Toronto – The City of Toronto is expanding eligibility for the Fair Pass Transit Discount Program to offer more affordable transit fares to 50,000 additional low-income Toronto residents. Under new eligibility criteria and effective today, the Fair Pass Program expansion prioritizes residents between 20 and 64 years old living in deep poverty, such as low-wage and part-time workers, newcomers and unemployed individuals receiving employment assistance. It also opens the program to residents who are on the waitlist for subsidized housing and child care, providing immediate financial help with their transit costs.
The Fair Pass Program provides a 12-month discount on TTC travel, including Wheel-Trans. Currently, the program provides a 36 per cent discount on single adult fares (a single adult fare under Fair Pass is $2.10) and a 21 per cent discount on monthly passes (an adult monthly pass under Fair Pass is $123.25) by adding a discount code to the rider’s PRESTO card.
The latest expansion marks the beginning of the program’s third phase, whereby any Toronto resident who meets the program’s age eligibility and low-income threshold can receive the discount. Based on the latest thresholds, a single individual with an after-tax income below $20,514 or a family of four with an income below $41,028 would be eligible for the discount.
The income threshold for Fair Pass has been temporarily reduced to 75 per cent of the Low-Income Measure After-Tax (LIM-AT). This is expected to be a temporary income threshold reduction with the intention to return to the LIM-AT plus 15 per cent threshold originally set by the program as soon as possible. Fair Pass applicants who receive assistance through Ontario Works (OW), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or a Toronto Child Care Fee Subsidy can continue to provide their program identification number when applying. All other applicants must provide income documents to assess their financial eligibility.
Residents can apply for the Fair Pass Program online or by calling 416-338-8888. To assist residents in acquiring a PRESTO card when applying for the Fair Pass Program, the City has partnered with Toronto Public Library’s (TPL) Complimentary PRESTO card initiative to distribute free PRESTO cards at participating TPL branches, while quantities last.
A cornerstone initiative of the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Fair Pass Program was first approved by Toronto City Council in 2016 to make transit more affordable for low-income adult residents. More information about the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy is available on the City’s webpage.
This is the third time that Fair Pass has expanded program eligibility, which was designed to be phased and flexible. When the program launched phase one in 2018, OW and ODSP recipients were eligible. In 2019, the second phase was initiated when eligibility expanded to Toronto Children’s Services’ Child Care Fee Subsidy recipients and expanded again in 2022 to Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) subsidy recipients.
The Fair Pass Transit Discount Program is a direct, targeted discount on TTC fares available to low-income working-age adults in Toronto. Low-income residents rely more on public transit to move around the city and the cost of travel should not act as a barrier to accessing critical services and supports such as education, employment, social and health services and good jobs outside of their immediate community.
By providing residents with a transit discount, the Fair Pass Discount Program helps alleviate some of the daily financial burdens that low-income residents face.