Police secure a crime scene near Northview Heights Secondary School in Toronto on Jan. 22.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Wes Hall is founder and executive chairman of WeShall Investments and Kingsdale Advisors. In 2020, he launched the BlackNorth Initiative.
Recently, I was struck by the fact that I continue to have the same conversation with Toronto-based friends and colleagues alike. Whether we have admitted it to ourselves or not, Torontonians are all beginning to come to the same conclusion: Toronto is no longer the best city in the world.
A teenager from one of the poorest parts of Jamaica, I was welcomed with open arms by this once great city 39 years ago. At the time, Toronto was a place bursting at the seams with the values that so many hold true to being Canadian – kindness, optimism and a resolute confidence rooted in a deep belief that Toronto, and by extension Canada, was the best and safest place to live, work and raise a family.
That same confidence rooted in the very fabric of the streets and towers of Toronto did not withstand the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it has been replaced by a sense of unease regarding public safety.
Think about it. News of a commuter being attacked on the TTC no longer surprises us, even though it should.
Last week, a police officer’s comments at a community meeting went viral. He said that, for car owners’ safety, they should leave their keys at the front door so that thieves who break into their homes can find them easier. While the Toronto Police Service later walked back that statement, it is nonetheless alarming.
Our city’s diverse viewpoints have clearly converged when it comes to how little we expect from public officials to protect us in the event of a robbery or a home invasion. Even business leaders are concerned about the safety of their employees in Toronto.
This is no longer just a public security issue. How we address public safety concerns today will have a significant impact on the city’s position as an economically vibrant hub and the ability to create more high-quality jobs in the long-term.
911 calls for life-threatening “Priority“ emergencies have an average response time exceeding 22 minutes. Calls categorized as “Priority 2,” which involve urgent situations, face wait times of over an hour.
Last year, Toronto saw an 18-per-cent year-on-year increase in crime and as a result there were 24,659 assaults, 12,170 auto thefts, 7,643 break-and-enters and 4,923 robberies and thefts.
No person deserves to feel vulnerable in their home, car or public transit. And no person deserves to be reduced to a statistic.
I was heartened to see that the mayor and city council have chosen to reconsider their budgetary allocation for law enforcement and are working with the Toronto Police Service to make our streets safer. But a commitment to act is not the same as action itself, and Torontonians will anxiously await the outcome of these conversations with other levels of government.
Toronto is home to 40 per cent of all Canadian headquarters and more than 80 per cent of the consular offices in Ontario. The city accounts for 50 per cent of Ontario’s GDP, 20 per cent of Canada’s and welcomes 27 million tourists every year who contribute $10-billion to the local economy. The burden to keep our city safe falls on all levels of government because of Toronto’s importance to the Canadian economy.
Our elected leaders and law enforcement face a herculean task ahead of them.
The Toronto Police Service oversees 630 square kilometres of land and 1,190 square kilometres of open water on Lake Ontario. They are responsible for the safety of an additional 27.5 million tourists annually and maintaining order at more than 2,300 events and protests each year, while operating in high-density environments.
There are 600 fewer Toronto police officers today than in 2010, tasked with the safety of half a million more people, and in the coming 24 months our city is expected to grow as much as it did in the past seven years.
My message to Mayor Olivia Chow and our city council is that you not only need a long-term plan to solve these issues, you also need to execute that plan. You have access to business and community leaders across many different sectors, who are willing and ready to help. In my world all business leaders must achieve certain key performance indicators to keep their jobs. We need to apply the same metrics and consequences to our elected leaders.
As our elected leaders, it is critical that you formalize consultation with Toronto’s business and community leaders to take advantage of those willing to help our city reclaim its lofty position as the best city in the world.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
