The 2022 budget approved by the city council in February was balanced by $1.4 billion in supposed funding from other levels of government, repeating a budget gimmick the city also used in 2021.
In a report to go before Mayor John Tory’s executive committee next week, staff estimates that about $525 million in COVID-19 support funding has been secured since the budget was passed this winter, reducing the overall shortfall to about $875 million.
But with no concrete assurances that more money will be forthcoming, staff say they have now begun to stop about $300 million worth of capital projects that were set to be completed in 2022.
“All of this shortfall that we’re experiencing is entirely related to COVID, it’s not because we spent too much money or any other failure on our part,” Mayor John Tory told reporters during an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning.  “It was entirely about COVID and the fact that our systems in our city — our transit system our shelter system — are on a larger scale than any other city in Canada.  So as a result, when we have to protect more people or have to account for more riders who didn’t take transit and still aren’t to some extent during the pandemic, we’re going to have more lost revenue than any other city by far in Canada.”
Tory told reporters he remains optimistic the federal and provincial governments will come to the table and provide enough funding to offset the lost revenue and increased costs the city has had to shoulder because of the COVID pandemic.
But he said pausing capital works was “the sensible thing to do” in the interim.
The list prepared by township staff describes dozens of projects that will now be on hold, including millions of dollars worth of road rehabilitation work.  Also on the list is building a barge to help with flood protection efforts on Algonquin Island.
“I would think that what (residents) are likely to see is that a particular little improvement in a park might not happen, but they might not even be aware of the fact that it was going to happen.  It’s something like that.  Right now they’re smaller projects that are spread across transportation, parks and other departments and I think most people wouldn’t notice that they’re not happening right now,” Tory said.  “But I noticed these things because, of course, if you don’t do them in 2022, they get added to 2023 and the list goes on.  So the goal here will be to move forward with all of that, if we can.”
Tory was due to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday afternoon and told reporters that the need for additional funding to offset the economic impact of COVID-19 would be “at the top of the agenda”.