About City Budget Watch
Social Planning Toronto's City Budget Watch is back for the 2021 City of Toronto budget process! We'll be bringing you up-to-date reports and analysis on each step of the City budget process from launch date on Thursday, January 14, to final votes at City Council on February 17. We'll let you know how you can learn more, get involved, and have your say on the 2021 budget.
The City Budget Watch Blog is authored by Beth Wilson. Beth is our lead on policy and research at Social Planning Toronto, starting at our organization in 2002. She has a Master of Social Work (MSW), Policy, Organization and Community.
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Most recent blog entries
Final 2025 City Budget Improves Services, Freezes Transit Fares, Invests in Infrastructure, But Fails to Reign in Police Budget
On February 11, Toronto City Council met for an 11-hour marathon session on the 2025 City Budget. They debated and voted on amendments to the Mayor’s Budget, property tax rates, and policy motions (including an anti-Tesla measure in response to the Trump trade war).
The final 2025 City Budget safeguards all program and service enhancements proposed in the Mayor’s Budget (including those first identified in the Staff-Prepared Budget), adds $3 million more in service enhancements, protects a transit fare freeze for a second year in a row (despite attempts to increase fares), and makes critical investments in infrastructure.
Joint Letter to City Council: We Need to Invest in a City for All!
On the eve of the February 11 Council meeting to determine the Toronto's 2025 City Budget, 50 community and faith-based organizations co-signed a letter to Mayor Chow and the members of Toronto City Council urging them to support key investments in affordable housing, transit, youth employment, poverty reduction, and more.
Read the full letter below. Send your own letter to Council using the template provided, and join us tomorrow at City Hall for the Fund Our City Rally.
TAKE ACTION: Tell City Council to Fund Our City
Toronto City Council’s final meeting of the 2025 City Budget process will take place on Tuesday, February 11. The proposed budget, put forth by Mayor Chow on January 30, invests in and expands critical programs and services. But these investments are at risk.
Councillors can decide to reverse important measures such as the TTC fare freeze, the expansion of the student food program to feed an additional 21,500 students annually, the introduction of the camp food program to feed up to 31,085 children and youth, the expansion of winter hours in drop-in centres, the construction of new emergency shelters, the addition of open library hours across the City, investments in youth and family programs and services, and more.