February 10, 2026
Dear Scarborough-Guildwood Residents,
Here is a summary of the municipal budget presented to Toronto City Council by Mayor Chow today:
City of Toronto’s 2026 Budget now final — focuses on affordability, service stability and financial sustainability
Today, Toronto City Council considered the 2026 rate- and tax-supported operating and capital budgets proposed by Mayor Olivia Chow. The 2026 Budget prioritizes affordability for residents, strengthens community safety, keeps the city moving, and maintains reliable frontline services while continuing the City’s multi-year approach to long-term financial sustainability. The budget includes a combined residential property tax increase and City Building Fund levy increase of 2.2 per cent.
Mayor Chow has issued a Mayoral Decision indicating she will not exercise her veto and has shortened the 10-day period for the Mayor to veto any amendments. As a result, the 2026 Budget is now deemed adopted. A Mayoral Decision outlining this has been issued and is available on the City’s Mayoral Decision webpage: www.toronto.ca/city-government/council/council-committee-meetings/mayoral-decisions.
The 2026 Budget is comprised of an $18.9 billion operating budget ($16.61 billion tax supported; $2.25 billion rate supported) and an historic $63.1 billion 10-year capital budget and plan (2026–2035), the largest 10-year capital plan in the City’s history.
The operating budget includes $788 million in efficiencies, reductions and offsets to address financial pressures.
To help inform the 2026 Budget, input was received from more than 25,000 residents through consultations held in October, as well as telephone town halls, speakers to Budget Committee and written submissions in January.
Key investments in the 2026 Budget
Making life more affordable:
– Freezes TTC fares for a third consecutive year and expands service
– Introduces monthly fare capping after 47 paid trips, starting in September, providing 2.1 million free rides
– Provides more weekday hours at Toronto Public Library branches, opening all 100 library branches seven days a week, year-round, starting this summer
– Continues the Rent Bank, helping 2,800 households stay housed
– Expands the Student Nutrition Program, providing nutritious food to approximately 330,000 students per day in 841 schools
– Supports food programming at City-run camps, providing nutritious snacks to approximately 115,000 children per day at 185 camp locations city-wide
– Supports new rental housing supply through a continued 15 per cent property tax discount for new multi-residential properties
– Supports 27,000 new rental homes this year, including 9,700 rent-controlled and affordable units
– Maintains a new multi-residential property tax subclass for newly built purpose-built rental housing, providing a 15 per cent property tax reduction
Supporting community safety:
– Adds 258 new emergency positions (police and paramedics)
– Expands crisis support on the TTC through Toronto Community Crisis Services
– Hires 16,000 young people for jobs in recreation, special events and museums, helping youth build skills and gain job experience
Keeping Toronto moving:
– Hires 27 additional Traffic Agents to improve traffic management and reduce travel times
– Continues investment in smart street signal technology to keep people moving
Providing excellent community services:
– Supports low-income vulnerable residents with 1,000 air conditioning units
– Enhances the basement flooding protection subsidy program and introduces a new furnace replacement program to help homeowners
– Strengthens renter protections through RentSafeTO, including colour-coded ratings for 3,600 buildings
– Increases the property tax reduction for small businesses by five per cent, for a total reduction of 20 per cent, benefiting more than 28,000 small businesses and supporting local jobs and vibrant communities
Building on progress made over the past two budgets, the 2026 Budget reflects ongoing financial stability measures, including $1.23 billion in operating support through the Ontario-Toronto New Deal and the City’s recent credit rating upgrade to AA+.
Despite these actions, the City continues to face significant financial challenges including revenue softening in key areas, emergency services and transit pressures, inflationary increases and limited municipal revenue tools.
Property taxes and relief programs
The tax-supported operating budget is supported by a 0.7 per cent operating levy increase for residential and industrial properties and a 0.35 per cent increase for multi-residential and commercial properties.
A dedicated 1.5 per cent levy increase for the City Building Fund continues to support transit and housing investments.
In total, the combined residential property tax increase and City Building Fund levy represent an increase of 2.2 per cent, or $91.53 per year ($7.63 per month), based on the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s average current value assessment of a Toronto home ($692,140).
Property tax relief programs remain available for eligible low-income seniors and people with disabilities, supporting an anticipated 11,500 households this year. More information is available on the City’s Tax and Utility Relief webpage: www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/property-tax/property-tax-water-solid-waste-relief-and-rebate-programs/property-tax-and-utility-relief-program.
Capital Renewal
The 2026–2035 capital budget and plan totals $63.1 billion ($42.6 billion tax supported and $20.5 billion rate supported). The 10-year plan focuses on fixing and maintaining aging infrastructure, with 53 per cent dedicated to state-of-good-repair projects. Major investments continue in transit and mobility, housing and community improvements, and stormwater management and basement-flood mitigation.
Toronto Water and Solid Waste rates
To support critical services such as waste management and water treatment, the 2026 Budget maintains the interim rates approved by City Council in December, including:
– A 3.75 per cent increase to Toronto Water and Solid Waste Management Services rates and fees
– A 1.25 per cent increase for participants in the Industrial Water Rate Program
More information is available in the City’s news release: www.toronto.ca/news/city-of-toronto-approves-2026-interim-rates-and-fees-for-toronto-water-and-solid-waste-management-services.
Additional information
More information about the 2026 Budget, including Budget Notes, Briefing Notes and presentations, is available on the City’s 2026 Budget webpage: www.toronto.ca/budget.
Additional details about the process are outlined in the 2026 Budget backgrounder: www.toronto.ca/news/city-of-toronto-2026-budget-process.