That’s a wrap on another Budget process! As your Councillor and Chair of the Budget Committee, I am very proud of the Budget we delivered. During our special Council session on Tuesday, I stressed the importance of sticking to our 2025 Budget plan over the year ahead. We must commit to our strategy to improve our City’s infrastructure, especially as we brace ourselves for potential economic fallout from the new U.S. administration.
Of course, every Budget process starts with the search for savings. As Budget Chief, finding savings and efficiencies is my top priority before we come to you, the people of Toronto, and ask you to invest in our city. This year, we found $680 million in reductions and offsets, significantly bringing down our opening budgetary pressure. After we identified these savings and efficiencies, we crafted a Budget based on the priorities you shared with us during our robust budget consultation process.
Let’s take a look at what the 2025 Budget promises to do:
Safer Streets
We’re hiring hundreds of new first responders, including firefighters and paramedics, to speed up emergency response times.
We’ve committed to a historic, multi-year police hiring plan to make sure we have enough cops to keep our communities safe.
We’re investing in our Vision Zero Road Safety Plan to reduce traffic accidents and protect our most vulnerable road users, particularly seniors and children.
We’re putting more traffic wardens on the road to help traffic flow better, reduce congestion, and, for the first time, help drivers navigate pinch points near highway off ramps in the suburbs.
Keeping Toronto safe in every sense of the word is essential as we look to our city’s future. Businesses want to open up shop here and choose to stay here because they know we are a safe and reliable place to do business. Of course, we also need to keep our city safe so that it remains a place that you and future generations will want to call home.
Better Transit
A reliable transit system is the backbone of our region’s economy. We need to make sure that Toronto is easy to get around, which is why we’re making the following investments in transit:
We’re extending service hours to make transit more reliable and able to move more people through our city each day.
We’re getting 55 new subway cars to ensure the TTC keeps pace with our growing population.
We’re investing in cleaner, safer, and more attractive transit stations and vehicles.
As we look ahead to the future of our city, a high-capacity and reliable transit system is essential. Not only is it a much more sustainable way for people to get around, it’s more economical, particularly for young people who are getting their start in Toronto. Providing reliable access to transit also means fewer cars on the road for those of us who have no option but to drive. Investments in transit really do make it easier for everyone to get around.
For our Budget investments to work and make a real difference in our transit system, we need to ensure we are collecting our full fare revenue. At our Council Budget meeting, I introduced a motion directing the TTC Board to implement the Auditor General’s recommendations to stop fare evasion ASAP. If we’re going to use property tax dollars to make our transit system better, transit riders need to pay their “fare share” too.
Affordable Living
During tough economic times, we need to think outside the box to make life more affordable for families. Toronto needs to be a place where people can thrive, not just survive. With help from our other orders of government and your investment, this Budget is committed to providing services that markedly improve your quality of life:
We’re making significant investments to build new homes, protect renters, and keep our shelter system safe and functional.
We’re making it easier for families to find affordable child care and fun recreation programming for their kids.
We’re extending library hours and opening pools earlier so families and seniors can enjoy them more often.
It’s important to note that over $1 billion has been put directly into our Children’s Services budget thanks to the deal between the Federal and Provincial governments to deliver affordable child care. That money is not coming from your property taxes but will make a real difference to thousands of families.
On Tuesday night, I worked with the Mayor’s team and my fellow Councillors to introduce additional affordability measures that will help seniors, young people at risk, and those who don’t have reliable access to food, including here in Don Valley North. These measures were made possible by extra returns we received at the end of the year—our Finance team always makes the most conservative estimates possible to ensure we aren’t overspending, and that often results in a little extra wiggle room come Budget time.
These are the investments we’re making in partnership with you, the people of Toronto. All of them are aimed at making real, tangible, on-the-ground improvements to your quality of life in our city. This Budget is also built on a very reliable system—one that has won awards from international accounting experts and helped our city raise its credit rating for the first time in decades.
It might not surprise you that as Budget Chief, I can nerd out on the numbers a bit, but I do find it helpful to show exactly where our Budget dollars are going:
The graph above shows that the most significant investments we’re making are into transit and our police force. These are both essential to keeping our city safe and moving, and I know our strategic investments in these areas will deliver significant returns in terms of quality of life here in Toronto.
As we look to the year ahead, we need to be prepared for any economic problems that may come our way, trade wars or otherwise. We cannot underinvest in our city like we did for so many years. Underinvestment means streets with potholes, overgrown parks, and overflowing trash cans. It means a transit system that doesn’t get people where they need to go. It means a city that tourists don’t want to visit and companies don’t want to invest in. We have to fix the things that have been holding Toronto back without cutting back on any of our essential services.
In response to recent actions from the U.S., we have added targeted Budget directives to protect our economy, including:
Aligning our procurement activities with the Government of Ontario’s approach to respond to U.S. tariffs, where possible.
Working with the Federal and Provincial governments on a priority solution for buying our new subway cars, subject to our existing trade agreements.
Directing our Chief Financial Officer and City Finance staff to develop targeted supports for the businesses most impacted by the looming threat of a U.S. trade war.
All of these measures align us with “Team Canada”, help insulate us from potential impacts of trade wars, and make progress on the Economic Action Plan we presented to Council last fall.
I also closed off our Budget process with a firm reminder to my Council colleagues. Over the past three years, we’ve asked Torontonians to absorb some big increases to cover the City’s COVID-19 bill and help Toronto get back on its feet. Last year, I said that the property tax increases should be able to be reduced every year for three years going forward, and Council agreed. We delivered on that promise this first year, and to deliver on it again in 2026 we need to stay focused. We need to be smart, fix any problems we find, and closely follow reports from the Auditor General that outline strategic savings we can make. That’s exactly what you asked for, and what Council must focus on in the year ahead.
This Budget is a roadmap to a future for Toronto that is safe, clean, affordable and mobile. The 2025 Budget may be passed, but my work as Budget Chief is far from over. Now, I need to turn my attention to ensuring this Budget is implemented in its entirety. At this time next year, we should be able to say we made significant progress with full confidence. Of course, I’ll keep you updated right here in this E-Blast every step of the way.