Toronto has approved its proposed capital budget for 2025, the largest in the city’s history, and much of the $59.6 billion will focus on housing and infrastructure to overcome a maintenance and infrastructure repair backlog that has weighed on the city for some time.
The budget calls for a $9.8 billion increase over the year prior and will set aside nearly the same amount for home building, including foregone revenue from affordable rental housing incentives and prioritizing state-of-good-repair (SOGR) upgrades through 2034, with anticipated spending valued at $32.4 billion, which is a 31 percent increase over the past two years.
The SOGR backlog was $9.4 billion last year and is expected to double through 2034. Areas of focus will include the TTC’s fleet of vehicles (buses, streetcars, and subways), park restoration, community infrastructure, and community housing, fixing what the city already has after many years of underinvestment.
Other line items in the budget included $380 million for bridge and road rehabilitation; $92 million for the Vision Zero pedestrian safety plan; $4.9 billion in transit and mobility, including $1.3 billion for new subway cars; $1.2 billion for eBuses and $500 million to overhaul vehicles; $2 billion in community services; $2.9 billion in investments including flood protection and net zero initiatives; a 1.5 percent increase in the city building fund levy; and greenhouse gas reduction efforts.
