Decisions

The Economic and Community Development Committee 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 to the report (March 24, 2025) from the General Manager, Parks and Recreation, with the following amendments:

a. delete of section 5.5 and replace it with the following:

Non-profit organizations, charities and community groups interested in establishing long term use agreements for an outdoor oven on City-owned or operated parkland may approach the City of Toronto’s Parks and Recreation Division to pursue such an agreement, in consultation with the local Ward Councillor. Terms and conditions will be outlined in the Agreement, in a manner satisfactory to the General Manager, Parks and Recreation.

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Parks and Recreation to:

a. Establish an Outdoor Ovens Community of Practice, inclusive of oven champions and interested residents from across the city, to bring a community development and activation approach to Outdoor Ovens policy, operations and access;

b. Extend the option for non-profit organizations, charities and community groups that have been involved in the establishment and operation of a local park oven to explore long-term use agreements with the City of Toronto for park oven activation, including commitments on recurring days and times of use; bulk insurance options; and training and knowledge transfer requirements for additional oven use by City employees or outside organizations;

c. Collect data on oven usage, including through event permits, and make this information publicly available;

d. Explore opportunities to expand education and community awareness of park ovens to areas across the City, with a focus on areas that are currently underserved by park ovens; and

e. report back on the above in the first quarter of 2026.

The Director, Policy and Strategic Planning, Parks and Recreation and the Interim Director, Client and Business, Parks and Recreation gave a presentation on Increasing Community Use of Outdoor Public Ovens in Parks.

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.

The Economic and Community Development Committee 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.

The Economic and Community Development Committee 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.

The Economic and Community Development Committee: 

1. Requested the Executive Director, Customer Experience, in consultation with the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to consider:

a. developing a new service request sub-type for 311 reports related to feeding wildlife, specific to coyotes; and

b. expanding definition of the “Coyote Posing Threat To Public Safety” 311 service request description to include specific behaviours such as stalking, snarling or other observed aggressive behaviours.
 

2. Requested the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards to:

a. in consultation with relevant Divisions, review proactive measures that can be undertaken to manage food and wildlife feeding sources from waste and other sources;

b. in consultation with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the Ministry of Natural Resources, or other municipalities, consider the feasibility of incorporating a reproductive control approach for coyotes in Ward 10, as an outcome of the loss of habitat;
 

c. in consultation with the Chief Communications Officer, create reliable and responsive channels for public and stakeholder updates related to coyote incidents and response.
 

3. Requested the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, as part of the planned report on the Coyote Response Strategy, to:

a. explore what additional preventative measures can be implemented to deter coyotes downtown and across the city where these issues occur, including resources required for a dedicated wildlife staff team;
 

b. provide thresholds and estimated ranges of time for escalation protocols on the City of Toronto’s response to coyote incidents in downtown communities as part of the Human-Coyote Incident Classification and Response Framework; 
 

c. establish a more pet-friendly approach as part of efforts to minimize interactions with wildlife including engaging trainers and experts in pet care, pet safety and/or pet owner support;
 

d. make recommendations that support higher set fines specific to coyotes for feeding wildlife as per 349-10.1; 
 

e. make further recommendations that build on the previous request to the Province of Ontario, by identifying additional requests to the Province to support the City’s efforts in responding to coyotes; and

f. report back on the above items and implementation of the Downtown Coyote Action Plan as part of the upcoming report on the updated city-wide Coyote Response Strategy in the third quarter of 2025.

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.

The Economic and Community Development Committee:

1.  Deferred the item to the July 9, 2025, meeting to be considered along with the 2026 Shelter Infrastructure Plan from Toronto Shelter and Support Services.

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.