Major items included snow clearing, Ontario Line truck safety, blue bin collection, removal of provincial tenant protections, zoning changes to allow for more residential retail and more.
This week was November City Council, the penultimate Council meeting of 2025.
We considered several major items relating to snow clearing, Ontario Line truck safety, blue bin collection, the province's removal of important tenant protections, zoning changes to allow for more residential retail like convenience stores and more.
This week, City Council voted in favour of my motion calling on Metrolinx to keep our streets safe by improving truck safety on the haul routes for the Ontario Line.
Thank you to everyone who signed my petition this week urging Metrolinx to improve truck safety on the haul routes for the Ontario Line.
The motion came after over 200 people joined my meeting co-hosted with MPP Peter Tabuns and Public School Trustee Sara Ehrhardt in October about truck safety.
Residents provided valuable feedback on next steps for Metrolinx during the next phases of construction.
The measures in my motion approved this week include:
Here is my letter to Executive Committee and the motion approved at Council this week.
City Council also voted this week in favour of Mayor Chow’s motion opposing the province's Bill 60, which will significantly cut tenants' rights and make it easier for landlords to evict tenants.
In addition to expressing the city's opposition to Bill 60, the Mayor's motion calls for a number of actions around housing funding, rent control, Charter protections for tenants and more.
Read more here.
Council approved increasing permissions for retail and services in neighbourhoods city-wide, so that the goods and services that residents need can be reached closer to home.
The increased permission for retail and services are being advanced primarily on two types of street designations – ‘Major Streets’ and ‘Community Streets’.
It will be great to have more small, family-run businesses like Woodfield Grocery serving residential areas.
The staff report on this item proposed increased permissions on Major Streets, to allow a range of mainly ground floor options, including small stores, cafés, medical offices, after-school programs, cleaners, barbers and professional offices.
Businesses that would be more impactful on nearby residents such as mechanics, animal shelters, payday loan shops, warehouses and nightclubs will not be permitted.
City Council voted to adopt these staff recommendations with amendments that account for ward-specific considerations, resulting in the increased permissions being implemented on Major Streets in all 25 wards across Toronto.
The staff report also proposed permitting small-scale retail stores in neighbourhood interiors at properties adjacent to parks, schools, and existing commercial sites, as well as on corner lots on Community Streets.
This includes option for stores to include ancillary eating or takeout eating service, allowing for the establishment of small, low impact neighbourhood cafés which serve beverages and food items prepared off-site.
Community Streets are generally those that are identified within the city’s road classification system as Collectors or Minor Arterials and are not major streets.
These streets are more likely to have sidewalks on both sides of the street, are more likely to have bicycle infrastructure and public transit service, and are typically through-streets that connect to nearby major streets, making them the primary pedestrian corridors with easy access to/from other neighbourhood streets.
City Council approved a number of measures to improve the city's snow clearing services.
Measures approved include:
Read the online agenda item to learn more.
Starting January 1st, 2026, the province will require recyclable material producers, not the city, to fully manage recyclable materials.
This includes Toronto's flagship residential blue bin collection service, which the Ford government is requiring to be turned over to providers funded by private companies.
In Toronto, residential collection will be done by Circular Materials, a producer-funded provider, beginning in January.
At City Council this week, we received an update on preparations for the transition.
Council adopted two of my motions to increase residential collection in January in the early stages of the transition and to improve communications to residences ahead of the change, which you can read more about here.
Learn more about these and other City Council items we considered this week.
We considered issues such as speed cameras, expanding the Toronto Community Crisis Service to the TTC and more, as well as several of my motions.
My latest newsletter looks back at the major accomplishments and moments in Toronto-Danforth and at City Hall over the last year.
We considered items relating to homeless shelters, the FIFA World Cup, Toronto's Winter Maintenance Program, new protections for renters, Metrolinx construction issues, measures to address rat infestations and more.
