Toronto mayor outlines affordability, transit and safety priorities for second term

Mayor Olivia Chow, who was re-elected to lead Toronto’s city council, outlined a series of policy commitments for her second term. She said future property tax increases will be kept at or near the rate of inflation, after an 18.5% rise during her first term. Chow also plans to broaden the city’s school nutrition program to provide free lunches for all students, a measure she estimates could save families up to $1,800 annually. Additional proposals include banning surveillance pricing and offering property-tax breaks to community grocers to improve food affordability.

On transit, Chow pledged to cap fares after ten rides per week, making any additional trips free, and to freeze TTC fares for a fourth consecutive year if re-elected. She highlighted the construction of the Scarborough East Light Rail Transit, an 18.6-kilometre line linking Kennedy Station to Kingston Road with stops at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, Malvern Town Centre and a future subway station at McCowan Road.

For public safety, Chow proposed a four-year, $28 million plan to expand youth-safety programs and announced a commitment to reopen the former 54 Division police station in a new $120 million facility by 2030.

Housing initiatives include a target of 10,000 new rental units to start construction in 2027, with at least 20% designated as affordable. She also promised to create a “bad landlords taskforce” to target substandard rentals and to expand free homemaking services for at least 5,000 seniors.

Additional measures involve adding more free weekend programming for children in libraries and extending the city’s Museum and Attractions Pass to 1,000 extra families, granting them access to venues such as the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

"We want to make Toronto more affordable, safer and more inclusive for all residents," Chow said.

The mayor’s agenda was reported with files from Phil Tskouras.