My name is Deputy Mayor Paul Aninsley. I'm the chair of the general government committee. We have quorums. So, we're going to start meeting number 29. And I'm going to call it to order. Welcome everybody. Today's meeting is being held by video conference and in person here at city wall city hall in committee room number one. This meeting is also being livereamed online at youtube.com/troncity councsil live. for the land acknowledgement. I would like to say on behalf of myself, my colleagues, and all of our amazing staff that although we may be meeting at different locations today, the general government committee would like to acknowledge the land we're meeting on is their traditional territories of many nations, including the Missagas of the Credit, the Ana Shab, the Chipoa, the Honi, and the Wenda peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, Mati people. We also would like to acknowledge Toronto's covered by treaty number 13 with the Missosagas of the credit. Uh we do not have any registered speakers this morning. Uh for the members, just a reminder, the city clerk has provided all of our agenda materials on the clerk's meeting portal at tronto.ca/counsel. Clerk's IT staff are available if you have any trouble with your electronic devices. And a reminder to submit any motions you would like to move by email to staff at ggcronto.ca to help with motions. Are there any declarations of interest under the Ontario Municipal Conflict of Interest Act? Seeing none, can I have a motion to confirm the minutes from our last meeting on April 8th, 2026? Moved by Councelor Burnside. All in favor? That carries. Uh we have 21 items on our agenda today. I'm going to run through them. You can let me know if you have any holds. Uh GG 21.1 2025 write off of uncollectible property taxes and accounts receivable. I have a mover. Councelor Chang. All in favor? That carries. Our next item is GG 29.2 to amendment to blanket contract 470-25662 to Ain Foods Limited for the supply and delivery of snack foods for the expanded universal campto child nutrition program for parks and wreck. Councelor Holidayiday, you want to >> I'd like to hold this one. >> Sorry, you want >> or or councelor King, you want to hold it? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. Our next item is GG 29.3 amendment to blanket contract 472-225820 with hit play technologies incorporated for audiovisisual services and support. I have a mover councelor Thompson. All in favor that carries. Uh our next item is GG 29.4 Four, amendment to purchase order 6051765 with CSNP architects for professional services during the construction of the new Davisville Aquatic Community Center for Parks and Recreation. Can I have a mover? Councelor Holiday. All in favor that carries. Our fifth item is GG 29.5 award of negotiated request for proposal document 516344 5632 to Burley Technologies Incorporated for the pre pre- purchase of the pelletizer equipment system for the Ash Bridges Bay treatment plant. I have a mover councelor Burnside. All in favor that carries. Our next item is GG 29.6 Six. Amendment to purchase order 6054751 with Atlas Constructors Incorporated for the construction of the Scar Bro Arena Gardens for Park and Recreation. I have a mover. Councelor Chang. All in favor? That carries. >> Yeah. And it's a beautiful one. Come out to Scarbor and see it. Councilor >> Holiday. Our next item is GG 29.7 award of document 53080110518 to Stantech Consulting Limited for professional services for the design contract administration of post construction services for the high rate treatment facility at Ash Bridg's D Bay treatment plant. Can I have a mover and a second councelor Thompson? All in favor that carries. GG 29.8 8 amendment to blanket contract 47025086 and entering into various non-competitive contracts with the active network limited for software subscriptions processing fees and professional services. Councelor Holiday on favor that carries. uh GG 29.9 amendment to contract CW2310755 with Amazon Web Services Canada Incorporated for cloud subscription services and support services. You want to hold that councelor Thompson? >> Sure. So thank you Mr. Chair. I just wanted to thank the staff uh along with this plus there is um you'll be dealing with GG 2911. we've already dealt with um 293 which is uh the hit play. I just wanted to say that I had a really um great briefing with with staff and um I found that the comprehensive view and and and uh look at these contracts that the staff have given them and the consideration with respect to what our goals and objectives are you know by local and looking at that assessment pieces were all done. I was quite impressed with respect to the overall consideration and work that they had done and sort of the time that they had taken to put into the the the detailed efforts in order to bring these contracts here uh forward and I I'm really happy with respect to the work that they've done over the years. I've been critical of some of the issues around our purchasing with respect to technology and um uh you know we went through the pay it piece right that was a big issue and um at that time part of the issue there was our staff hadn't even been aware that there was a lawsuit that was actually taking place with pay it before they brought it to us and my office said we'd found that out we sort of talked with staff about that the point that I that I want to make with respect to that is that we actually do do that sort of, you know, nitty-gritty work to make sure we get to the bottom of this. And I can say that the staff with respect to these three um um reports have done an amazing job. Not to suggest that they haven't done an amazing job in other reports. And so I'm just wanted to specifically highlighted these because there's no reason for me to hold it and ask question, but I wanted the opportunity just to express my appreciation for the great work that they've actually done. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Thompson. Number nine moved by councelor Thompson. All in favor that carries. Uh GG 29.10 non-competitive bridge contact with safeguard perimeter perimeter incorporated for traffic control services to support major events in 2026. I have a mover. Councelor Chang. All in favor that carries. GG 29.11 non-competitive contract with Toronto Metropolitan University for partnerships to address the digital divide. You want to hold it, councelor Holidayiday? Okay. >> Uh GG 29.12 non-competitive contract with ride shark corporation for the smart compute online tool. >> I'd like to hold this one, please, chair. >> Mr. Ching is holding number 12. uh GG 29.13 non-competitive contracts with ASUM incorporated and PTV group for the ASUM and vision transportation modeling software for transportation services moved by councelor Holidayiday all in favor that carries GG 29.14 non-competitive contracts with various suppliers for the supply of proprietary parts and maintenance services at water and wastewater treatment plants for Toronto Move by councelor Chang. All in favor that carries. GG 29.15 non-competitive procurement with DAR fire incorporated for the supply and delivery of E1 incorporated original equipment manufacturer parts and warranty for Toronto Fire Services. Moved by councelor Burnside. All in favor that carries. GG 29.16 summary of open competitive awards made by the chief procurement officer for March 7th to April 10th 2026. Move by councelor Thompson. All in favor that carries. GG 29.17 1029 King Street West unit 23 designation of a portion of the property used by the West Neighborhood House as a municipal capital facility. Moved by councelor Burnside. All in favor that carries. GG 29.18 application for approval to expropriate parts of 2 and 90 Blur Street East for the Blur Young Capacity improvement project stage one. Moved by Councelor Thompson. All in favor? That carries. GG 29.19 administrative amendments to the Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 598 and chapter 441 are no new fees or fee increases. Move by councelor Holiday. All in favor that carries. GG 29.20 administrative penalty system 2025 activity. >> Sure. So, I'll move the report and thanks staff for this one and the next one, although I know the next one comes from the chair of the panel. I think that these are really important reports. They're very comprehensive and well done, but they are essential for transparency. And I know last year I was really worried about uh one of the line items that had to do with um um the disposal of some of the appeals due to hardship. And I see this year it's changed dramatically um for whatever reason. and I'll I'll talk to staff about that, but I just want to thank them because I know a lot of work goes into preparing these numbers and I I know people look at these and they're important. So, I'll move it. Okay. Thank you. Councelor Holiday. Councelor Holidayiday is moving number 20. All in favor? That carries. Uh GG 29.21 Administrative Penalty Tribunal Chair's 2025 annual report. Move by Councelor Thompson. >> Oh, you want to hold it? Okay. >> Just with respect to Mr. chair. Um I I don't know if the chair is here. It would be nice to have an overview from the chair of this tribunal, so I don't know if he >> I don't know if the chair is here. >> Um would it be possible for us to get that person here? I don't know. >> Unfortunately, the chair was unable to make it uh this morning, but I'm happy to answer any questions. >> No. Can I hold it down and then maybe defer this and have the chair come and talk to us? >> You want to refer to next one? Not available today, right? >> He's not available today. >> No. >> Right. So, I'd like to do that with no with no disrespect. >> We can refer it to next month asking the chair to be here for a presentation. >> Yeah, I'd like that. Please. Thank you. >> Councelor Thompson's going to move. >> Y. >> Okay. All in favor? And that carries. >> We're okay with the other. >> Yeah. Okay. We're back to number two. GG 29.2 Two, amendment to blanket contract 47025662, Davern Foods Limited for the supply and delivery of snack foods for the expanded universal camp to child nutrition program for parks and recreation held by councelor Chang. Councelor Chang, questions of staff. >> Thank you, Chair. Um, my first question is about is this the first time that these snacks will be provided during the summer camp program? >> Chair, good morning counselor. This is our second year. Uh this is actually an expanded program. We started with 56,000 children last year. This is our second year and now we've expanded to 115,000 children for 2026. >> And uh is does that mean all camps now are covered? >> Chair, that's correct, counselor. All camps, summer camps and March break camps are included. >> And what does the snack look like for kids? So if kids are going to camp, what time is it going to be served and what, you know, what I guess kind of nutrition are they going to get? >> Chair, thanks for the question, counselor. The uh the snacks are uh served midm morning typically between 10:30 and 11:00 uh around that time. And it's a two item snack uh consisting of uh food groups such as fruit, grains, dairy products. Uh it's a it's a moving menu so it changes every day but there's some consistency across the system around how it's delivered and what's delivered. >> And are the camp staff the ones who are delivering the food or is there other staff that have to give out the food >> through the chair? It's it is our camp staff. However, they are specifically trained on food handling. uh they're actually certified and uh there regular you know precautions to make sure that the the the work is done correctly >> and what kind of communications are provided to parents in this process that so that they know what they need to pack and what they can skip packing >> to the chair we've begun our communication to c to uh parents already through our registration uh for camps uh pre uh camp uh each parent will receive a a notification with information they they're required to have to send their kids to to camps and that includes things to bring including information on uh snacks and so on and they can plan accordingly. >> So is the message simply morning snack is included? >> That's correct. And is there a feedback loop for parents and kids in this process? Because we're still fairly new at delivering the scale of snacks and just wondering if we are getting feedback on our delivery both in terms of, you know, what people want and in terms of how it's being distributed. >> To the chair, uh, counselor, we we had really good success last year with getting that feedback through a survey. Um 90% of our participants agreed that our our snacks were nutritious. 50% um indicated that it saved them money. So we do we do have feedback mechanisms in place and we'll continue those throughout the summer. >> Great. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. Um that's all my questions. >> Thank you counselor councelor Holiday questions. I'm just wanted to follow up on a answer I just heard. I think the comment was 50% said it saved the money. Could you elaborate? >> That's correct. Uh we we asked the question around affordability and and um this program saving families uh money and they they 50% of our respondents indicated that it it assist them assisted them financially. >> So the logic would be if you get a free snack it saves money. I mean, it could be a few cents that you save, but it saves money. So, does that mean 50% of the campers didn't need or didn't want or didn't require a snack? >> So, chair, I I can't conclude that counselor. We we've we've asked a question around, you know, assistance around financial uh situations and and that's the feedback we received. It was really to help inform uh whether there's merit in looking at a broader um expansion. Um and that was the intent of the question. I can't really conclude what it means for those who didn't indicate. So >> I'm sorry. Could you elaborate on what broader expansion means? >> Going from 56,000 last year to to a to the full expansion this year. >> And that's what's in the report here, right? A million and a half >> through the chair. That's correct. So, every camper will receive a snack >> to the chair. That's correct. >> Do we have any statistics on how many people required a snack or didn't how many campers didn't have a snack before the program? >> To the chair, we do not. >> What's the unit price per snack? >> To the chair, it's approximately about $130 per per serving. >> A$130? And I'm I'm sorry. I know councelor Chang asked this. What could you remind me what it is like? What's the value of the food versus the the um overhead call it processing I guess >> through the chair it's it's about a million dollars a year for the food and about $500,000 for the staffing component of it. It's about a it's about a 2:1 ratio in that sense. >> And so what does a million dollars buy? Like what's the unit price and what are you getting? Um, our unit price works out to be approximately a $130. And this the the contract covers all aspects of Camp TTO. So that includes Camp TTO and parks and recreation, summer, March break. Uh, we also run a little bit of holiday camps over the holidays and also other camps in economic development uh, division as an example. Uh, and we have a couple camps in parks as well. >> I just want to get to this. So it was about a million for the food and about 500,000 for the staff. It was a $130 per snack. So that means that a little under a dollar goes towards the food per unit. What's the little under a dollar buying? >> Uh through the chair, councelor, I'll clarify that the $130 is for the food only. >> Okay. So what what does a $130 buy? >> It it it buys two items per day. Uh it's typically a fruit item, a grain item, or a uh dairy item. So two of the three are served. So, so what's uh what's a grain item? A granola bar. >> Uh it can be a granola bar. It it's typically uh a bread of some sort, like a pa or a um um a bagel. Um but from time to time there may be a granola component as well, although we we tend not to uh serve a lot of granola. >> And what's the dairy? >> Dairy can be a cheese or a cream cheese or some type of a topping for that for that other item. And and so did staff test this against what it costs to buy that food in a store? Is it similar? Is it more or less? >> It's the the economies of scale on this one is is actually quite favorable, I would say, because of the volume, but also the way this product is delivered to us. It allows us to not have to spend a lot of money on the processing side, i.e. serving, cutting, doing a lot of work that way. So it actually works out to be quite favorable. >> Okay. Then on the fruit side, was it apple slices, that sort of thing? >> Fresh fruit. That's correct. >> Fresh fruit. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Councelor Holidayiday. Councelor Burnside. >> Yeah. Thank you. Um through you. U so this 500,000 for staff, is this to hand out the food, handle the whole food aspect, or is this more than food? >> Uh chair, it is. Yes, it is. It is to prepare the food and hand out the food. That's correct. >> Okay. So, back to councelor Holiday's point. Um, you're not preparing a granola bar and you're not really preparing an apple. I guess you're packaging it on some level, but doesn't that seem a little bit high >> to the chair? We we have we have approximately 185 camp locations. Um the number of operating days in the summer if you can imagine at that scale requires additional staff to do this work. Otherwise we would be pulling staff out of our ratios and camps which is not >> advisable. >> So we we we do actually require um you know a workforce that that manage this plus they have to be they have to be specially trained >> specially trained for food handling. >> Okay. Thanks, >> Councelor Thompson. Questions of staff? >> Yes, through you, Mr. Chair. Are the kids happy? >> Through the chair, uh, based on our our observation, they're they're a lot happier than they were before. >> Oh, great. And are the parents happy? >> Through the chair, they are >> indeed. Um, where else do we see these types of program initiatives in place? any of the other G8, G20 countries, cities do this >> through the chair. We haven't done an extensive uh research on this. Um most notably, most recently, you may recall the school food program. >> Um but um our knowledge is more about local initiatives, not global. >> Gotcha. But I asked a question only just to ensure that we compare some of the work that we're doing in terms of providing nutritional nutritionist food to to to young people and particularly canned kids. I just wondered whether or not we wouldn't look at places like France, Japan and other places in terms of what they do because it's really luxurious and um the cost itself is as nominal as they say. But my question to you though is I just wanted to kind of measure the happiness aspect with respect to the young people and you say that they're quite happy with respect to our investment in the in in the in the food products for the young people. Is that that's correct right >> to the chair. That's correct. And and and I'll just add counselor there's there's also a behavioral component here that we're seeing. >> I was going to get to that actually but go ahead. Yeah. >> The the the sort of satisfied tummies tend to tend to drive better behavior. >> Right. And then also there's a uniformity as well with respect to all of the kids having similar type of products and food items to consume. Correct. That that does make a difference. Would you would you agree? >> We feel it does through the chair. >> Right. So if I brought um lobster and shrimps and someone else brought chips and so on, there'd be like a real differential in terms of the um food source and just the view with the with respect to young impressionable minds. Correct. >> To the chair. That's a fair statement. >> Gotcha. All right. Thank you. Um, Mr. Chair, those are all my questions. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Thompson. Uh, speakers on this item. Councelor Chang, you held it. >> Yes. Uh, I'm happy to move stack recommendations. I just want to make sure we have really good feedback loop with parents because I'm hearing on the school distribution side, there are some challenges with the distribution and the uniformity of how that program is working out across different schools. And I'm just thinking of, you know, if people get if kids get bagel and cream cheese as their snack, chances are they're probably not eating their lunch because that's a substantial amount of calories and quite filling. So, uh, you know, we want to prevent waste. So, having really good feedback and even letting parents know on a week- toeek basis potentially what the snack is so that they can adjust what they're sending accordingly. Um, the more that parents know what is happening, the I think better coordinated and the more that this program will be supportive and reduce food waste at the same time. So, I hope that communications um are not just about receiving a snack, but to the extent possible that parents know on a day-to-day basis what is being sent so that they can adjust accordingly. But I think it is helpful to, you know, as a mom and someone who does pack snacks, having one less snack to pack is definitely helpful. So, thank you for this report. >> Thank you, Councelor Chang. Other speakers on this item. Councelor Holiday. >> Uh, thank you, Chair. I just want a recorded vote on this item. Um, Mr. Chair, you may remember I I didn't agree with this when it was at council and I still don't agree with it. And this comes from a parent that has packed many, many lunches and snacks. Uh I guess one a few hours ago this morning. Um and I don't necessarily agree uh that everyone is happy and that comes from experience. Um I know my kids had uh snacks provided through one of their care programs and they weren't necessarily thrilled and they would rather have something from home. Um, so I just I would rather see the money go towards something else. Uh, so I would like to vote no. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Holidayiday. Councelor Thompson to speak. >> Uh, yes, Mr. Chair. I I'm speaking in support of the recommendations here. Um, I mean, I think it's pretty cool to recognize for our young people that, you know, drive cars, for example, so they don't take up space on the roadway. Um, and we all benefit those who drive cars and certainly pay taxes and so on. And I think it's great that um, and I'm going to make a comparison, Mr. Chair, so I'm getting there. Um, roadways to snacks, right? So for the young people, obviously, this is their roadway, which is their snack, right? Quite frankly, in terms of getting something back for the contributions that their parents are paying uh, in terms of tax dollars and so because I remember parents are paying for these things, right, through their taxes. it's their monies that we are um repurposing and so on and and and helping to to um create opportunities for these young people. And then I mean I don't know how nutritional the the snacks really are. I have questions about that. But that's not really my issue at the moment. I just think it's really important for us to consider how we um climatize our young people in terms of the sort of collegiality of of of interests. uh being at camp and everyone's receiving the same kind of snacks and of course if parents want to add additional snacks snacks for their children they are able to do so but I really think that this is a real small price that we pay to invest in our young people as I said they don't drive cars they don't do a lot of the things that we take for granted that we pay our taxes for that they benefit yes I know if their parents drive them on the roadway they benefit because they're in the car I get it but quite frankly um having young people in camp um you know receiving uh the the the sort of benefits of having um you know foods that's uh snacks uh food that's supplied to them. I mean I think it's a really good thing. Um I may have concerns with some of the other programs that we actually offer but I think this um you know it's it's it's it sends the right message. we are a society that is uh rich in so many different ways and when we uh invest in our young people we're investing investing in their future. So I do think this is something that's worthy. I think it's something that uh the staff have actually done their examination and so on and have come to us and say okay here is the amount this we're spending a million dollars on the snacks itself and we're spending um additional funds on staffing to help with respect to training distribution and so on. uh of the snacks. And so I I think it's it's worthy. I think it's something that I want to support. I think it's something that I want to say to the young people that we're actually interested in your well-being and your welfare. And it's amazing the difference that a snack makes for a young pe person versus no snacks at all. And so I think this is a good thing. And I do um you know uh basically support the leadership here. And I know the mayor has been very steadfast about wanting to ensure that we invest in our young people and providing opportunities for them to learn and grow and develop. If you think about it, you know, if if we don't um support these types of program, yes, there are people that are able to to afford um to provide for their kids, but there may others who are not able to do so. And what are we doing? We're starving their brains, starving their mind, starving their development quite frankly. And this is to expect that these young people will be our future and I think that it's a wise investment and it shows strong leadership in terms of decision-m on our part to invest in our young people. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor Thompson. Other speakers seeing none. Um I just want to quickly say I'm very happy with the recommendations here. I'm going to be supporting it. Uh I'm a big supporter of the breakfast programs we have in schools. I think the biggest challenges we have in uh breakfast programs in schools is not getting enough volunteers uh to run the programs. Often I have community members when I talk about a a breakfast program in a local school. Um they don't know about it or they just don't have the time to go and volunteer or I've actually had people say to me, "Wow, 7:00 in the morning's kind of early." Um but you know the benefits of the breakfast program I think are very evident in uh in the schools helps uh you know children learn better on a full stomach having food in their stomach um it's universally done within a school every child gets the same uh food I think when we're doing this in our parks um once again it's universally done um we're paying staff to do it so we know it's going to be delivered and I think if a child doesn't have a snack snack um you know or they're full or they have they already have a snack sent to them by their parents. That's great. Um, one of the things that our youngest son learned quite quickly in high school in the snack program in their school is that there are kids that really need those snacks that you know, even uh, you know, he had friends that played sports that were getting a breakfast program and halfway through the the morning they're in gym class and they don't have the energy that other kids have. and he was actually asking my wife to, you know, pack more snacks or buy snacks so he could bring them to school for his buddies to make sure they had the nutrition they needed to get through their day. So, I'm hoping that same thing happens in the summer camp nutrition program, but I think it also helps children learn that not everybody has the ability to get the same snacks that they might necessarily get. So, I'm very uh supportive of this and uh I'll be voting in favor of it. Okay. And councelor Holidayiday, you want a recorded vote, >> please? >> Okay, recorded vote on the recommendations. All in favor? Councelor Thompson, Councelor Ch, sorry, Councelor Burnside, Councelor Thompson, Councelor Chang, Councelor Aninsley, opposed. Councelor Holiday. And that passes. Thank you very much. Our next item, number 11. Do I have that right? Our next item is number 11, GG29.11, non-competitive contract with Toronto Metropolitan University for partnerships to address the digital divide held by councelor Holiday. Councelor Holiday, questions of staff. >> Thank you. I wondered if someone could elaborate a bit more on what this is hoping to achieve. >> Thank you, councelor. through the chair. The survey that um we're continuing to do with TMU is intended to give us insights on the makeup of um residents in various areas to help us expand and continue to develop in the connect teal program that started in 2021. The studies are based on uh standard methodologies that TMU uses to collect data um latitudinal data uh helping us understand the makeup of uh the base of the public so we can understand where to make the connectio investments. So the 2024 report said that it was about 2% of Torononians I think the words were didn't have affordable inhome internet access and then when you go into the details you find out yes some didn't have it because they weren't um they weren't satisfied or didn't afford the price but others said they didn't need it. Others said they have their cell phone. They and there was a whole they had it through work. There was a whole variety of reasons. So what further information do we need or what is going to change or what do we hope to achieve with more surveys? >> Um through the chair uh we're using public Wi-Fi so we can understand how we can optimize our existing deployments from the 20204 research. We understand uh we we pro we understand how people are using inhome internet right now like affordability is a key issue. There is some information we have that um Torononians are using mobile devices uh but uh we're looking to understand how we can continue to invest um some of the learnings we have too we understand that the city needs to do a better job with digital literacy and uh promotion of that. So the research we're using is helping us informing programming decisions further. We're not expecting overall to um expand more of the connectto portfolio uh beyond work with seniors uh which council has directed us to do. So, up until a few years ago at home, I remember the internet used to degrade. I swear every time it rained and it um it's because it used older infrastructure. I think the copper wires used to get wet and they didn't conduct as well and so on. Do you have um an understanding of the access to the technology in Toronto? Is it there? Is there a role for the city in terms of making way for the networks to the homes? Are there people that don't even have the opportunity to have internet or does does everybody at least have the opportunity? Counselor, the focus of this program is to uh continue to invest and close the digital divide. um in terms of the technology if I understand your question correctly that we subscribe to um is ultimately to deliver ability for residents to access internet and digital access and that continues to evolve the way uh the different telecom vendors are building out their networks whether that's through fiber to the home or fiber to the node etc. it does um leverage the evolving technology that the various telecoms are using to build out their footprint to these locations. >> So the federal government uh and I think it's even in the report here talked about finding affordable programs for people to subscribe to home internet if they if they needed to. Are we duplicating federal government's efforts here in Toronto? through the chair. Um we are working with social development and the human services integration uh project to help um Toronto residents identify opportunities to receive subsidies through the federal government uh to access inhome internet. >> Why is providing home internet to residents a municipal concern? uh through the terror the digital divide um and lack of access to inhome internet has um overall cascading effects in people's um uh ability to achieve employment. Um I won't comment so much on a on those those pieces, but what I will say is council did direct us in 2021 to bridge the digital divide. Um and so uh we're >> continuing to fulfill that mandate. Primarily we did that through connectto tio Wi-Fi sites. We have approximately 250 um and so we achieved 89% coverage in neighborhood improvement areas and emerging neighborhoods. So we are doing this at the request of council. >> Thank you councelor. Other questions? Councelor Thompson. >> Thank you very much Mr. Chair through you to staff. So what percentage of the 3 million people in Toronto are not um fully connected? >> You're the chair. As of 2024, approximately 2% of Torononians did not have access to inhome internet. >> Right. And um would you agree with me that there is a greater reliance now in terms of utilizing technology to ensure not only people are connected but that we rely on them to use technologies to connect and communicate for example with the municipality and other levels of government. Just as a as a start, >> we would agree that we're continuously investing in improving how the public interfaces and interacts with us, especially from a digital uh interface perspective, >> right? And so this is extremely important for us to have accurate ongoing data to reflect our understanding in terms of how we not only communicate to people but the expectation of how they communicate to us, which would be very important. Would that be correct? >> Correct. Counselor, this uh these studies help shape the investment plan going forward based on council uh directives >> and that's for services like library services and other you know types of services. >> That's correct. Counselor >> got you. Um do you have a group or a department where this kind of work is being done internally? The level of expertise required for this uh is not available within the city council and we depend on TMU's uh demonstrated methodology and as well continuity of this methodology uh beyond just the period that was completed and we require it to continue as we go forward >> and their findings and their work it's evidencebased >> very much so it's um based on data that's collected through research and uh collection ction of um um data overall which is fact-based. >> So the analogy that I used earlier on with respect to our roadways and snacks, I can use that with respect to uh technology in our roadways and creating sort of an even level playing field or level roadway without um congestion. I guess that was my humor there. Congestion. So >> would agree. Sorry, your answer. >> Yes. >> Okay, gotcha. Um and then so I'm not sure if you were here then but uh during co um the work that we had started at the very early stages and we identify the fact that there are so many Torononians that weren't connected to any type of means for us to be able to connect to them to provide what I would call um life-saving um information as well as um to give them sort of updates to help them to become more aware as to what we were doing as a municipality to inform them. You would agree with me then that based on this effort through the collaboration with TMU, this would be a reasonably appropriate type of methods for us to connect as part of our efforts to ensure that no members of our community are left behind from a technological divide. I would agree, councelor, and I would add that uh it's critical information for us to leverage in order to make wise decisions around where the uh city's dollars are invested in order to deliver what you just defined. >> Right. And the investment that we're actually making here in terms of trying to assist 2% of our population to become fully connected is a nominal amount. I'll use that term, $300,000. um is a wise investment >> in my view. Yes, it is. Councelor, >> thank you. Those are my questions, Mr. Chairman. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Thompson. Other questions of staff? Councelor Burnside. >> Yeah. Just for my own edification. Um it said 58,000 Torononians are without home internet connection. Yeah. Yeah. And councelor Holidayiday made some comments um that there are variety of reasons. Of that 58,000, how many would like internet? >> The chair. I couldn't say councelor Burnside, but I would assume all of them would like that. >> Pardon me. >> I I couldn't say how many of them would like um internet. That is not a question we ask in the survey. We only >> Okay. So, it's unknown. It could like totally unknown. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Other questions of staff? Councelor Chang? >> Nope. Okay. >> I have no questions. >> Thank you. Um I had a couple of questions. Um so there's three reports that are mentioned that have been done already. Have all the recommendations in those three reports been implemented? >> Uh the reports uh from TMU help us measure the closing of the digital divide. um Councelor Eninsley. Um and so we are in the process of continuing to complete the recommendations from city council. Um this year we are working with uh Toronto Community Housing more and uh Toronto Seniors uh Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation uh to uh identify if there's any opportunities for sites in TCHC homes with seniors. >> Okay. And then I guess on the grand scheme of things, three reports have been done. We're asking for money to continue the work. Is this for a final report with recommendations or because I know you mentioned earlier this was to close the digital divide. >> The money that's being requested is a not a commitment to spend counselor. It is authority up to the 300,000 over the coming six years for surveys and study research that may be required to be done over the coming years. Um the expectation is that we continue to depending on what the um future requirements are those requirements will get shaped based on these uh results. So for example to the point that was made our work that we're doing right now with TCHC uh depending on what's required if uh seniors are intended to be uh the area of focus the research that's collected through the studies from TMU will help us shape where to invest which regions which areas. >> Okay. And I I think you said 2% of Torononians don't have digital access. Is that a an estimate or a I'm just trying to figure out that if we know 2% of Torononians don't have digital access, do we know who they are and how do we engage them to understand why they don't have digital access? >> Uh through the uh councils, yes. Uh we as a followup to knowing that 2% of Torononians don't have digital access, we did do some significant public consultations to understand um better how they would like to um access the internet. Part of that um research helped us uncover that they lack a a third space, a space where they can go use internet. Uh so in our work plan this year we are also working with recreation to see if we can um have some Wi-Fi zones within recreation centers. Uh that's a bit of work that needs to be done but third spaces was really um part of it in this um in this survey. What we're hoping to understand is if um residents don't have inhome internet how are they accessing the internet? Is it through mobile? Is that a preference? um so that we can direct some further investments to help support overall how residents um connect to Wi-Fi and for those who don't have internet uh in home internet provide them that third space to um come to a city location and use the internet for a variety of things. >> Okay. And have we engaged Toronto Public Library, Ontario Library Association at all? They like the Toronto Public Library lends out hotspots across the city. Have we engaged them at all? >> Yes, we work with them closely counseloring. >> Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Those are my questions. Uh speakers, councelor Holidayiday, you held the item. >> Uh chair, I'm going to vote no. And um it's it's not a commentary towards the work that goes on. Um it's just that philosophically I have the question of why we are going down this path further. uh we're not an internet service provider in the municipality and there's been a lot of work done and it reveals a few things but I actually think of a conversation I had a couple of days ago uh with a friend and he lives I don't know about an hour and a half two hours out of Toronto and he doesn't have internet and that's because he can't um you leave the the greater Toronto area you don't have to go very far to find pockets that literally don't even have high-speed internet because of the infrastructure that hasn't been built yet. And here we are in a dense metropolis where there are incredible networks, whether they are cable networks or they are wireless networks. I understand there are people in the city that don't have a lot of money and can't afford to subscribe to the monthly bill. I get it. Um, I also understand there are a lot of people that probably say, "Ah, it's not really worth the money to me because I don't use it very often." But I suspect uh people a 100 years ago had the same conversation about the telephone system and the need to expand and whether or not having a phone at home was essential to survive in the city. Uh but what I think about in 2026 is that getting a a mobile phone is fairly accessible and if you layer on more and more data you surpass the point of it being for utility purposes to send some emails to check critical things online and you get into the entertainment space about streaming 4K and so on. And I understand, you know, if you want unlimited high-speed internet to support uh all of those 4K streaming services on multiple televisions, it gets very >> the the gremlins in the system are not liking what I'm saying, but I just I question as a municipality how far down the path we need to go with that. And again, uh, do we have better purposes for the $300,000? Uh, so I, uh, I really also worry about becoming an internet service provider for people uh because that's not our area of expertise and if things don't go well or they don't go right, suddenly we're on the hook um, to deal with something that, yeah, and I would agree is increasingly becoming critical. Uh maybe the last thought I would leave is that if you accept or don't accept that people need to have a telephone uh in their home. There are fewer and fewer places that rely on the old telephone system and a lot of people have newer phones which are you know on a base handset and they use actually the internet system to bring that plain old voice service to a home. So the bar to go to the next level to have some sort of minimal home internet is actually quite small and it comes down to a household finance decision and I don't think that's our space to be in. I think that belongs to the federal government. This report talks about that about getting affordable internet access to people that that need it. And frankly, I would rather let them do that work and also concentrate on the larger network systems that run the country. Uh because as expensive as it is in Toronto, there's still a lot of people that don't even have the choice and they can't get internet access at all unless they want to subscribe to something like Starlink, which literally uses satellites to to send the information because there is no cable infrastructure. So, thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Holidayiday. Other speakers, councelor Thompson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to read a bit from the report. Um, it talks about the update on the digital divide where it says the most recent findings reported to city council in July of 2025. and list the report that it came in provided a 2024 snapshot of digital access in Toronto and confirmed that the digital divide continues to disproportionately affect equity deserving groups including lowincome households, newcomers, seniors and residents experiencing housing instability. I think it's really important for us to understand what our jobs and our responsibilities are. There are a lot of people who actually can function quite well without us and without the services that we provide and then there's a lot of people that actually can't function without us because if we don't provide the service or if we don't care about them basically their interest is not considered. There's a lot of people in this city that makes a lot of you know great amounts of income and they're able to weather the storm and so on and I think we have to judge ourselves in terms of how we treat our most vulnerable. That is my definition of a richness of our city. And so it isn't waste. It isn't wastage. What we're actually doing here is staying on top of the issues that are impacting those who are most deserving and are less fortunate. I say this from a perspective of the work we did during co. There were days that we were all closeted in varying rooms in our basement trying to talk to one another another. This city made a major shift in terms of how we use technology and how we connect to one another and so on. And that was great for those who had a computer at home, but it wasn't great for those who had no computer at home, who had no cell phones and so on, and were basically in in in a in a in a in a state of chaos in terms of their um vulnerability and their understanding. So what are we to do as a municipality? We have an obligation to protect people. We have an obligation to protect interests. You may not like it, but the fact of the matter is that we have an obligation. It may cost something and it always does, but again, we have an obligation to safeguard the interests and our job is always to look at how the most vulnerable in our city are affected by the lack of decisions that we make and or how are they affected by decisions that take place which doesn't include them which back takes us back to the lack of decisions that we make. And so we at one point got into the internet or the service providing as a municipality. We sold that off. We're not going back there. What we were able to do and what we saw during co because the work we were doing then Mr. I'm sure you recall we were trying to connect with those large companies the Bell Telis and others about how they help and how we create hotspot particularly around Toronto community housing um uh facilities and so on because they didn't have this the these these ability to connect. Did we feel bad about it? I know I personally did. It's like, I didn't realize that we had so many people who weren't connected. And so, is it my job to ensure that they're connected as an elected official? Heck yes, it is. Is it my job to spend resources to ensure that they're connected? Heck yes, it is. Is it my job to ignore their needs? No, it ain't. It's my job to ensure that we address their needs. And so what a staff saying is that hey we have a reputable university in our city. They do a lot of great work in this space. What we want to do is collaborate with respect to what they're actually doing because it actually suits an interest. Whose interests? The residents of Toronto. Whose interest? The government of the municipality of Toronto. Yes, federal government's doing things to connect people. Yes, we need to be mindful of it. But we also need to know that 58,000 people in our city of 3 million people are not fully connected. Do we have an obligation to them? I dare say we do based on the work, the commitment that we take on as elected officials to actually help people. So I won't be part of a system that don't support that one and a half or 2%. I want to be a part of a system that supports that. 98% of the people have what they should have, but there is a 2% factor that don't. I submit to you and each one of one of us here that we have an obligation to respect and not disrespect their needs just because we're okay. It's not okay to ensure that they're not okay. We've got to make sure that they're okay. So, Mr. Chair, I want to make sure they're okay by supporting this report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor Thompson. Other speakers? Seeing none, um I just want to say I'm going to be supporting the report. I want to thank staff for for clarifying the information and uh and the numbers as we're moving forward. Um one of the things that I always say, I I sit on the board of the directors of the Toronto Public Library. Um, you know, I drove by two branches this morning to go to the GO train station. Uh, the last time one of the branches I stopped the I was going in early to drop off books and there was five people lined up and I just I identified who I was and I said, you know, what are you lined up at the library for? And every one of them said, I'm here for a computer. I need computer access. Three of the five said that they were looking for jobs. I I know from experience the Toronto Public Library, and I alluded to it earlier, we we loan out hotspots and we do that because people need them. The libraries in Toronto aren't open 24/7. These are people looking for jobs for the most part um because the libraries aren't open and they don't have internet access. Um I've I know people that they don't want internet access internet access in their home all the time, but they have to find a job. Being able to go to the library, get out a check out a hotspot helps them have that access at home for three weeks while they work on their resume. They look for a job and they return the hot spot and they're very happy. They don't want to pay for the the additional internet in their house. But I also say to other municipalities when they talk about budget cuts um because their economy is bad and they need to save money. So, they often look at cutting the budget to their local public library, reducing staff, reducing hours, or even closing um branches if they have that ability to to do so. And the first people that complain are those people that a are looking for a job and now you've cut down their ability to look for a job. So, you think you're improving things by giving less library service and internet service, you're actually making things worse. Um the last time our staff unfortunately went on strike and during COVID I heard from a lot of kids who didn't have the internet access at school but they couldn't go to their libraries either um because they were closed during CO. So you not only took away their internet access you took away their quality of life because they couldn't hang out with their friends. But I think first and foremost in this day and age, we need to make sure as many people as possible have internet access uh to improve our communities. And so I will be supporting the recommendations in this report. Thank you, >> chair. I'd like to speak. I I'm inspired by what you shared and I just want to speak very briefly. >> Thank you. Go right ahead. You have the floor. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Access to the internet is a part of uh our people's way to access democracy resources, supports and opportunity. And as many have shared, this is critical to some of our most vulnerable in our city. And while these efforts are important, I also agree with councelor Holiday that there is a responsibility of the federal government. And one piece of the puzzle that I think we haven't been able to fix is the quality of the affordable internet that is provided in a lot of our our community housing neighborhoods. They can pay $10 a month, but many of the residents um I've spoken to have really struggled with the quality and stability of that internet. And as bandwidth requirements continue to grow, now a lot of people to be competitive have to explore AI and therefore they the bandwidth they need to access increases as well. And so how that subsidized program is rolled out federally is really important and we should be asking our federal government to strengthen that because if that affordable internet was better quality um it would perhaps lighten the load on the municipality to make sure that everyone has access to stable internet. So um I support this recommendation. I think it's important that we continue to strengthen access which strengthens our democracy, strengthens people's opportunities, but we should also advocate for better affordable internet. Thank you. Those are my comments. >> Thank you, Councelor Chang. I believe those are all the speakers. So, we have the recommendations before us. Councelor Holiday, did you want to record a vote? >> Okay. Uh all in favor of the recommendations Hinsley Burnside Thompson Chang opposed holiday and that item carries. Our next item is GG 29.12 non-competitive contract with Rid Shark Corporation for the smart commute online tool held by councelor Chang. Councelor Chang, questions of staff. >> Yes. I'm just wondering do we have metrics of the usage of the smart commute online tool uh and how many people have actually found car poolool matches because of it and what other benefits have we seen from this online tool provision? >> Yeah, through the chair. So, um, the smart line, the smart commute online tool has nearly 20,000 registered users across the GTA in Ontario. And, um, just in last year, Toronto's over 3,000 users that logged nearly 22,000 trips in 2025 with a reported 309,000, um, 707 km of sustainable travel, resulting in about over 58,000 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. So, how does that work? Because I can use Google Maps to look for different ways to get somewhere um and choose different methods of transportation, including biking or transit. So, what makes this online portal different through the chair? So, the online portal has a number of additional features that are really catered. When the program was first started, it was very much promoted through specific businesses and companies where it connected uh people for ride matching and car pooling, this sort of thing. And so specific employers would have smart commute initiatives and you could have trusted partners like your co-workers who you didn't realize lived nearby that you could basically establish ride matching. In addition to that though, we get invaluable data from the system as well too that really really helps us with respect to our travel demand management strategies and the efforts we've been doing through the congestion management plan to try and get people doing more hybrid trips sort of drive to transit and taking transit in or if it's possible with your co-workers you're working similar hours to be um uh car car pooling in things like that that sort of go one step above and beyond what uh what's offered through Google. Do we know how uh any numbers with regard to ride matching or car pooling >> uh through the chair? Hang on one second. >> Um I have that information. It may be best I could probably send you that information offline. Okay. >> But I do have that information. So this is a service that is not just for the city of Toronto but we are partnering with the region uh municip regional municipalities in order to encourage more people to use sustainable transportation methods and so how many cities are involved in this and what is Toronto's role in in using this tool? >> Yeah through the chair excellent question. So pretty much all the surrounding uh municipalities are part of this program. Durham region, Halton, Hamilton, York Region, um Greater Sbury, London, uh Bruce County, Peele region. So all the surrounding municipalities and some of the ones outside as well too. And basically each of the municipalities puts a contribution in to the shared program. So for the city of Toronto, we put in about $15,000 a year. The other municipalities are likewise putting in their equal share and sustaining the program. And again recognizing that people's trips particularly in and out of the city often originate in the surrounding municipalities. And so hence the importance in having that sort of web network of partnership >> and what are initiatives that are happening in the coming year that are supporting you know as more people are going back to work in person um what are the initiatives that are trying to encourage or support that in our city >> through the chair. So we have our winter commute month. We have our bike month, we have our smart commute month. Um there's a number of programs that we have throughout the year to really try and promote more sustainable ways of people getting in and out of the city. And the smart commute tool is just a great way to further help promote and and also track data in terms of KPIs of how many people are we actually seeing um you know taking more sustainable routes in and out of the city. So my last question is are staff incentivized to log in their non-driving commutes into this portal through your excellent question. So in previous years uh they used to have a number of sort of like rewards programs and things like that. Um admittedly through the pandemic with everybody you know working from home the program kind of it was it was very popular beforehand and it sort of waned a bit in popularity but now we're seeing a big uptick with respect to that. So, um, I do see us in the future planning to go back to those ways of providing incentives and and rewards and things like that for people who log their trips. >> Great. Thank you. Those are my questions. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Chang. Other questions on this item? Councelor Holiday. >> Thank you, Councelor Chang for peing my interest. Um, can we just go back to what exactly people log into the portal? >> Yeah. So through this the the the speaker or the chair I should say um you log into the portal and you track you identify your trip. So it's really catered towards um primarily their regular commute trips to and from work kind of thing. And with it you log your trip and then it gives you different alternative ways of getting to and from your destination whether via transit um again if it's through the uh the programs we've been running through specific employers. We have over 60 employers that are already um signed up and using this application where they promote it to their staff to basically try and find uh car pooling alternatives for people. >> So, I'm sorry, let me let me just simplify this further. 3,000 people signed up to become a member for the lack of a better term to the system and they what did they they log their trip? Like why on earth would they log their trip? I took like I I took the the TTC to work this morning. Would I log my trip >> through the chair? So essentially what they do they're they're the employer programs themselves would offer incentives like sort of rewards for staff that not only identify their trips but also regularly log their trips and say, "Yeah, today I took uh the transit commute or I did a hybrid trip today." And they can gain points and then gain rewards. And um there have been campaigns in the past with actual prize incentives, >> but they don't do that now. At least the smart commute system doesn't do that now. It would be the at the employer level. >> That's the employers leveraging using the smart commute tool as the as the vehicle for them to track those trips and then using that data to then turn around and be able to provide rewards to their employees. >> Do we do rewards at the city of Toronto? >> Uh in the past, yes, we have offered prizes in camp as part of different campaigns. uh $50 gift cards, things like that. >> Um there are 3,000 users. You said there's 60 60 companies enrolled. Who are the biggest? >> Um University Network Healthcare, um Hospital for Sick Kids, um sorry, go down the list here. Uh there's a number. I can provide you with a list offline with with all the the users, but um York University, uh Young Shepard Center, um Sunny Brook Hospital, the list goes on. Yeah. How much do they pay for the system to support it? >> Uh the system is is free of charge for uh companies to use it and for the public. >> Would it be safe to say that the big institutions make up the majority of the 3,000 users? >> Uh that is correct. >> And how many did the city of Toronto have? Do we know? >> Um I can get that stat. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for answering the questions. Okay. Thank you, Councelor Holiday. Other questions on this item? Seeing none speakers, councelor Chang, you held it. I'm happy to move staff recommendations. I just wanted to take a deeper dive into this program and I do uh look forward to seeing how it can be strengthened as more people return to work in person, especially as we know congestion continues to be a very big problem and I feel like there's a lot more opportunities that we can use to engage people in alternative uh transportation options. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Chang. Other speakers on this item? Councelor Holidayiday. >> Uh thanks, Chair. Um I just want a recorded vote. I think that the users of the system should be paying for it. Not the individuals, but the companies uh they all have uh initiatives and you know, help pay that. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Holiday. Uh other speakers on this item seeing none. So we have the recommendations before us in a recorded vote. All in favor Aninsley Burnside Thompson Chang opposed. Holiday and that item carries. Just a fluke. >> All right. Motion to adjurnn. Councelor Holiday. All in favor? That carries. Thank you very much everybody.