Ontario and Toronto Reach New Deal

TORONTO — The Government of Ontario and City of Toronto have reached a new deal that will help achieve long-term financial stability and sustainability for the city. Following 10 weeks of productive working group discussions to find collaborative solutions to the city’s operating and capital deficits, an agreement was reached to put the city on a path to succeed. The best way for Toronto to succeed in the future is through growth in population, density, housing, frontline service delivery and revenue from a growing economy.

“This historic new deal will help support the future growth of Toronto, delivering shared priorities like building homes, public transit and infrastructure,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Toronto is critical to Ontario and Canada’s economic success, and we need all levels of government working together to deliver solutions that protect services and put the city on a path towards long-term financial sustainability. When Toronto succeeds, Ontario and Canada succeed.” As part of this new deal, Ontario has agreed to provide the city with up to $1.2 billion in provincial operating supports over three years and significant capital relief, including:

• Annual operating funding of $330 million over three years beginning in 2024–2025 for new subway-integrated provincial transit projects — the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the Finch West LRT
• Providing $600 million in additional operating support for shelters and homelessness, conditional on federal support for refugee and asylum claimants
• Identifying provincially owned lands in Toronto that can be used to build homes
• Uploading both the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway to the province, subject to third-party due diligence. This proposal will ensure these highways’ long-term sustainability for the benefit of drivers and commerce across the Greater Toronto Area as untolled highways
• Over $750 million in funding for 55 new subway trains for the TTC’s Line 2, conditional on matching federal support
• $300 million in one-time funding for subways and transit safety, recovery and sustainability that includes commitments on the part of the city related to increased police or safety officer presence on and near transit, continued expansion of transit rider cellular and data services across the TTC network and enhanced emergency reporting options and response timelines for riders. This new funding for TTC safety and service improvements will help build a system people want to ride and feel safe while doing so
• Continuing discussions on the longer-term sustainability of Toronto’s finances and operations through the Toronto-Ontario targeted review, with terms of reference established by 2025.

“This new deal means unlocking Toronto’s potential. It means the city has billions more for affordable housing, fixing our aging transit system and building complete communities with child care, community centres, parks and more,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “When all orders of government work together on shared priorities, we can deliver more for the people of Toronto.”

Toronto has also agreed to the following terms:

• Meeting or exceeding the province’s housing targets and, as part of that work, identifying and making available surplus city lands for building homes and increase density near transit through the use of tools such as official plans
• Taking further actions to find efficiencies in service delivery and procurement by improving and digitizing processes as well as exploring shared services.

As part of this deal, the city accepts that the province has the authority to advance project approvals for Ontario Place and intends to do so imminently. The province has also agreed to explore relocating the parking structure to the Exhibition Place grounds to improve public access to the shoreline and to discuss partnership opportunities with the city for maintaining public, community-oriented science programming at the legacy Ontario Science Centre.

To move forward on this new deal, the government will soon introduce the New Deal for Toronto Act, which, if passed, would provide the necessary authorities to make this deal a reality.

While Ontario and Toronto have taken meaningful action through this new deal to advance key provincial priorities, federal assistance is essential for the city to achieve long-term financial sustainability. The city and the province continue to call on the federal government to step up as a full partner with funding in critical areas of need such as shelter support for asylum claimants and transit funding. Toronto is unique among Canada’s cities, both in terms of the challenges it faces and its long-standing and unparalleled contributions to the province’s shared success.