On January 13, the City of Toronto’s Budget Committee launched the 2025 City Budget, prioritizing four key themes: making life affordable, getting Toronto moving, providing community services, and keeping people safe. The staff-prepared budget allocates funding for new and enhanced public and community services, preserves service levels, makes progress on the upkeep of city assets and infrastructure, and proposes a reasonable and responsible property tax increase to generate much-needed revenue. All steps in the right direction.
However, it also gives the green light for another hefty increase ($56.7 million, including $46.2 million from property taxes) to the Toronto Police Service budget—funds that could be applied to any number of underfunded community and public services. If passed as is, it will be a lost opportunity to make a deeper commitment to communities in crisis.
The budget launch is the first step in the budget process. Fortunately, there are opportunities to improve the 2025 City budget to advance the goal of creating an equitable, just and livable city for all.
New & Enhanced Service Highlights
The budget allocates $94.0 million (including $59.2 million from property tax revenues) for new and enhanced key public and community services. This new targeted investment focuses on critical issues like affordable housing, tenant supports, emergency shelter and support services, youth programming, student nutrition, public library programs and access, and public transit service improvements, among others.
In the face of growing poverty, inequality, food insecurity, housing affordability and homelessness crises, the expansion of these services is urgently needed. We also know it’s not enough. After years of austerity budgets that starved important programs and infrastructure, there is a long road ahead to turning a corner on the multiple crises that impact our city and communities.
New & Enhanced Service Highlights:
- $15.1807 for TTC service expansion and key priorities (plus a fare freeze). See analysis from TTCriders and Steve Munro
- $10.3591 million for Parks, Forestry and Recreation: this includes a variety of services, including tree canopy expansion, pool season expansion, camp nutrition program, and enhanced cleaning
- $7.8147 million for Economic Development & Culture for arts and culture programming and economic development,
- $6.0 million to Toronto Public Health for expansion of the Student Nutrition Program
- $5.0 million for City Manager’s Office – Youth Violence Prevention Program
- $4.9556 million for Toronto Public Library: expansion of library hours, youth hubs and service expansion
- $4.6206 million for Toronto Shelter and Support Services: variety of services including enhanced drop-in hours in Winter Plan
- $3.6216 million for the Housing Secretariat: Toronto Tenant Support Program, Rent Bank, Eviction Prevention in the City (EPIC)-Interim Rent Relief Fund Pilot, Toronto Community Housing and Toronto Seniors Housing operating subsidy, new positions to support housing development, renewal and improvement
- $3.5761 million for Social Development, Finance and Administration: Indigenous Youth Fellowship Program, Youth Violence Prevention (previously federally funded), Downtown East Action Plan 2025-2030
- $1.2792 million for Environment & Climate initiatives
- $669,800 to support key roles/operations in AOCCs (Association of Community Centres - community centres run by a community board with core administration functions financially supported by the City of Toronto)
See the full list of new and enhanced services and links to divisional and agency budgets for more details.
Budget Shows Progress on Maintaining City Assets in a State of Good Repair
One good news story is how fairer funding from senior orders of government, negotiated by the Mayor and senior City Finance staff in recent years—and long advocated for by community organizations, resident leaders, and grassroots groups—has improved City finances and reduced its State of Good Repair (SOGR) backlog. The SOGR backlog reflects the unfunded costs associated with ensuring that the City’s assets—such as transit infrastructure, community centre and park facilities, and library buildings—are in good working order.
While the backlog will grow significantly over the next 10 years without additional funding, fairer funding has “flattened” the SOGR backlog curve, showing more promising prospects for the upkeep of City assets.
In November 2023, the Mayor and City Finance staff negotiated a New Deal between the Ontario government and the City of Toronto. In 2024, strong advocacy resulted in new federal funding for the shelter and support needs of refugees and asylum seekers. The positive impact of these funding arrangements is reflected in the 2025 City budget. But the New Deal with the Province expires at the end of 2026 and will require a new New Deal for 2027 onward to maintain and increase the City’s gains.
Source: City of Toronto. (2025, January 13). Budget TO: Budget Launch presentation.
Reasonable and Responsible Property Tax Increase Generates Much-Needed Revenue for Critical Services and Infrastructure
The 2025 City budget includes a proposed 5.4% residential property tax and a 1.5% increase to the City Building Fund, for a total increase of 6.9% —down from 9.5% in 2024. Proposed property taxes will generate an additional $251 million to support critical services. The 1.5% increase to the City Building Fund will generate an additional $69 million for housing and transit infrastructure.
The increase amounts to an additional $22.36 per month for the average homeowner (with a home valued at $692,031 based on the most recent assessed value in 2016). The City’s property tax cancellation and deferral programs protect low- and modest-income seniors and people with disabilities who own their own homes and can’t afford the increase.
After years of prioritizing low property taxes above all else, the City is in decline. This year’s budget (like last year’s) begins to reverse this troubling trend through a reasonable and responsible approach to property taxes.
Learn More, Take Part, and Have Your Say in the 2025 City Budget
Residents have an important role in the budget process. Active community participation is essential to achieving a better budget for our City. Fortunately, there is no shortage of opportunities to learn more and participate in the City budget process. Learn how you can get involved.