Item - 2025.EX24.10

The Executive Committee:

1. Requested the Strategic Public and Employee Communications Division to continue to work with the Mayor’s Office to identify opportunities to livestream the Mayor’s press conferences within existing resources, prioritizing events in the Protocol Lounge and accommodating requests for access from Members of Council and their staff upon coordination with the Mayor’s Office, until such time as additional resources can be identified through the budget process.

City Council on May 21 and 22, 2025, referred Motion MM30.15 to the Executive Committee for consideration.

The Mayor of Toronto regularly holds media availabilities in their City Hall office.

For nearly a decade, it was standard practice for these press conferences to be livestreamed to the public, ensuring broad public accessibility and transparency. Similar practices exist in other major cities – for example, the Mayors of Ottawa, Vancouver, and New York City routinely livestream media availabilities and announcements on YouTube.

In the interest of transparency, accountability, and public access to information, this motion calls on the Office of the Mayor to resume the practice of livestreaming press conferences and other media availabilities. These livestreams should include the full Question and Answer period with media to ensure comprehensive public access.

Democracy functions best when residents have open and timely access to information that affects their city and daily lives. To further promote fairness and collaboration at City Hall, this motion also requests that all Members of Council and their staff be granted full access to attend these media availabilities.

This report provides Executive Committee with supplemental information on the additional resources required to implement MM30.15 “Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in the Mayor’s Office”, which City Council, in its May 2025 meeting, referred to Executive Committee for further consideration. The motion requests the Mayor to begin livestreaming all Mayor’s press conferences and other media availabilities, including the Question and Answer period with media, and that all Members of Council and their staff be granted full access to attend these media availabilities.

Currently, Strategic Public and Employee Communications (SPEC) and the Technology Services Division (TSD) collaboratively support the Mayor’s press conferences and media availabilities (e.g., question and answer sessions with media). Livestreaming these types of events is not a regularized, base service delivered by these teams, but where operationally possible, City staff have provided this service on an ad-hoc basis. The Mayor participates in approximately 225 media events annually, and as of June 2025, the City has livestreamed four of these events.

Livestreaming all Mayor’s press conferences and media availabilities is a significant change to current City practice and the City cannot undertake this additional work through its existing staff complement and resources. Should the City be directed to expand livestreaming services to support the Mayor’s media events that occur seven days a week, across the City, throughout the day and evening, the City would require funding for four additional full time staff and one additional vehicle.

Livestreaming all of the Mayor’s press conferences and other media availabilities (based on 2025 rates) is estimated to cost up to $600,000 per year in annual staffing costs, and up to $75,000 for an additional vehicle with an estimated ongoing maintenance cost of $2,000 annually.