Item - 2025.HL27.1

The Board of Health:  

1. Requested the Mayor to propose a 2026 Operating Budget for Toronto Public Health of $316,267.7 thousand gross, $112,527.5 thousand net, and 1,847.5 positions, as summarized in Table 1, Overview of the Toronto Public Health 2026 Operating Budget Submission, which includes the following incremental changes from the Toronto Public Health 2025 Operating Budget:

a. an increase of $6,439.2 thousand gross and $6,439.2 thousand net for inflationary costs and salaries and benefits;

b. a decrease of $885.2 thousand gross and an increase of $701.4 thousand net, and 1 position for 2026 administrative and technical adjustments;

c. an estimated increase of $1,538.4 thousand gross, $0 net for operating costs related to Downtown Homeless Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub;

d. an increase in revenue of $1,535.5 thousand to accept additional funds from the provincial government to support the delivery of Ontario Public Health Standards programs and services;

e. a decrease of $6,274.8 thousand gross, $1,000.0 thousand net resulting from the removal of prior year one-time expenses and related funding;

f. a decrease of $1,061.0 thousand gross, $1,061.0 thousand net, along with 6.0 positions to meet efficiency targets; and

g. an increase of $15,019.7 thousand gross, $15,019.7 thousand net, and 3 positions for Phase 3 and Phase 4 expansion of the Student Nutrition Program, projected growth in student participation, and enhancements to the Food Safety program to support the expansion.

2. Requested the Province of Ontario to increase funding for Toronto Public Health to cover an annual cost of living increase equivalent to the annual average Ontario Consumer Price Index.

3. Requested the Medical Officer of Health to explore opportunities to work with the Chief Communications Officer, Strategic Public and Employee Communications, to improve the City of Toronto’s existing website so that residents can more easily access public health information 

4.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to report back to the Board of Health in the third quarter of 2026 with findings and recommendations to strengthen Toronto Public Health’s nursing retention strategy.

5. Directed that this report be forwarded to the City of Toronto Budget Committee for consideration during the 2026 Budget process.

The Director, Operations and Business Services, Toronto Public Health, gave a presentation on Toronto Public Health 2026 Operating Budget Submission.

This report outlines the Toronto Public Health (TPH) 2026 Operating Budget Submission for consideration by the Board of Health. Toronto Public Health's 2026 Operating Budget Submission is $316,267.7 thousand gross, $112,527.5 thousand net and 1,847.5 positions.

Toronto Public Health is intending to achieve the City's affordability target, apart from requests to increase its operating budget to strengthen and expand the Student Nutrition Program.  

This 2026 Operating Budget Submission is higher than the 2025 Operating Budget by $14,776.3 thousand gross, $18,563.9 thousand net with 2.0 less positions. The increase in Toronto Public Health's year-over-year budget is predominately attributed to costs to strengthen and expand the City's Student Nutrition Program, and inflationary and cost of living adjustment (COLA) increases for staff.

Additional information on the change between the 2026 Operating Budget Submission and the 2025 Operating Budget is available in Table 1 in this report.

The 2026 Operating Budget Submission includes in-year changes, and base changes as detailed in the recommendations in this report.

At its meeting on July 7, 2025, the Board of Health - Budget Committee considered item HU4.1 and made recommendations to the Board of Health.