2026 Budget: Delivering an Affordable, Caring & Safe City

The 2026 City Budget was approved at a special meeting of City Council on Tuesday.

The budget, Mayor Chow's third since her election in 2023, prioritizes investments to make Toronto more affordable, caring and safe.

This year's budget includes an $18.9 billion operating budget and a historic $63.1 billion 10-year capital budget and plan (2026–2035), the largest 10-year capital plan in the city’s history.

Over 25,000 residents participated in the October 2025 consultations, telephone town halls and other events, including my Budget Town Hall, ensuring the budget reflected their needs and priorities.

A More Affordable City

Mayor Chow's budget prioritizes affordability, saving working families with two children $1,200 on groceries and transportation costs alone through measures like frozen TTC fares and free meals for students.

Affordability measures in this year's budget include:

• Saving families $900 on groceries by providing free healthy meals to kids in every school in Toronto. The 2026 budget adds 62,000 more kids in 155 more schools - for a total of 330,000 kids. Even further, we’re providing meals to 115,000 kids in the 185 city-run camps when school’s out.
• Not raising TTC fares while increasing service for the third year in a row, saving a working couple $300 annually. Plus fare capping at 47 rides per month before transit is free, then down to 40 rides next year. Ride more, pay less.
• Cutting taxes for small businesses: Supporting local jobs by increasing the tax discount through the Small Business Property Tax Subclass to 20%. An additional 5% tax cut this year.
• Building affordable homes: Continuing our progress by breaking ground on thousands of new rental homes in 2026 and continuing to bring the cost of rent down.
• Expanding property tax relief: Helping more people access the city’s Property Tax Deferral and Cancellation Program by again raising the income threshold. A senior with a home at average value will save $818 this year on combined property taxes, garbage and water bills. 

A More Caring City

The Mayor's budget invests in services and programs to support all Torontonians.

It funds seven-day-a-week library access and increases funding for tenant supports, grants for home upgrades and flood protection and programs to help seniors stay in their homes and age in dignity.

Measures include:

• Every library open 7 days per week: More free spaces and programs for families.
• More support for homeowners: Doubling subsidies for preventing basement flooding, free plumbing assessments and rain barrels. Low-cost loans and grants to help replace furnaces with heat pumps as well as free in-home energy consultations.
• More support for renters: More RentSafeTO inspectors to keep apartments safe and more enforcement for the renovictions bylaw, increased funding to the Rent Bank to help working people pay rent if they’re short and prevent evictions, doubling the free air conditioner program to help vulnerable seniors during heat waves, and more.
• Helping seniors age at home: Eliminating the 3-year waitlist for Homemakers and Nurses Services, which help people with day-to-day tasks at home. Boosting funding to the Voluntary Trusteeship Program, which helps seniors manage their finances, and the Extreme Cleaning Program. 

A Safer City

The Mayor's budget will continue the progress we’ve made in making Toronto safer.

Shootings, youth violence and 911 wait times have all significantly decreased.

The budget builds on this success by investing in more firefighters, paramedics, police and mental health workers while increasing funding for crime prevention programs.

Measures include:

• Paramedic multi-year hiring plan, which includes over 360 more paramedics and staff.
• 156 new firefighters hired as the city completes implementation of the latest multi-year hiring plan.
• Mental health crisis workers city-wide to respond to mental health emergencies, and embedded on the “U” portion of the Line 1 subway as part of a broader, multi-agency approach to enhancing TTC safety.
• More TTC safety through police and mental health crisis workers, special constables, homelessness outreach workers and more TTC staff on platforms.
• Supporting youth through more employment, training, mentorship and recreation programs to give young people a better path.
• Funding for the Police multi-year hiring plan, which includes 720 officers and new Neighbourhood Community Officers in communities.

Funding our City

The Mayor's budget proposes a fairer plan to fund our city by asking empty home speculators and luxury property buyers - the top 2 percent of all buyers - to chip in more to make life more affordable.

It also prioritizes affordability by keeping the property tax increase to 2.2 percent, below the rate of inflation.

In addition to improving the city’s financial footing over two years under Mayor Chow's leadership, her budget includes $788 million in new savings and efficiencies.

Read Mayor Chow's 2026 budget here.

I was pleased to support Mayor Chow's budget and her progressive vision of a more affordable, caring and safe Toronto.

Learn more about Mayor Chow's 2026 budget.

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