Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you Read by hand. We read Toronto's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.
A clear, checkable guide to Toronto's budget, taxes and council decisions. A city of about 3,272,000 people in Central Ontario. Every figure links back to the public record.
46%of freedom-of-information requests finished within the legal time limit in 2025 (the City’s own projection), against a target of 70%
Anyone can ask the City for its records under Ontario’s freedom-of-information law (FOI). The City Clerk’s Office counts how many requests it finishes within the time the law allows. That share was 48% in 2022, 52% in 2023 and 56% in 2024. For 2025 the City projects 46%, well below its own target of 70%. The City says it had “a significantly higher volume and increased complexity” of requests in 2025. In 2024 it handled about 3,000 requests. We did not find the final 2025 figure, or a count of how many requests were received or still open.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 5 sources
$46,521,004of purchases without bidding in 2025 were labelled “Work Already Completed”, up from $2,050,518 in 2024
Toronto usually buys through open bidding. When it does not, it must give a reason. In 2025 purchases without bidding came to $287,009,283 across 498 purchases, which is 8.8% of everything the City bought (about $3.3 billion). One reason, “Work Already Completed”, was used 52 times for $46,521,004. In 2024 it was used 38 times for $2,050,518, and in 2023, 46 times for $3,130,541. The City’s yearly report shows the change but does not say what caused it. The label is also not one of the reasons listed in the City’s procurement by-law.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 6 sources
$323Mof the 2026 gap was closed with "temporary bridging" that the City says returns as a 2027 pressure
Each year the City starts its budget with a gap: the services it must pay for cost more than the money it expects. For 2026 that gap was $1.34B, after $268M of new problems were added to an original $1.072B (a provincial change to speed cameras, fewer transit riders, refugee shelter costs and a slower paramedic hiring plan). The City closed it with $788M of "reductions and offsets" (savings and updated revenue estimates), $193M of financing changes, $323M of "temporary bridging" and a $35M property tax increase. The City itself says the temporary bridging "create[s] an equivalent pressure in the 2027 outlook". Its own outlook shows an opening gap of $1,120 million for 2027 and $912 million for 2028, and counts on help from the Province and Ottawa beyond the 2026 New Deal. Property taxes themselves rose by a combined 2.2% for 2026 (0.7% for day-to-day costs and 1.5% for the City Building Fund, a levy, which is an extra charge on the tax bill, for transit and housing).
Found by reading the city's own documents · 10 sources
$24.7Bprojected repair backlog by 2035, up from $10.6B at the start of 2026
Roads, bridges, subway tracks, housing buildings and water pipes wear out. "State of good repair" (SOGR) means fixing or replacing them on time. The repairs that are due but not yet funded are called the backlog. The City’s 2026 budget puts the backlog at 10,567 ($ millions) at the start of 2026 and forecasts 24,693 by 2035, even though $33.3B (53%) of its 10-year capital plan goes to repairs. The biggest growth is in roads and bridges (+5,936), the TTC (+6,147) and Toronto Community Housing (+3,002). Water pipes are the one area forecast to shrink. The forecast for 2033 got worse this year: $21.1B, compared with $16.8B in last year’s plan.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 6 sources
14.9%of the property tax levy forecast to go to debt payments in 2035, against the City’s 15% limit
In August 2023 the City’s Long-Term Financial Plan said it faced a combined operating and capital gap of $46.5B over ten years. Since then it has added new revenue tools (a graduated land transfer tax, a non-resident speculation tax, a vacant home tax rate), signed an Ontario "New Deal", and its credit rating rose to AA+. Its own rule says debt payments paid from property taxes must not pass 15% of the property tax levy. The 2026 budget forecasts 12.4% in 2026, rising to 14.9% in 2035, a hair under the limit. A reserve is money set aside for a purpose. The City’s own slide compares what the City plans to spend from reserves and reserve funds over ten years (44,877, $ millions) with what they hold now (12,181) and says "Commitments exceed current balances by $32.7 billion (~3.7x)".
Found by reading the city's own documents · 7 sources
$380Mapproved budget to host six matches, against a first estimate of $30 to $45 million in 2018
In January 2018 City staff told Council that hosting three to five World Cup matches might cost $30 to $45 million. By April 2022 the estimate was $290 million for five games, and in February 2024 it was about $380 million for six. Council has approved $380 million. Ottawa has signed for $104.34 million. Ontario has promised up to $97 million, which in the City’s 2026 budget notes was still "under negotiation". The City pays the rest, $178.66 million, from reserves, a temporary hotel tax and other income. In May 2025 Council voted to hold spending to $340 million until the City found savings or more outside money. Toronto’s matches were scheduled from June 12 to July 2, 2026. We did not find a report on the final cost.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 6 sources
$97.078Mfederal refugee-shelter money expected in 2026, down from $300 million in 2025
Toronto runs a large shelter system that has also housed refugee claimants. In 2025 the budget counted on $300 million from Ottawa to shelter refugee claimants and $200 million a year from Ontario for shelters under the New Deal. For 2026 Ottawa’s expected payment is $97.078 million, and both commitments are described as ending in 2026. The City has cut its refugee shelter spending as demand fell (about 6,600 refugees in shelters each night in August 2024, just over 3,500 a year later). The shelter division’s gross 2026 budget is $786.068 million, $125.964 million lower than the 2025 budget, but its net cost to property taxpayers rises 6.9%, or $15.266 million.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 6 sources
over $500,000billed on one real estate project that did not match the subcontractors’ invoices, still under investigation
A change order is a written change to a building contract that usually adds cost. Two Auditor General audits in 2025 and 2026 found weak checks on them. In the City’s real estate division, the Auditor General checked 105 change orders on eight projects and found over $500,000 of billing that did not match subcontractor invoices on one project. In Toronto Water, mark-ups on one project went over the contract limit, leading to $122,781 of overpayment. Management agreed with every recommendation in both reports.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 8 sources
6 of 7reports about named members of Council from 2023 to 2026 found a breach of the Code of Conduct
The Integrity Commissioner investigates complaints that the Mayor or a Councillor broke the Code of Conduct and reports to Council, which then decides whether to accept the findings and what penalty to give. From 2023 to 2026 the outcomes ranged widely: a 10-day pay suspension for Councillor Josh Matlow, reprimands for Councillors Frances Nunziata and Brad Bradford, no penalty for Councillor Anthony Perruzza, and in March 2026 a vote to “receive” a report that found Councillor Chris Moise broke the Code. Council did not formally adopt the finding. The Commissioner’s cover report says Council cannot change his findings, only adopt a report or receive it.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 17 sources
14recommendations from Ombudsman Toronto on December 12, 2024, adopted by Council with minor changes
On November 7, 2022, shelter staff stopped letting refugee claimants into the regular shelter system. The City told the public almost six months later. Ombudsman Toronto found the City “acted unfairly”, could not find who made the decision, and said it “amounted to systemic discrimination”. Council reversed the change in July 2023 and adopted the Ombudsman’s 14 recommendations, with small changes, in March 2025.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 6 sources
$30 millionthe new limit on contracts the Chief Procurement Officer can award after open bidding, without going to council
Until October 1, 2025, a staff committee called the Bid Award Panel approved awards from open bidding between $500,000 and $20 million, and its reports were posted on council’s meeting site. The City reviewed it and found it “does not provide additional oversight” and added 10 to 20 days. The panel is gone. The Chief Procurement Officer, a staff position, can now approve awards up to $30 million on their own. Awards are posted on the Toronto Bids Portal instead. The City itself says the portal does not show some things the panel’s reports did, such as the bids received and each bid price, and it promised to look at its datasets.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 3 sources
+24%increase in a councillor’s base salary in 2025, from $137,537.40 to $170,588.60
On March 26 and 27, 2025, City Council adopted a staff report that raised a councillor’s base salary from $137,537.40 to $170,588.60, back to January 1, 2025. The City’s open-data voting record shows a motion on the item carried 15 to 8 on March 27. The report said Toronto councillors’ pay sat at the 62nd percentile of nine comparison cities, meaning it was above 62% of them, and aimed for the 75th. It cost $956,816.30 in 2025. The Mayor’s salary was not part of the review. Councillors set their own pay, which the law allows, so an outside review and a published vote matter.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 5 sources
73.8%of the 2024 capital budget was spent ($4.740 billion of $6.422 billion)
Capital spending means building and repairing things that last: roads, subway cars, pipes, buildings. In 2024 the City spent $4.740 billion of its $6.422 billion capital budget, a spending rate of 73.8%, up from 71.4% in 2023. City divisions spent 63.6% and agencies such as the TTC spent 93.0%. For 2025 the City’s own nine-month report projected 84.7%. We did not find the final 2025 year-end capital report, so the real 2025 rate is not known to us.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 4 sources
252 of 697hotline complaints received in 2025 had no decision yet on what to do with them
Anyone can report suspected fraud or waste of City money to the Auditor General’s hotline. In 2025 it received 697 complaints. The Auditor General says 252 of them (36%) had not yet been given a next step when the report was written in January 2026. Over five years the hotline has traced $6.3 million of actual losses, and $703,000 has been recovered.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 5 sources
$4.2 millionestimated value of two electricity contracts the Auditor General found were fraudulent
In July 2019, electricity accounts for 14 City properties were switched from Toronto Hydro to two other energy sellers. City staff noticed the unusual bills in October 2019 and cancelled the contracts. The Auditor General later found the signatures were not those of the retired employee named on them. About $250,000 had been paid and was recovered. The Auditor General could not say who signed, and gave the matter to the Toronto Police Service.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 5 sources
April 17, 2026date of the Auditor General’s investigation into how the City bought the PayIt platform
PayIt is a company whose online payment platform the City bought between 2019 and 2021, after the company made an unsolicited proposal (an offer the City had not asked for) and a limited competition called a Swiss Challenge. In 2024 the Auditor General found the City did not follow its own policy. Council asked for a closer look. In April 2026 the Auditor General reported that a buyer removed the detailed scoring from the published call, but that the evidence was “conflicting and insufficient” on who directed it and why. It found no wrongdoing, and no unfair advantage to PayIt.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 4 sources
79declarations by 18 elected members of Council in the public registry, December 2022 to September 2026
Ontario law says a member who has a money interest in a decision must say so and stay out of the discussion and vote. Toronto posts its registry of these declarations as open data. From December 2, 2022 to September 25, 2026 it lists 168 declarations. Of those, 79 were made by 18 members of Council. The rest were made by people appointed to boards and panels, who are not named here.
Found by reading the city's own documents · 4 sources
Where your tax bill goes
A property tax bill in Toronto pays for the city and schools. Only part of it goes to the city, and that part is what Toronto council controls.
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