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.

By our calculation, the final 2025 City Budget invests $97.3886 million (including $59.1988 million from property taxes) in new and enhanced programs and services.

This year’s Budget builds on record-level investment in the 2024 City Budget, at nearly $170 million for new and enhanced services. The 2025 City Budget also invests in new affordable housing and infrastructure, and reduces the State of Good Repair backlog, supporting the upkeep of City assets essential for the delivery of public services. A majority of Council supported the property tax increases included in the Mayor’s Budget (and originally proposed in the Staff-Prepared Budget), which will generate hundreds of millions more to address critical issues and crumbling infrastructure resulting from years of austerity budgets. 

Unfortunately, the hefty increase to the police budget remains in place and unchallenged. This despite a recent City survey that found 40% of Toronto residents support cutting the police budget, with the police budget as the top priority for funding reductions in all four areas of the city. 

At one point, the meeting was interrupted by two protestors from a group called Voices for Unhoused Liberation, who rushed the section of the council chamber reserved for elected officials and staff. The protestors later told the Toronto Star they wanted to urge Council to “defund the police, invest more in housing, and end forced relocation from encampments.” They also told the Star they felt unheard by council, despite having attended public consultations and deputing before committees. The protestors were quickly removed from council chamber; no arrests were made.

City Council Adds $3 Million More in Service Enhancements

The Mayor’s Budget identified $3 million in funding that was not allocated to any specific program or service. Prior to the Council meeting, Councillors came up with an agreement to divy up the funds on a number of public services and initiatives, and in response to advocacy by community groups. 

Among the many enhancements, the successful motion included:

• $810,000 to “enhance drop-in services including an extension of the Creating Health Plus program” 
• $725,000 for “community development initiatives focused on seniors, youth, families, resident organizing, and local food security” provided by nonprofit organizations through the Community Partnership and Investment Program
• $150,000 to “support the implementation of the Little Jamaica Cultural District Plan” 
• $150,000 to “support the hosting of the Strong Cities Network’s 2025 Global Summit in Toronto”, an anti-hate summit; the Strong Cities Network is “a global network of cities dedicated to addressing all forms of hate, extremism and polarisation”
• $127,000 for new staff to “support food security initiatives and food banks”

Councillor Carroll’s omnibus motion passed 24-1 (with Councillor Holyday voting against):

Final City Budget Maintains All Service Enhancements Proposed in the Mayor’s Budget

In addition to the $3 million for new and enhanced services added by Council, the 2025 City Budget includes $94.3886 million (including $59.1988 million from property taxes) in new and enhanced services proposed in the Mayor’s Budget (most of which were first identified in the Staff-Prepared Budget). 

Highlights: 

• $15.1807 for TTC service expansion and key priorities (plus a fare freeze)
• $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
• $3.9846 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 ($3.6216 million described in Housing Secretariat budget notes, plus $363,000 added through the Mayor’s Budget) 
• $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)

Read SPT’s previous City Budget Watch posts (here and here) for more information on the new and enhanced service investments.

Want the play-by-play from City Council’s February 11 budget meeting? Check out City Hall Watcher Matt Elliott’s thread on Bluesky for a full recap. 

2025 City Budget Concludes With More Work To Do and Elections Ahead

The 2025 Budget is a good first step (or second step, following the investments from 2024’s Budget) in addressing the gulf of inequalities in our city. It responded to many of the calls for increased funding that community groups have been making.

Those same community groups joined us outside City Hall on Tuesday, rallying for a fully-funded city. (The rally was unaffiliated with the protest inside council chambers). Social Planning Toronto and twenty other organizations demanded investments in key services including transit, affordable housing, increased support for drop-ins, and more. 

We wanted to thank everyone who joined us at the rally, including our speakers Zachary John and Theo Nazary (Council Fire), Andrea Vásquez Jiménez (Policing-Free Schools), Nicholas Cristou (TTCRiders), Alisha Alam (South Asian Women's Right Organization), Marcia Stone and Stacey Semple (ACORN), Kanma Oneyeonwu (North York Harvest Food Bank), Briar Perrier (ENAGB), Brian Connelly (ATU 113), and our own Executive Director, Jin Huh.

City Council is listening to many community concerns, but more needs to be done. The substantial increase to the police budget did not even warrant a Council debate. Earlier this month, Council delayed pursuing a commercial parking levy which would have provided Toronto with a revenue source that could have funded badly-needed climate resilient infrastructure. Solving Toronto’s joint crises of affordability, housing insecurity, and poverty will require greater investments still. And while the Mayor was able to negotiate a New Deal with the provincial government at the end 2023, Toronto will need renewed support from the province in the years to come. Meanwhile, Ontario is in the midst of a snap election that leaves the future of its relationship with Toronto uncertain.

We would like to take a moment to celebrate the victories that came with important investments from Tuesday’s budget decisions, and thank all the Toronto residents who attended a consultation, shared their stories during deputations, canvassed, campaigned, organized, rallied, advocated, and otherwise made their voices heard during this important process. 

We would then like to invite all of you to join us in continuing our collective work in organizing around the Ontario election. Check out our 2025 Ontario Election resource page as well as our calendar of events. Join us for our virtual workshops, including Advocating for Change in the 2025 Provincial Election (Feb 19), A Provincial Election Community Forum (Feb 20), and Ringing the Alarm: How will Ontario’s Employment Services Transformation Impact Toronto? (Feb. 24).