Agenda

This meeting of the Economic and Community Development Committee will be conducted with members participating in person and remotely.

Members of Council, City Officials, and members of the public who register to speak will be provided with the video conference details closer to the meeting date.

To provide comments or make a presentation to the Economic and Community Development Committee:

The public may submit written comments or register to speak to the Committee on any item on the agenda. The public may speak to the Committee in person or by video conference.

Written comments may be submitted by writing to ecdc@toronto.ca.

To speak to the Committee, please register by e-mail to ecdc@toronto.ca or by phone at 416-397-4579. Members of the public who register to speak will be provided with instructions on how to participate in the meeting.
 

Special Assistance for Members of the Public: City staff can arrange for special assistance with some advance notice. If you need special assistance, please call 416-397-4579, TTY 416-338-0889 or e-mail ecdc@toronto.ca.

Closed Meeting Requirements: If the Economic and Community Development Committee wants to meet in closed session (privately), a member of the Committee must make a motion to do so and give the reason why the Committee has to meet privately (City of Toronto Act, 2006).

Notice to People Writing or Making Presentations to the Economic and Community Development Committee: The City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the City of Toronto Municipal Code authorize the City of Toronto to collect any personal information in your communication or presentation to City Council or its Committees and Boards. The City collects this information to enable it to make informed decisions on the relevant issue(s). If you are submitting letters, faxes, e-mails, presentations or other communications to the City, you should be aware that your name and the fact that you communicated with the City will become part of the public record and will appear on the City's website. The City will also make your communication and any personal information in it - such as your postal address, telephone number or e-mail address - available to the public, unless you expressly request the City to remove it.

Many Committee, Board, and Advisory Body meetings are broadcast live over the internet for the public to view. If you speak at the meeting you will appear in the video broadcast. Video broadcasts are archived and continue to be publicly available.

If you want to learn more about why and how the City collects your information, write to the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M5H 2N2 or call 416-397-4579.

 toronto.ca/council

This agenda and any supplementary materials submitted to the City Clerk can be found online at toronto.ca/council. Visit the website for access to all agendas, reports, decisions, and minutes of City Council and its Committees and Boards.

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Declarations of Interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act

Confirmation of Minutes – April 8, 2025

Speakers/Presentations – The speakers list will be posted online at 8:30 a.m. on May 6, 2025

Communications/Reports

The General Manager, Parks and Recreation recommends that:

1. City Council amend Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, Appendix E – Schedule 1, Parks and Recreation by amending fees to read as set out in the table below:

2. City Council approve the revised Outdoor Ovens in City Parks Policy, as detailed in

Attachment 1.

This report responds to City Council's direction (MM20.11) to review the 2011 Outdoor Ovens in City Parks Policy to identify opportunities, if any, and to reduce administrative or financial barriers to the community use of outdoor ovens, while also ensuring public health, safety, and liability considerations continue to be met.    

Toronto maintains the largest outdoor public oven network in Canada and facilitates public enjoyment of these amenities both through City-delivered programming and opportunities for individuals and groups to book the ovens for their own use. This review finds that Toronto's outdoor ovens are not used as much as they could be and recommends opportunities to reverse that trend with the recommended removal of booking fees and other administrative processes that may serve as barriers for communities to self-activate these amenities, while continuing to mitigate risk appropriately.

This report recommends that City Council amend Municipal Code Chapter 441 "Fees and Charges" by amending the existing permit fee for the outdoor oven resident / not-for-profit user category to $0. This change will result in an estimated annual revenue loss of less than $1,000. This revenue impact is minimal, and the implementation of these changes will be managed within the existing Parks and Recreation's Operating Budget.

No additional funding is required.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the information as presented in the Financial Impact Section.

The General Manager, Economic Development and Culture recommends that:  

1. City Council authorize the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to collect personal information, as part of the administration of grant programs.

2. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to establish the Creative Industries Grants Program as a grant program with two funding streams: Creative Industries Skills Development Grants and Creative Industries Sector Development Grants, in accordance with the City's Community Grants Policy.

3. City Council authorize the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to allocate, approve, and disburse one-time grants to eligible individuals or not-for-profit organizations, educational organizations and registered charities funded through the Creative Industries Grants Program, with funding allocation to be subject to the necessary budget processes and in accordance with the City's Community Grants Policy.

4. City Council authorize the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, to negotiate, enter into and execute funding agreements with eligible applicants funded through the Creative Industries Grants program, with funding recipients and grant amounts to be determined annually by the General Manager within the budget allocation for the program, and on such content, terms and conditions deemed necessary by the General Manager and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

The City of Toronto has a long history of investing in Toronto’s cultural vibrancy and economic prosperity through Economic Development and Culture (EDC) grant programs, directed grants and event sponsorships. These opportunities are aligned with City priorities and help fund programs, projects, operational needs, and events delivered by arts and culture non-profit organizations, the business community and creative industries, and collectively contribute to the City’s vibrant culture, liveability and a robust economy.

In alignment with City Council directions, this staff report provides information on Economic Development and Culture's annual funding allocation. This report also speaks to the continuation of the multi-year grant reform in the Economic Development and Culture (EDC) Division, which started in 2018 and aims to make all of its funding opportunities more transparent, equitable and aligned with the 2019 City of Toronto Community Grants Policy. As part of this reform and to provide more predictable and structured funding support for creative industries, this staff report recommends the establishment of the Creative Industries Grants Program. No new funding is being requested and the program will leverage funds currently provided as directed grants, already accounted for within the division’s existing budget allocation.

This staff report is one of the final steps in Economic Development and Culture’s grant reform, to be completed in 2026. Its completion will be important to advance the vision of sustainable and resilient culture sectors, business community and creative industries in alignment with the Council-approved strategies Sidewalks to Skylines: An Action Plan for Toronto’s Economy and Culture Connects: An Action Plan for Culture in Toronto.

There are no current year financial implications resulting from the adoption of the recommendations contained in this report. Funds for grants that would be provided under the proposed Creative Industries Grants program are already included as part of the 2025 Operating Budget for Economic Development and Culture:

Future financial impacts arising from the proposed grant program (within its current 2-stream structure), if any, will be accommodated by identifying alternative funding sources, offsetting reductions or reallocations within the Economic Development and Culture Division Operating Budget. Should the grant program be expanded or enhanced in future years, future financial impacts will be considered in future year budget processes, subject to the City's financial and resource capacity against other priorities.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the information as presented in the Financial Impact Section.

The General Manager, Economic Development and Culture recommends that:

1. City Council, in accordance with the City's Public Appointments Policy, appoint the following nominees to the Rogers Road Business Improvement Area Board of Management set out below at the pleasure of Council, and for a term expiring at the end of the term of Council or as soon thereafter as successors are appointed:

          Rogers Road:

          Martinho, Sonia

The purpose of this report is to make changes to the Rogers Road Business Improvement Area Board of Management, in accordance with the requirements of the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 19, Business Improvement Areas. Rogers Road Business Improvement Area falls within two Community Council boundaries.

There are no current or known future year financial implications resulting from the adoption of the recommendation contained in this report.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the information as presented in the Financial Impact section.

The Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards recommends that:

1. The Economic and Community Development Committee receive this report for information.

Since November 2024, there have been an increasing number of coyote sightings, issues, and incidents in the Liberty Village and Fort York communities of Toronto (“downtown communities”).

Coyotes have lived in the downtown area for many years. However, conflicts have increased recently due to several factors, including a high density of humans and domestic dogs, lack of per-capita green space compared to other City neighbourhoods, sparse foliage, increase in the number of construction and redevelopment projects (including Ontario Place), the presence of rail corridors (which generally enable coyotes to move about out of human sight), and the availability of food (with some intentionally left for wildlife). Discarded food can also attract rats, which in turn draws in coyotes as they feed on rodents.

The City is actively managing the situation in Toronto’s downtown communities. In response to City Council direction (2025.EC18.8), staff are using this opportunity to communicate best practices for coyote management and lessons learned from actions in downtown communities and have developed a Downtown Coyote Action Plan (Attachment 1 to this report) to guide future responses in the area. This staff report recommends that the Economic and Community Development Committee receive the Downtown Coyote Action Plan for information. This report also provides information on wildlife regulations and municipal authority, an assessment of options to manage coyote activity, reviews best practices in other jurisdictions, and provides information on tools and technology to support diversion.

The Downtown Coyote Action Plan will also be used to inform broader updates to the City of Toronto’s 2013 Coyote Response Strategy (“the Strategy”), which will be brought to the Economic and Community Development Committee for endorsement later in 2025. This will provide a City-wide update on the City’s coyote response approach, as requested by Council (2024.EC16.10).

When staff are responding to coyote reports, they follow an operational approach consistent with the 2013 Strategy. This entails conducting investigations, providing public education, carrying out habitat modification, applying aversion conditioning (i.e. utilizing behavioural techniques used to reinforce the low tolerance of wildlife for humans) on coyotes encountered, and continually assessing the efficacy of response options. Public participation in coexistence programs is crucial to meeting the common objective of maintaining safe boundaries between humans and wildlife. Staff have identified the need for collective effort in managing wildlife concerns, with plans to address this through intensive public education.

This report was prepared in consultation with Engineering and Construction Services and Legal Services.

There are no financial impacts arising from the recommendation in this report.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial implications as identified in the Financial Impact section.

City Council on March 26 and 27, 2025, referred Administrative Inquiry IA28.2 from Councillor Chris Moise, Ward 13, Toronto Centre, regarding Micro-Shelters and Answer IA28.2a from the General Manager, Toronto Shelter and Support Services to the Economic and Community Development Committee for consideration.