On Toronto council’s meeting agenda: bikes lanes, FIFA and housing crisis
Premier Doug Ford’s controversial push to remove some bike lanes in Toronto — and whether the city can do anything about it — will be up for debate at a council meeting that starts Wednesday.
Councillors are expecting a report from city staff outlining their options when it comes to the provincial legislation to rip out a series of bike lanes across Toronto.
Mayor Olivia Chow said she still holds out hope that she can strike a deal with the province to avoid removing the lanes because they save lives, she said.
“We need to make sure that everyone is safe and if the Province of Ontario wants to deal with congestion, please open up the Eglinton (Crosstown) LRT (and) the Finch LRT,” she said.
The Progressive Conservative government tabled a bill last month that would require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lane when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic. The government has said bike lanes are contributing to gridlock, a claim critics have disputed.
But the province is going further through regulation, including a proposed new rule that would require the removal of sections of the Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue bike lanes, restoring them as lanes for vehicle traffic.
The report coming from city staff will provide councillors with data on bike lane usage and calculate the potential cost of removing the lanes. Chow said Toronto has been down this path before when then mayor Rob Ford and his allies on council voted to remove lanes on Jarvis Street years after they had been built.
“In the experience of the city, removing a bike lane on Jarvis, for example, was costly, more costly than putting it in,” she said.
Cyclists in Toronto rallied this weekend to protect bike lanes in the city. It comes as the Ford government announced plans earlier this month to tear up bike lanes across some major roads in The city. As Tyreike Reid explains, their fight is now being supported by some of Toronto’s top politicians.
In 2012, after a protracted battle in council led in part by former mayor Rob Ford and Doug Ford, then a city councillor, the city opted to remove protected lanes on Jarvis Street.
The lanes cost roughly $86,000 to install and about $270,000 to remove because a centre lane for vehicle traffic had to be re-added to the busy street.
Chow conceded Tuesday that there may not be much the city can do legally to prevent the lanes’ removal.
“Council will be having a conversation as to what is our path forward,” she said. “I want to say, however, that local democracy matters.”
City considers hotel tax hike to pay for FIFA games
Toronto city councillors will consider temporarily hiking the city’s hotel tax, as a way to offset a $95 million funding gap on its FIFA World Cup hosting duties
The proposal says the Municipal Accommodation Tax, paid by guests staying at hotels and short term rentals, could increase from six per cent to 8.5 per cent. The change would occur in the 14 months leading up to the games, from June 2025 to July 2026, ending after the event.
“We don’t want the property taxpayers to pay more, and we’re just asking the hotel to share the wealth a bit,” Chow said recently.
The tax increase is projected to generate $56.6 million to cover the costs of FIFA. The city says it’s still looking for other revenue sources like sponsorships to help pay for the remaining funding gap.
The city’s chief financial officer, Stephen Conforti, told reporters outside the executive committee meeting last week, that staff are trying to ensure property taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill for the games.
“It was really important and imperative that we weren’t looking at opportunities to close that gap that have an impact on our property tax base,” Conforti said.
Toronto will host six of the 2026 FIFA world cup games at an estimated cost of $380 million.
That price tag has ballooned since the city first pitched hosting the games in 2018. Back then, a city report estimated the cost at between $30 million and $45 million.
Toronto and Vancouver are slated to host 13 FIFA World Cup games in 2026, and the security budgets have gone up by tens of millions of dollars. Some are asking if it’s worth it.
Mayor’s plan promises to build more affordable housing
Another measure to address Toronto’s housing crisis will be up for debate this week, as councillors consider a new plan to incentivize the development of 7,000 rental homes through tax and fee reductions.
The plan, introduced by Mayor Chow late last month, would see Toronto provide seed money to try to get housing projects in the development pipeline “unstuck.”
To help get that rental development built, staff recommend the city defer development charges on purpose-built rental homes, so long as the project includes the necessary rental requirements. That could save developers nearly $38,000 per unit, according to city staff.
Other recommended incentives include a 15 per cent property tax reduction for 35 years for eligible developments and even forgone taxes and fees for affordable rental units. City staff estimate that would reduce costs by nearly $100,000 per unit.
The Bank of Canada has announced the fourth straight cut to Canada’s key interest rate. Economists have blamed high interest rates and construction costs for the slowdown in new condo and rental housing builds. But as CBC’s Shannon Martin explains, even with rates trending downward, developers say Toronto is falling behind.
Eligible developments would need to set aside at least 20 per cent of units as affordable rental homes, staff say, under the city’s new income-based definition of affordable housing. The units would be required to stay affordable for at least 40 years.
Projects will also be required to start construction by the end of 2026.
Coun. Gord Perks said the first phase of the plan will see the city provide “proof of concept” to the federal and provincial governments. If they contribute funding for the second phase, the city estimates it could build 13,000 additional homes.
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