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 – July 9, 2025

Speakers/Presentations – The speakers list will be posted online at 8:30 a.m. on September 16, 2025

Communications/Reports

The Fire Chief and General Manager, Toronto Fire Services recommends that:

1. City Council receive this report for information.

The Toronto Fire Services (TFS) 2024 Annual Report provides an overview of the fire protection services provided to Toronto's residents and visitors, along with a clear and transparent reporting of outcomes and service level performance. Toronto Fire Services provides Toronto residents, visitors, and businesses with world-class fire protection services, through public education, fire prevention and all-hazards emergency response services.

Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 79, Fire Services, requires the Fire Chief to prepare and present an annual report to Council. This report fulfills that requirement and provides Council with an update on fire protection service levels, service level performance, and an overview of the numerous achievements and accomplishments in 2024.

There are no financial implications resulting from the recommendation in this report.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The Interim General Manager, Parks and Recreation recommends that:  

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

Parks and Recreation is committed to improving the quality of life for Toronto residents through the provision of high-quality recreational spaces, programs and services that are welcoming, affordable, accessible and equitable for all ages and stages at:

-128 community recreation centres

- 20 enhanced youth spaces

- 41 indoor arenas

- 54 outdoor artificial ice rinks

- 64 indoor pools

- 59 outdoor pools

- 85 wading pools

- 10 supervised swimming beaches

Parks and Recreation offers high quality recreational programs and services to meet the needs of the diverse communities across the city and supports youth development and employment through certification opportunities and employment readiness programs. These include Building Skills Through Recreation and Enhanced Youth Spaces, which lead to thousands of newly employed youth into Parks and Recreation job opportunities across the city every year. 

This report outlines how Parks and Recreation Division ensures equitable access to recreational, leisure and leadership opportunities, and specifically responds to recommendation 8 under EX23.5, adopted by City Council on May 20 and 21, 2025, which requested staff to report back on:

- which swim and other programs are not covered by the existing Welcome Policy and options to make them available under the Welcome Policy; and

- whether the lack of access to programs under the Welcome Policy may have had an impact on youth not pursuing a path to lifeguarding and other jobs with City of Toronto and, if so, what measures would need to be taken to encourage youth to pursue swimming accreditation levels.

The Welcome Policy subsidy can be applied to all registered Parks and Recreation programs including but not limited to learn to swim, sports, and certification and leadership courses. Residents who do not qualify for Welcome Policy and/or continue to face financial barriers can access programs and services through other measures, as described in this report.

The Welcome Policy represents one key component under a multi-pronged approach used by Parks and Recreation to reduce financial barriers and increase access to recreation for Toronto residents. Other components include:

- Place-based subsidy at 39 Free Centres across the City of Toronto.

- Low-cost options for primary and introductory recreation programs.

- Universally subsidized free drop-in and leisure programs.

Parks and Recreation delivers a variety of programs in a growing network of recreation facilities that offer drop-in and instructional programs, swimming, camps and after-school care, seniors' activities, youth programs and spaces that foster leadership, life skills, and provide youth employment readiness and hiring opportunities. Over 1.2 million hours of recreation programs are being offered in 2025 including registered and drop-in programming opportunities. 

There are no financial implications associated with this report.

The 2025 Operating Budget for the Community Recreation service is $289.9 million gross and $193.2 million net. This budget includes $96.7 million in revenues, related to paid centres for registrations, memberships and tickets sales and location permits.

Parks and Recreation currently operates 39 Free Centres with a 2025 net budget of $38.9 million and approximately $10.0 million focussed on dedicated youth outreach, programming, development and employment readiness.

The City of Toronto's Welcome Policy is a fee subsidy program that helps individuals and families with low income who live in Toronto to access City-operated recreation programs. The 2025 Welcome Policy budget is $6.8 million, an increase of $2.1 million from 2024 to reflect growing program utilization, with annual review and adjustments, as part of the Budget process, to address changes in demand.

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

This report responds to direction from the Economic and Community Development Committee to develop a plan to ensure fully functional lighting along the Luminous Veil, the public artwork integrated in the upper deck of the Prince Edward Viaduct. This landmark installation, now over a decade old, is exhibiting system failures due to environmental damage, age, and gaps in maintenance and monitoring systems.

This report outlines an immediate repair plan to restore functionality and maintenance activities to the Luminous Veil by June 2026. City staff will work with Dereck Revington, the artist who designed the Luminous Veil, and qualified professional partners to execute repairs including the replacement of key infrastructure that will eliminate lighting outages. A maintenance schedule, including regular inspections, remote monitoring, and emergency response, will be developed to ensure that the lighting remains operational and that any issues can be promptly addressed. Following immediate repairs, City staff will consider recommendations from technical experts to implement a full asset renewal to ensure long-term sustainability, improve reliability and monitoring, and restore artistic intent.

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The cost to implement the immediate repairs to the Luminous Veil is estimated at $300,000 - $450,000, have been fully provided for in the City's 2025-2034 Economic Development and Culture's (EDC) Division's Capital Budget and Plan to complete this project. As such, there will be no impact on the current year's budget.

This report also identifies a need for a longer-term system renewal for the Luminous Veil. This larger-scale revitalization includes a full replacement of the lighting systems. The cost of the system renewal is estimated at $1.9 - $2.3 million. Economic Development and Culture will consider options to phase this work as part of its future Capital Budget and Plan, subject to Council approval.

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 state its intention to designate the area described by Attachment 1, as the expanded Riverside District Business Improvement Area under Chapter 19 of the City of Toronto Municipal Code.

2. City Council direct the City Clerk to send out a notice of City Council's intention to pass a by-law designating the area described by Attachment Number 1 as the expanded Riverside District Business Improvement Area, in accordance with Chapter 19 of the City of Toronto Municipal Code.

3. City Council direct the Chief Technology Officer to prepare designation by-law maps of the area as described by Attachment 1, and submit them to the City Solicitor.

This report recommends that the City Clerk conduct a poll to determine if there is sufficient support to expand the boundaries of the Riverside District Improvement Area (BIA) as shown on Attachment 1.

Upon completion of the poll, the General Manager of Economic Development and Culture will report on the results to City Council through the Economic and Community Development Committee.  Subject to a positive poll result, staff shall prepare the necessary by-laws and bills to give effect thereto.

Economic Development and Culture's 10-Year Capital Budget and Plan may be impacted in future years should streetscape or other capital improvements be undertaken by the expanded the Riverside District Improvement Area. Capital improvements are cost-shared between the Riverside District Improvement Area and Economic Development and Culture.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The General Manager, Economic Development and Culture recommends that:

1. City Council designate the area described by Attachment 1 as the amended Dupont by the Castle Business Improvement Area under the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 19, Business Improvement Areas.

2. City Council direct the Chief Technology Officer to prepare designation By-law maps of the area outlined in Attachment 1, and submit them to the City Solicitor.

3. City Council amend the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 19, Business Improvement Areas, as necessary to reflect the expanded boundaries of the Dupont by the Castle Business Improvement Area.

The purpose of this report is to recommend a minor expansion of the Dupont by the Castle Business Improvement Area (BIA) boundaries to include the property at 1100 Bathurst Street, a commercial retail space with offices, adjacent to the boundaries of the Business Improvement Area.

Economic Development and Culture's 10-Year Capital Budget and Plan may be impacted in future years should streetscape or other capital improvements be undertaken by the expanded Dupont by the Castle Business Improvement Area. Capital improvements are cost-shared between the Business Improvement Area and Economic Development and Culture.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

The General Manager, Toronto Shelter and Support Services recommends that:  

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

Toronto continues to experience a housing and homelessness crisis driven by several complex and intersecting factors, including insufficient affordable and supportive housing supply, unmet health care needs, increased costs of living, and inadequate wage and income supports.

Key indicators such as the rise in the number of people sleeping outdoors and in public spaces, longer shelter stays, and challenges with mental health and substance use, underscore the urgent need for a coordinated, multi-sectoral, and intergovernmental approach across systems. 

At the municipal level, City divisions supporting people experiencing homelessness have established coordinating tables to enhance service integration and program delivery. It is critical that the City continues to deepen these efforts through an All-of-City response that ensures homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.

This report provides an update on efforts towards this goal, including:

- A resource inventory of City-funded homelessness services which provides a foundational understanding of the local service delivery system (Attachment 1);

- An overview of current interdivisional initiatives that provide coordinated responses to homelessness; and

- An overview of next steps towards continuing an All-of City response to homelessness.  

This report reflects an important first step in a broader, multi-phased effort to advance an All-of-City response to homelessness. Building on this foundation, further updates on this response will be provided as the City of Toronto continues to advance its work on a Five-Year Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness.

There are no immediate financial implications resulting from the adoption of the recommendation in this report.

Any financial implications arising from initiatives noted in this report will be identified and submitted for consideration through a future staff report or through future budget processes. 

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

Councillor Stephen Holyday, seconded by Councillor Vincent Crisanti, recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Manager to pause the real estate transaction for the new shelter in Ward 2 pending the outcome of community consultation.

2. City Council authorize the immediate public release of the location and details of the new shelter in Ward 2.

3. City Council direct the City Manager to report back to City Council by the end of 2025 on a new shelter delegation of authority and community consultation model which ensures that members of the public and members of Council have meaningful opportunity to participate in consultation and decision making, and that explicit authority regarding shelter locations rests with City Council.

City Council on June 25 and 26, 2025, referred Motion MM31.10 to the Economic and Community Development Committee for consideration.

On Thursday May 29th 2025, staff of Toronto Shelter and Support Services, and Corporate Real Estate Management provided me a verbal statement of their intention to open a new homeless shelter in Ward 2, Etobicoke Centre. This is the second shelter to be located in the ward.

On Friday May 30th, 2025, staff confirmed their intentions along with some basic information in writing, including a real estate transaction closing date in the future. They advised me that the details, including the location, were confidential and commercially sensitive. On the same day I sent a letter to the public service advising of my objections to the shelter, and insisted that the shelter real estate transaction be paused so that the community may be meaningfully consulted prior to the City government committing to the decision.

On June 11th, 2025, I received a follow-up contact from staff indicating that after my letter to them, they had decided to accelerate the real estate transaction closing date, and that they had taken an intentional specific step on June 5th to commit to the real estate transaction. This information came as a surprise, and was in complete defiance of my response letter. One of the effects of accelerating the date results in a limit to the ability and utility of any public input on the new shelter because of the status of the real estate transaction.

In 2017, City Council delegated certain authority to staff in support of efficient administration of the City’s shelter system. Implicit in this decision, as later more broadly understood, is the ability for staff to open a shelter without agreement from members of Council or explicit direction. However, nothing in the delegation precludes advance community consultation, if so desired. Much has changed since that delegation, both in the world and with the City administration. There is a new shelter infrastructure plan and approach, findings by the Auditor General, competing demands, and a deeper expectation by the public to be involved in decisions which affect them.

As details of the new shelter are revealed to the public by the servants who master them, I have every expectation that trust in the municipal government by the public will be eroded further. The purpose of this motion is to try and right this course.

New shelters which omit public consultation in the early stages and commence under heavy opposition in the community start out with a disadvantage. They will face a long road of acceptance within the community, and will likely face more challenges as they operate. The City would be wise to find a better way from the beginning.

The Toronto Public Service has disclosed plans to me that conflict with the best interests of the constituents of Ward 2, they have decided not to seek input from the affected community before moving ahead, and ignored my advice. They have also censured my ability to provide timely information necessary to advance the interests of constituents, and to promote transparency and accountability in decision making. Council has the authority to fix this immediately.

The Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee recommends that the Economic and Community Development Committee:

1. Request the General Manager, Toronto Shelter and Support Services and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to promote French language housing and shelter services and make information about these services more readily available to the public through City communications channels, including the City of Toronto website, social media, and information for Francophone community organizations.

At its meeting on July 11, 2025, the Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee considered Item FA5.3 and made recommendations to the Economic and Community Development Committee.

The Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee recommends that:

1. The Economic and Community Development Committee request the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to publish Toronto History Museum brochures online in French.

At its meeting on July 11, 2025, the Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee considered Item FA5.2 and made a recommendation to the Economic and Community Development Committee.

Councillor Paula Fletcher recommends that:

1. City Council request the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services and the Deputy City Manager, Community and Emergency Services to report to the October 28th, 2025, meeting of Economic and Community Development Committee on:

a. a more business- friendly approach and protocols for small business licenses and permits with a focus on compliance rather than enforcement and issuing a summons for these simple matters; and

b. an outline for a cross divisional training plan by Municipal Licensing and Standards and Economic Development and Culture for small businesses; and

c. options to increase the role of Economic Development in facilitating small business administrative licensing and compliance, including the feasibility of shifting or sharing the responsibility between Municipal Licensing and Standards and Economic Development and Culture, in line with the one-stop-shop business licensing approach contemplated in the Economic Action Plan.

Small business is the backbone of our main streets and neighbourhoods and an important part of our local economy. Mayor Chow’s Love Local Campaign is one way the city is working to help small businesses be successful in these challenging and uncertain economic times.

It’s not easy running a small business in today’s economy. The vast majority of small businesses operate in compliance with the city’s bylaws and without complaints, except for them meeting Municipal Licensing and Standards administrative paperwork requirements for licencing, permits, encroachments and other bylaw matters. I am writing to share concerns raised by several local business owners regarding the recent enforcement approach taken by Municipal Licensing and Standards in relation to the new small business licensing categories as well as existing permits such as marketing display permits and encroachment agreements.

An enforcement style that may risk being perceived as punitive may unintentionally discourage the very entrepreneurs who contribute so much to our local economy. Toronto has prided itself on being a business-friendly city, and our regulatory practices should reflect our commitment.

A more coordinated approach is needed that will help protect small business and foster a thriving local economy.