Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026Details

This is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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.

Sources and method

Where this comes from

Everything on these pages comes from public documents. Here they are, with how we used them, so anyone can check our work.

Documents

Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR)
Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing · retrieved 2026-10-01
The numbers behind the money and compare pages: 2019 to 2025 for Toronto, and 2025 for 0 similar places. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.
City of Toronto, council remuneration and expense statements
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2024 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.
City of Toronto, budget documents
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-01
The 2026 operating and capital budgets, division budget notes, reports and past budgets.
Members of Council (toronto.ca)
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
The Mayor and 25 councillors, by ward, with each member’s page and official email address.
2025 Summary of Remuneration and Expenses for Members of Council
City Clerk / City Manager, to City Council (March 31, 2026) · retrieved 2026-10-03
Each member’s pay, benefits, staff salaries, office and general expenses, travel and agency-paid expenses for 2025.
2024 Summary of Remuneration and Expenses for Members of Council
City Clerk / City Manager, to City Council (March 31, 2025) · retrieved 2026-10-03
The same report for 2024.
Review of Councillor Remuneration (item CC28.6)
City Manager and Chief People Officer, March 24, 2025 · retrieved 2026-10-03
The staff report that proposed raising councillors’ base salary in 2025.
By-law 255-2025 (Municipal Code Chapter 223)
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
The by-law made after item CC28.6, adding a pay review each term.
Open data: Members of Toronto City Council, Voting Record
City Clerk’s Office · retrieved 2026-10-03
How every member voted on recorded votes, 2006 to now. Used for the March 27, 2025 pay votes.
Procurement Metrics (toronto.ca)
Purchasing and Materials Management Division · retrieved 2026-10-03
Yearly purchasing totals, cycle times and purchases without bidding, 2021 to 2025.
Supporting Narrative for 2025 Procurement Metrics
Purchasing and Materials Management Division · retrieved 2026-10-03
The 2025 tables, including the reasons used for purchases without bidding.
Supporting Narrative for 2024 Procurement Metrics
Purchasing and Materials Management Division · retrieved 2026-10-03
The 2024 tables, with 2023 for comparison.
Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 195, Procurement
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
The procurement by-law: who may approve what, and the reasons for buying without bidding.
Review of Bid Award Panel
Chief Procurement Officer, March 24, 2025 · retrieved 2026-10-03
The report that led to ending the Bid Award Panel.
Open data: Toronto Bids Non-Competitive Contracts
Purchasing and Materials Management Division · retrieved 2026-10-03
List of contracts awarded without bidding, with reason and amount; refreshed daily.
Open data: Toronto Bids Awarded Contracts
Purchasing and Materials Management Division · retrieved 2026-10-03
List of awarded and cancelled competitive solicitations; refreshed daily.
2026 and 2025 Operating Budget Notes, City Clerk’s Office
City Clerk’s Office · retrieved 2026-10-03
Includes the share of FOI requests finished on time, 2022 to 2025.
Freedom of Information (toronto.ca)
City Clerk’s Office · retrieved 2026-10-03
How to make an FOI request, the fee, the time limit and the five-request limit.
Compliance Audit Report: 2023 Mayoral By-Election Campaign of Giorgio Mammoliti
Delta Consulting Group, for the Compliance Audit Committee, November 26, 2024 · retrieved 2026-10-03
An auditor’s report on one by-election campaign.
Search Campaign Finances (toronto.ca)
Elections Services · retrieved 2026-10-03
How to search filed candidate financial statements.
BudgetTO Budget Launch presentation, January 8, 2026
City of Toronto, Budget staff · retrieved 2026-10-03
Staff-prepared 2026 budget: opening pressures, how the gap was closed, repair backlog, reserves, capital plan.
2026 City of Toronto Budget Summary
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
The adopted 2026 operating and capital budgets, tax rates, debt and the 15% debt service limit.
News releases on the final 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets
City of Toronto Media Room · retrieved 2026-10-03
Property tax and City Building Fund levy increases and the size of each budget, as approved by Council.
Updated Long-Term Financial Plan (August 14, 2023)
City Manager and CFO, to Executive Committee · retrieved 2026-10-03
The $46.5 billion ten-year fiscal gap and the actions to reduce it.
Capital Variance Report, twelve months ended December 31, 2024
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer · retrieved 2026-10-03
How much of the 2024 capital budget was spent (73.8%).
Capital Variance Report, nine months ended September 30, 2025
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer · retrieved 2026-10-03
Nine-month capital spending and the projected 2025 year-end spending rate.
Operating Variance Report, nine months ended September 30, 2025
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer · retrieved 2026-10-03
Operating results to September 2025 and the projected year-end result.
FIFA World Cup 2026 - Toronto, Governance Lessons Learned (June 26, 2025)
Auditor General of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
History of the cost estimate from $30-$45 million (2018) to $380 million, funding and cost controls.
2026 Budget Notes, FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
Hosting cost of $380 million, how it is funded, and what is counted outside it.
2026 Budget Notes, Toronto Shelter and Support Services
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
Shelter budget, refugee response funding and the end of federal and provincial deals.
2025 Consolidated Financial Statements (audited, signed July 29, 2026)
City of Toronto; auditor KPMG LLP · retrieved 2026-10-03
The City’s audited statements for 2025.
2025 Annual Financial Report
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
Financial highlights, the clean audit opinion text and debt and reserve summaries for 2025.
2025 Audited Financial Statements - Consolidated, report to Audit Committee (June 24, 2026)
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; Controller · retrieved 2026-10-03
Cover report: clean opinions, the $108 million operating surplus and the $1,691 million accounting surplus.
Auditor General’s 2025 Annual Report on the Fraud and Waste Hotline (January 29, 2026)
Auditor General · retrieved 2026-10-03
Hotline complaints, outcomes, losses and recoveries for 2025.
Auditor General, Fraud Investigation Involving Multiple City of Toronto Electricity Accounts (June 21, 2025)
Auditor General · retrieved 2026-10-03
Forged electricity contracts for 14 City properties.
Auditor General, Audit of Corporate Real Estate Management: Strengthening Accountability and Oversight of Change Orders in Capital Projects (April 17, 2026)
Auditor General · retrieved 2026-10-03
Change orders on City capital projects.
Auditor General, Audit of Toronto Water: Stormwater and Wastewater Contract Management (October 22, 2025)
Auditor General · retrieved 2026-10-03
Toronto Water stormwater and wastewater contracts.
Auditor General, Investigation into the Procurement of the PayIt Platform (April 17, 2026)
Auditor General · retrieved 2026-10-03
How the City bought the PayIt platform.
Office of the Integrity Commissioner, 2025 Annual Report (July 15, 2026)
Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-03
Complaints, advice, gifts and investigations in 2025.
Office of the Integrity Commissioner, 2024 Annual Report (May 12, 2025)
Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-03
Council decisions on the four July 2024 reports.
Integrity Commissioner, cover report on Councillor Chris Moise’s Comments to a Constituent (March 18, 2026)
Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-03
Finding and recommended penalty, March 2026.
Integrity Commissioner, cover report on Councillor Josh Matlow’s Tweets Criticizing City Staff (March 22, 2023)
Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-03
Findings and recommended 10-day pay suspension, 2023.
Integrity Commissioner, cover report on the Disclosure of Confidential Information from Audit Committee Item AU11.3 (July 22, 2026)
Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-03
Leak of a confidential Audit Committee attachment, 2026.
Ombudsman Toronto, Executive Summary: Investigation into the City’s Decision to Stop Allowing Refugee Claimants Access to its Base Shelter System Beds (December 12, 2024)
Ombudsman Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
Summary of the refugee shelter investigation.
Ombudsman Toronto, investigation report page: no refunds for discontinued TTC tickets and tokens (June 19, 2026)
Ombudsman Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
TTC refund decision; TTC accepted all eight recommendations.
Toronto Lobbyist Registrar, 2025 Annual Report (July 22, 2026)
Lobbyist Registrar · retrieved 2026-10-03
Registry numbers and inquiry outcomes for 2025.
Toronto Lobbyist Registrar, 2024 Annual Report (July 16, 2025)
Lobbyist Registrar · retrieved 2026-10-03
Registry numbers and inquiry outcomes for 2024.
Toronto Open Data, Registry of Declared Interest, Declared Interest 2022-2026 (CSV)
City Clerk, via Toronto Open Data · retrieved 2026-10-03
Every declaration of interest recorded from December 2022.
City of Toronto, Open & Closed Meetings
City of Toronto · retrieved 2026-10-03
Rules for closed meetings and how to complain.
Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index, annual average (table 18-10-0005-01)
Statistics Canada · retrieved 2026-10-01
How much prices went up each year, so cost growth can be compared with inflation.

How the numbers are worked out

Day-to-day spending: Total expenses as reported, minus amortization ("wear and tear"), which is an accounting cost rather than cash spent that year. Costs are shown in the service where they were recorded, before the city spreads its office overhead across services, so the cost of running the office stays visible.
Per home: An amount divided by the number of households the city reported to the Province for that year.
Similar places: Ontario single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 0 places. "Typical" means the median: half of similar places are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few places, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each city reports to the Province. Places do not all count the same way: some include seasonal homes, so per-home comparisons are a guide, not exact.
Faster than prices: Growth is compared with Canada's Consumer Price Index over the same years.
When a question is raised automatically: When a cost grew at least 25 percentage points faster than prices and faster than 80% of similar places; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar places; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar places and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar places. When there are fewer than 20 similar places, automatic questions go no higher than "Worth asking", because one rank moves a lot in a small group.
The Province’s yearly return (FIR) agrees with the audited statements on most numbers: We compared the figures on this site, taken from the Province’s Financial Information Return for 2025, with the City’s audited 2025 consolidated statements (signed July 29, 2026; amounts in millions). Revenue: $19,718,219,775 in the return against 19,719 in the statements. Expenses: $18,028,717,959 against 18,028. Annual surplus: $1,689,501,816 against 1,691 (about $1.5 million apart). Cash: $2,906,571,542 against 2,907. Net debt (net financial assets): minus $11,556,437,616 against (11,556). Total accumulated surplus: $37,719,859,727 against 37,720. Long-term debt: the return shows $13,030,775,747. The statements show long-term debt of 9,267 net of sinking fund deposits of 3,205, plus mortgages payable of 558: 9,267 + 3,205 + 558 = 13,030, so the return’s figure looks like debt before taking off the sinking fund savings, and including mortgages. Reserves: the return shows $7,018,333,993. The statements show reserves of 1,329 and reserve funds of 4,139, a total of 5,468, and treat the legally restricted "obligatory" reserve funds as deferred revenue (7,746 in all). We could match 1,329 but not the remaining difference of about 1,550, so we do not treat the reserves figure as an error. It likely reflects what the Province’s form counts as a reserve. The City could explain it. The statements.

What this cannot see

These records show totals by category, not individual payments. They cannot show whether a particular contract was fair, whether a purchase was split to avoid tendering, or who was paid. That needs the city's list of payments (its cheque register or accounts payable list), which residents can ask for under Ontario's freedom-of-information law (MFIPPA). That is the next thing we plan to add.