Item - 2023.IE9.4

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the General Manager, Toronto Water, to expand the eligibility criteria of the City's Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program (the "Program") to include an eligible registered property owner of an existing residential fourplex property within the City of Toronto, subject to all the terms and conditions of the Program.

The purpose of this report is to respond to a request from City Council to the General Manager, Toronto Water, to review the feasibility of expanding the eligibility criteria of the Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program (the "Program") to include registered owners of existing residential fourplexes within the City of Toronto, subject to their meeting the other Program eligibility criteria. Currently, the Program is only available to eligible registered property owners of an existing single-family residential duplex, or triplex property within the City of Toronto, subject to all the terms and conditions of the Program.

Expanding the eligibility criteria of the Program was determined to be financially and operationally feasible and is timely as it aligns with the recent Council decision in May 2023 to permit residential multiplexes up to fourplexes.  This review also supports recommendations from the Program audit conducted in 2017 by the Auditor General.

The estimated financial impact over the ten-year period from 2023 to 2032 ($273,280) is not considered significant when compared to the overall Program funding as forecasted in the 2023 Approved Capital Budget and 2024-2032 Approved Capital Plan ($55 million). The operational impact of expanding the Program is not expected to be significant as no additional staff will be required and any Program administrative changes are expected to be minimal.