In advance of their upcoming budgets, Toronto is calling on the provincial and federal governments to ensure the fiscal needs of Canada’s largest city are taken care of.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie sent separate letters Monday to federal Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland and provincial Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy, urging them to stick to their promise to help Toronto recover from its COVID-19 “hangover.”This year, Toronto is seeking $423 million from the federal government to help with its pandemic-related shortfall as well as more money to support newcomers and refugees, an area of federal responsibility.
This can be done by expanding the Rapid Housing Initiative and by “working with the Province of Ontario to provide ongoing operating funding for wraparound health and social supports crucial for long-term pathways out of homelessness,” she said. McKelvie said the city hopes that the provincial government will be open to discussing a “new framework for funding the operating costs of new transit lines as they come online, especially in light of transit ridership levels given post pandemic commuting patterns.”
“A substantial portion of funds already committed by the City was budgeted to come from development charges which have now been eliminated through provisions of Bill 23, underscoring the need for your government to honour its commitment that Toronto will be "kept whole" with respect to Bill 23's financial impacts,” the letter read.
“Among Ontario's municipalities, you will not find a greater supporter for meeting the Province's housing objectives than Toronto, and I firmly believe that increasing the supply of housing and promoting housing abundance is necessary to drive housing affordability,” she said pointing to former mayor John Tory’s “ground-breaking Housing Action Plan for getting more homes built or made available in Toronto as quickly as possible while also making housing more affordable.
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