The first draft of the 2025 Toronto budget, released Monday, calls for a property tax increase of 6.9 per cent, which would cost the average Toronto homeowner about $268 this year.
This year’s proposed increase, which combines a 5.4 per cent increase to residential property taxes plus a 1.5 per cent hike to the city building fund, is lower than last year’s historic 9.5 per cent hike, but in line with the seven per cent increase in 2023 under then-mayor John Tory.
This proposal will be debated over the next month, including public consultations, before Mayor Olivia Chow drafts a final version by Feb. 1, which goes to council Feb. 11.
The money will support an $18.8 billion operating budget and $59.6 billion 10-year capital budget plan — the largest ever proposed in Toronto.
Here are some key takeaways from the budget proposal:
Budget bottom line
The operating budget grows by $1.8 billion to a total of $18.8 billion. This will go, in part, toward covering a $654-million increase in city expenditures, the vast majority of which — 89 per cent — come from just four areas: the TTC and transportation services, emergency services, community housing and new collective agreements with city employees.
The capital budget is being increased by $9.8 billion to $59.6 billion. Just over half is being allocated toward state-of-good-repair investments, such as TTC fleet restorations, community housing building maintenance and parks facilities upgrades. It will also be used to invest in flood protection and to fulfil a more aggressive CO2 reduction goal than the previous plan.
Transit service
TTC operations are slated to receive $1.38 billion, an increase of around $85 million from last year. Wheel-Trans is getting a $14.8-million boost, 9.4 per cent more than in 2024. TTC fares are not being increased. The city says the new budget will fund approximately 500,000 more transit service hours.
The capital budget lays out $4.9 billion for transit and mobility over 10 years.
Emergency responders
The proposed budget supports hiring 109 police officers, 95 paramedics and 52 firefighters. For this and other service improvements, it would add net increases of $46.2 million, or 3.9 per cent, to the police’s $1.22-billion budget, $17.3 million, or 15.3 per cent, to paramedic services’ $130-million budget and $9 million, or 1.7 per cent, to the fire services’ $548-million budget. Toronto emergency management, an office that co-ordinates emergency response and recovery, is getting a net budget increase of $5.2 million.
Recreation facilities
Staff say the budget would pay for cleaner recreation facilities that are open longer. Outdoor pools would stay open an extra two hours daily. The library is getting a net boost of $16.4 million, with more than 70 libraries getting extended Sunday service hours.
Council and mayor’s offices
City council and the mayor’s office would get increases to their budgets so small they are effectively cuts because of inflation. Council would get an extra 1.1 per cent net, or $277,000, giving it a $25.9-million budget, and Chow’s office an additional 0.2 per cent, or $6,500, putting it at just over $3 million. In 2023, the budget for the mayor’s office, which pays for the mayor’s staff, shot up 37.5 per cent under Tory to $2.94 million.
