario in the tunnels of the country’s biggest public transit system.

But the move, which takes effect on Tuesday and is to last until April 15, threatens to leave countless gig workers, many of whom rely on the TTC to get from their suburban homes to the delivery-dense downtown, out in the cold.

Critics say the TTC’s move targets an already marginalized population.

Many of the e-bike riders who warm their hands in oversized, insulated handlebar mitts and bring ramen, pizza or burgers to Torontonians are racialized and recent immigrants. And the vast majority are poorly paid.

Brice Sopher, a long-time delivery cyclist and vice-president of the group Gig Workers United, said the TTC ban would cut off thousands of workers from their livelihood, with no warning, as winter – a peak time for their business – sets in.

He said replacing damaged batteries can be expensive for those whore lyon precarious work. He said instead of banning e-bikes on public transit, governments should act to ensure all e-bike batteries sold in Canada are safe.

“Gig workers themselves don’t want to be working with a ticking time bomb attached to their bike,” Mr. Sopher said. “… Why do we have batteries for sale that explode, that can catch fire? Why are we allowing these to be sold in Canada or shipped to Canada? The option should not exist.”

The TTC’s chairman, Toronto City Councillor Jamaal Myers, had earlier this year asked the transit agency’s staff to examine the threat posed by e-bikes after last year’s fire. He fears that a similar blaze on a crowded rush-hour train stuck deep in a tunnel could be devastating.

Mr. Myers had deferred the vote on the proposed ban last month to allow for an “equity analysis” report from the TTC that warned of the impact on gig workers. But he and the commissions till voted 6-4 on Tuesday for the ban.

“This was not a decision that I came to lightly,” Mr. Myers said .“I knew that this would disproportionately hurt certain groups.”

Mr. Myers said the TTC would talk to delivery-app companies and gig workers about possible solutions, such as having Uber Eats or its peers provide secure bike parking for its riders downtown. He also said that the TTC would look into the idea of battery-storage facilities at it stations, where riders could deposit batteries before getting on a train.

And he agreed that the federal government needs to better regulate e-bike batteries, describing the current situation as a “regulatory void.”

Mr. Myers said the way enforcement will be done still needs to be worked out and acknowledged that the ban could cause tensions on the transit system: “I think it will just lead to people being angry, because they need to go to work, they need to pay their rent.

And this is kind of coming out of nowhere if you haven’t been paying attention.”

The province’s Metrolinx transit agency recently imposed rules for e-bikes on its GO Transit commuter rail system, but not a ban. Only e-bikes with certain certified, undamaged batteries (those marked with “UL” or “CE” standards) are allowed. But Mr. Myers said the TTC faced higher risks than GO Transit from potential fires, as subway trains are often underground.

Only a handful of major transit systems around the world have banned e-bikes, including in Boston, which bans bikes of all kinds, and Delhi and Brussels, according to a survey by TTC officials. New York City has launched an exchange program to allow delivery riders with substandard e-bikes or batteries to swap them for safer ones.

City Councillor Josh Matlow, who sits on the TTC’s board, voted against the ban, saying e-bikes were here to stay and that a blanket ban would devastate some of the city’s most vulnerable workers. He said the TTC does not have the resources to strictly enforce such a ban, either.

“There isn’t the kind of enforcement on the TTC that’s going to be going car to car looking at batteries ,” Mr. Mat low said. “That’s not going to happen.”

Asked why e-bike batteries are not more tightly regulated, Health Canada spokesman Joshua Coke said the department, along with Transport Canada, is currently studying the “burn, fire and explosion hazards” of lithium-ion batteries. In July, Health Canada took the first step under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act in the process of determining whether new mandatory rules are needed.

Back in May ,2023, Health Canada and Transport Canada issued a public advisory warning that misuse or modification of e-bike lithium-ion batteries can be “extremely dangerous.”

The notices aida damaged or misused battery can over heat and go into what is known as a “thermal runaway,” igniting the flammable substances inside and leading to “explosions or fires that are extremely difficult to extinguish.” U.S. authorities had reported at least 208 fires or overheating incidents and 19 fatalities in 2021 and 2022 related to this kind of battery.

The advisory said riders should only use the battery that came with their e-bike or e-scooter, and that the government recommends only using batteries marked as compliant with the “ANSI/CAN/UL 2272” and “ANSI/CAN/UL 2849” standards.

Only a handful of major transit systems around the world have banned e-bikes, including in Boston, which bans bikes of all kinds, and Delhi and Brussels, according to a survey by TTC officials.

TTC approves sweeping ebikes ban

Restriction runs through winter until April 15, but doesn’t include personal mobility devices

This article was written by Mahdis Habibinia and was published in the Toronto Star on December 4, 2024.

**The ban on lithiumionpowered ebikes and escooters will run over the winter because temperature changes can increase the likelihood of battery short circuits and fires.**

The TTC is imposing a winter ban on all lithiumionpowered micromobility devices, including ebikes and escooters, from its transit system, effective immediately.

The ban, which will run from Nov. 15 to April 15 each year, does not include electric wheelchairs or other mobility devices used by people with disabilities.

“Fundamentally, this is a safety issue first,” TTC board member Julie Osborne said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Until we find out more information that changes the information we got the last time about the dire consequences of a single incident … We are going to be risking life and limb.”

TTC staff first brought the proposal for a winter ban to the board in October because of increasing concerns about them catching fire. Toronto Fire Services told the board at the time that while it is unpredictable when the batteries could explode, fires from a lithium ion battery are volatile and can’t be put out with a fire extinguisher.

A fire on board a Line 1 subway car on New Year’s Eve sent two people to hospital.

The ban is restricted to the cold weather months because fluctuating temperatures can cause condensation and lithium plating, which increases the likelihood of short circuits and fires. TTC staff also said exposure to certain road conditions, such as salt or deicing compounds during winter, further heightens these risks.

It’s unclear how the transit agency will ensure compliance with the ban beyond an education campaign about the new policy.

“We still haven’t decided who is going to be enforcing the ban,” TTC chair Jamaal Myers told the board on Tuesday. “I know we already have trouble enforcing the (existing) ebike ban during rush hour, so this will be another layer on top of that.”

In a 6 to 4 vote on Tuesday, board members also voted to have TTC staff work with the city and Toronto Parking Authority, food delivery companies, as well as labour unions to look at whether it was possible to have more secure ebike storage, battery charging and exchange facilities near transit stations.

The board also asked TTC staff to work with Toronto Fire to monitor the “evolution” of lithiumion batteries technology and safety considerations in order to “assess future compatibility with public transit.”

Tuesday’s move follows a recent equity report that found a complete ban on all ebikes and escooters would disproportionately affect lowincome individuals, marginalized groups and gig workers with limited transportation options.

In her report, Shakira Naraine, the transit agency’s chief people and culture officer, suggested the TTC impose “specific restrictions”— similar to Metrolinx’s, which ban ebikes with uncertified batteries but allow those with batteries displaying a UL or CE safety certification.

A proposed motion similar to this was voted down by the board on Tuesday, along with a motion to reduce the length of the ban.

Myers said despite the ban, these devices likely “aren’t going anywhere” and “rather than simply trying to wish the problem away, I think we should start working with businesses and other city departments to (both) mitigate the risk and create an environment where people feel like they can still use their bikes in a safe manner.”