Item - 2025.EX28.24

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1. City Council receive the Federation of Municipalities October 2025 Advocacy Days report to Council outlined in the revised letter (December 2, 2025) from Councillor Paul Ainslie for information.

I am pleased to advise of my participation on behalf of the City of Toronto at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Advocacy Days on Parliament Hill, meeting with federal decision-makers to emphasize that Canada’s housing and economic goals depend on strong local infrastructure. Municipalities own over 60% of core infrastructure but receive only 8–10 cents of every tax dollar, while facing a $270B infrastructure deficit. Without urgent federal investment, housing plans and supply chain growth risk stalling before they start. News: Canada risks stalling nation-building without strong local infrastructure

FCM is urging the Federal Government for action on three priorities:

-Double the $2.4B Canada Community-Building Fund and index it to GDP growth, with matching provincial/territorial contributions.
-Launch a NextGen infrastructure program to succeed the $33B Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program ending in 2028, with targeted investments for rural, Northern, and Arctic communities.
-Protect and expand essential municipal programs like Reaching Home, Interim Housing Assistance, and the Canada Public Transit Fund to support vulnerable populations, manage growth, and build resilient communities.

Guided by FCM’s advocacy priorities, I emphasized the City of Toronto in my discussions with Ministers

1. Deliver Municipal Infrastructure that supports jobs and economy amid the trade war

-Support increased infrastructure funding to enable sustainable, complete communities alongside new housing.

-Boost funding for the Canada Permanent Transit Fund (CPTF).

-CPTF will provide $3B annually for transit and active transportation starting in 2026–27. $3B per year is insufficient to meet national transit state-of-good-repair and expansion needs.

2. Enable more affordable housing in Urban and Rural Communities

-Delays in housing benefits, like COHB, immediately stop the flow of people exiting the shelter system, proving their critical role.

-Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) housing is overwhelmingly reported by those with lived experience as the most effective tool to prevent their homelessness.

-The Affordability Gap has ballooned due to a 62% increase in average market rent versus only a 4% increase in social assistance shelter allowances since 2014.

3. Ensure Safer Communities through investment in policing, crisis resourcing and bail reform

-Since March 2022, Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) has handled over 29,000 calls, resolving 78% without police, fire, or paramedics—proving the effectiveness of non-police crisis teams.

-In 2023, Toronto Police saw a 4.5% drop in person-in-crisis calls, showing TCCS’s growing impact in diverting appropriate calls and easing pressure on emergency services.

-Continued investment in TCCS will improve public safety, reduce ER strain, support vulnerable residents, and build a more equitable crisis response system.

4. Protecting Canadians from the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

-Infrastructure Investment: The federal and municipal governments are investing over $700M to upgrade the Black Creek sewer system, enabling 63,000 new homes and supporting 130,000+ residents and 65,000+ jobs.

-Climate Resilience: FCM urges $2B immediately and $1B annually for climate-resilient infrastructure to address extreme weather impacts—2024 alone cost $8.5B in damages.

-High ROI: Every $1 invested in climate adaptation yields up to $15 in economic benefits, protecting communities, public health, and local economies.

I attended the: Committee of the Whole meetings, Board meetings, Reception with Parliamentarians and meetings with the following Members of Parliament:

-Member of Parliament, Hon. MP Robert Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

-Member of Parliament, MP Tim Louis, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy.

-Member of Parliament, MP Leslie Church, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour, for Seniors, and for Children and Youth, and to the Minister of Jobs and Families.

-Member of Parliament, MP Vince Gasparro, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State.

-Member of Parliament, MP Maggie Chi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health.

-Member of Parliament, Hon. MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Member of Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (CEUS).

Please visit to review the upcoming board events for 2026 on fcm.ca

October 2025 https://fcm.ca/en/events-training/upcoming-events