Toronto Mayor John Tory is proposing a nearly $2-billion investment in housing initiatives and improvements to key services, including park and recreation centre maintenance, in the city’s 2023 budget.
Tory outlined the proposed budget Thursday and said it will improve and protect services that Torontonians use on a regular basis, and will support key housing initiatives to address affordability and supply concerns in the city.
The city would foot $616 million from its tax base towards the overall $2 billion housing investment, Tory said, not including ongoing COVID-19 expenses. Tory is calling on other levels of government to provide the remaining funds to meet the proposed budget total.
“I stress throughout this process that frontline services, nuts-and-bolts, must be protected as much as we possibly can, despite the budget pressures we are facing. And I believe the proposed budget has achieved that,” Tory said Thursday afternoon in a news conference at City Hall.
The housing initiatives build on the city’s Housing Action Plan passed in Dec. 2022, which outlines significant changes to existing zoning regulations, including permitting multiplexes on all residential lots and eliminating so-called exclusionary zoning policies that prohibit modest density in most residential neighbourhoods.
The investments announced today that are proposed in the 2023 budget include:
$3.5 million in new funding to fully support the implementation of legalizing multi-tenant housing
$7.08 million for the Eviction Prevention Intervention in the Community (EPIC) program
$18.85 million for the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program
$146 million for operation of the city’s Housing Secretariat which includes housing development, revitalization, and improvement, and support for tenants
$295.8 million for the city’s subsidy to Toronto Community Housing Corporation, as well as a further $10.8 million as they work to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19
As for the “nuts-and-bolts” services, the budget includes protecting recreation centre hours during slower seasons, maintaining outdoor pools and rinks schedules, continuing to deploy seasonal parks works teams for spring and fall cleanup, and keeping wading pools and all youth spaces open in city facilities.
Tory’s budget also aims to increase the Toronto Public Library budget by $5 million from 2022, continuing COVID-19 support of $3.6 million, protecting the Winter Maintenance budget and ensuring seasonal washrooms and fountains in city parks are open earlier in the spring and later in the fall through an added investment of more than $2.86 million.
“These investments will help protect renters from eviction, save affordable housing that might be lost to the private market, build more supportive housing and ensure our park, rinks and youth spaces are fully operational and welcoming,” Budget Committee Chair and Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said at the news conference.
Tory says the budget is a fair proposal that avoids cutting crucial services and funding for initiatives that residents need.
“We have worked hard to protect frontline services, despite the opportunity that was there to cut. We’ve worked hard to expand funding to those areas residents have told us are the most important at this point in time and to continue the hunt for savings and efficiencies,” he said.
To reach the $2 billion goal for housing, Tory is calling on the federal and provincial governments to contribute to housing initiatives that he says are under their jurisdiction, including:
$48 million to support wrap-around services for 2,000 units of supportive housing from the province—a planned increase of 900 more units than 2022—under its responsibilities for mental healthcare
$91.9 million to support refugee housing costs from the federal government, under its responsibilities for immigration and refugees
The spending plans announced today are just one pillar of the 2023 budget.
Tory said that although certain fares and fees will rise if this budget is approved, the increases are minimal and in line with inflation.
“…While we simply can’t afford to freeze taxes or water rates or solid waste fees or TTC fares, we have been successful in keeping all of these increases in all of these areas below the rate of inflation, recognizing the pressures that people are facing at this point in time,” he said.
The Budget Committee will start reviewing the proposals on Tuesday and will hear feedback from Toronto residents and businesses in public presentations the following week.
The proposed budget will then go to city council for review on Feb. 14 and council can choose to amend the budget. However, under new strong mayor powers recently granted in Toronto, Tory could veto those amendments. The veto, however, can be overturned by a two-thirds vote (16 votes) by members of council.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
