Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, left, looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces $471 million in federal funding for affordable housing last month. The city is hoping Ottawa will pledge other funding for refugee support and transit upgrades.
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Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, left, looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces $471 million in federal funding for affordable housing last month. The city is hoping Ottawa will pledge other funding for refugee support and transit upgrades.
If 2024 is anything like 2023, Torontonians should brace themselves for a wild ride because last year brought this city a world of surprise. Last February, just as political reporters were settling in to yet another year covering a predictable long-term mayor, the news offered a headline no one imagined possible except perhaps in a strange dream: “Mayor John Tory steps down from office after admitting he had relationship with staffer.”
While many believed that Tory the popular politician could survive the office affair scandal it was clear that Tory the private person could not. He stepped away from the mayor’s seat last winter leaving deputy mayor Jennifer McKelvie at the helm of a city facing gargantuan problems, among them: a massive budget hole, violent crimes on a struggling TTC and a housing crisis.
Cue one of Toronto’s most competitive political races in recent memory: the 2023 June mayoral by-election served the city well, with a diverse choice of candidates and ideas.
Of course, all of it was easier said than done. And yet Chow has managed to do more in her short time in office than expected. Though many doubted that the progressive mayor could build bridges with the Progressive Conservatives at Queen’s Park, Chow has proven to be a practical leader. In late 2023, the mayor’s affordable housing plan passed with strong support; it calls for Toronto to build tens of thousands of rental housing units by 2030 (though how the city will pay for the plan is another story).
Additionally, Chow and Ford reached a historic “new deal” to have the province take on the costs of operating the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway, freeing up room in Toronto's budget for other priorities. Chow meanwhile will back off opposing Ford’s spa plans at Ontario Place.
Though the new deal doesn’t wash away the city’s financial troubles, it will save Toronto several billion dollars and is a crucial step in establishing a new sustainable fiscal framework for the city. In other words, despite the chaos of Tory’s resignation at the beginning of 2023 and the subsequent doomsday predictions about Toronto’s financial situation, it is difficult to deny that the city finds itself in a brighter spot today. Brighter, however, isn’t necessarily cheerful.
There is no question that Toronto will continue to face huge obstacles in 2024. The downtown core is struggling to recover amid the emergent reality of hybrid work. There is no quick fix for Toronto’s intractable homelessness and refugee crisis. And it isn’t just the homeless who are suffering in the city; a recent report found that roughly 1 in 10 Torontonians are relying on food banks.
Last year, Chow proved she could get the province to begin paying its fair share to Toronto, the economic engine of the province and nation. In 2024, she will have to convince the federal government to do the same. It was welcome news in December when the federal government announced nearly half a billion dollars in funding to the city to tackle the housing crisis.
But the city requires more than occasional monetary injections to prosper. It requires a new fiscal model that guarantees major, consistent funding from all levels of government.
But the coming budget debates will be a test for Chow and Toronto councillors as the city copes with outstanding bills for refugee support and transit investments as it awaits to hear whether Ottawa will pony up. Toronto has few options to make up the expected shortfall -- property tax hikes or service cuts.
Chow certainly hit the ground running in 2023: one poll from early in her term put her approval rating at 73 per cent. In 2024 we will learn if the mayor can carry that momentum and that good will forward.
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