Toronto City Council held a two-day meeting addressing critical safety concerns, major development plans, and infrastructure challenges. The session featured urgent discussions about a pedestrian struck near a school, massive population growth plans for North York Center and Willowdale requiring unprecedented infrastructure investment, and declining safety on the TTC. Council also debated a controversial proposal for municipal grocery stores to address food affordability, passed a motion defending elected school board trustees from provincial elimination, and approved cultural district expansions. The meeting concluded with passage of 83 bills covering zoning amendments and various policy matters.

Topics Discussed

TTC Safety Crisis and Platform Edge Doors

Transit safety emerged as a critical concern with only 51% of riders reporting they felt safe in February, down from 61% in January. Assaults on the TTC have increased 216% over the past decade, from 263 incidents in 2015 to 831 in 2025. Currently, only 12 of 70 subway stations have uniformed police officers—just 8 officers total covering those locations. Council passed a motion supporting platform edge doors installation, with a study in final review expected within months. Staff confirmed platform edge doors "would certainly go a long way to reducing the unauthorized people at track level and certainly would be very beneficial towards preventing suicide attempts." The TTC reported 711 trespassing incidents in 2024 and averages approximately 40 suicide attempts annually. Council approved expanding community officers from 2 to 8 between Union and Eglinton stations by end of April, and allocated $28 million in the 2024 budget for safety initiatives.

North York Center and Willowdale Development Plans

Council approved secondary plans for North York Center and Willowdale that will add approximately 100,000 new residents over 25-30 years, tripling the population to 170,000. The plan requires eight new elementary schools, though Councillor Chang noted "you know how hard it is to even get one new elementary school." The area currently faces a gap of 100-400 childcare spots before any new residents arrive. Councillor Chang secured amendments focusing on community centers, revitalization of Melasman Square as an "animated active community hub," and identification of Young and Shepherd as a node to address service gaps. The councillor acknowledged the emotional impact on residents: "One of them came back to my office afterwards and wept...acknowledging that change is hard...to see such a significant change happen and know that the way of life that they have known is not going to be." The plan includes a 30-year capital planning horizon with five-year review cycles and annual council review of 10-year capital plans.

Municipal Grocery Store Pilot Program

Council debated a controversial proposal to establish four city-run grocery stores to address rising food costs. Mayor Chow shared that one family is "saving 900 bucks" through school food programs and emphasized "Torontonians want the city to play a role to help them with the cost of living." The initiative would leverage the city's bulk purchasing power serving approximately 500,000 people across institutions including 2,600 long-term care home residents, 9,000 shelter residents, 115,000 summer camp attendees, and 330,000 children in feeding programs. Councillor Thompson strongly opposed the plan, stating "I'm a free enterpriser quite frankly. I'd rather like to see the market working in a way that provides groceries at certainly at a fair price" and "Government is just trying to be too many things to too many people. We talked about potholes earlier. That's our objective." The motion passed with votes ranging from 20-4 to 23-1 on various components.

School Board Trustee Elimination Crisis

Council unanimously passed a motion opposing the provincial government's potential elimination of elected school board trustees. Currently, 400,000 students in Toronto lack local representation due to boards under provincial supervision. Councillor Holiday emphasized trustees' critical roles in student nutrition programs, public health initiatives including youth vaccinations, community use of schools, child care, and parent engagement. Councillor Fletcher stated "every parent in this room, if you really needed help dealing with your child in some way in those critical education years, that's who that person would be to help you." Trustees earn only $20,000 per year for what amounts to full-time work seven days a week, working out to below minimum wage. Councillor Carville warned "Are MPPs ready to deal with parents that have seen the failings of this public education system? I think not" and noted that "gutting the school trustee system is not a conservative thing to do."

Traffic Safety and Infrastructure Gaps

Councillor Nietta introduced an emergency amendment following a serious incident where a 15-year-old was struck by a car at a pedestrian walkway near March Bishop Romero School on Humber Boulevard North. The councillor explained the dangerous conditions: "There's a fence that goes over the ravine...it blocks for motorists. It blocks any pedestrians crossing the street and it's the only way they can cross the street to get to the bus. So, it's a real dangerous intersection." The amendment requests the General Manager of Transportation Services to examine speed management measures such as speed cushions, geometric safety improvements, and improvements to the pedestrian crossover. Separately, Councillor Moyes secured $200,000 from Section 37 funds to install a missing sidewalk on the east side of Sumac Street between Winchester Street and Amelia Street. Both amendments were carried.

Motions

Carried: - Amendment requesting traffic safety enhancements at Humber Boulevard North between Western Road and Alliance Avenue (Councillor Nietta) - Amendment allocating $200,000 for missing sidewalk installation on Sumac Street (Councillor Moyes) - North York Center Secondary Plan approval with community infrastructure amendments (Councillor Chang) - Willowdale Secondary Plan approval - Motion defending elected school board trustees from provincial elimination (MM39.10) - unanimous - Municipal grocery store pilot program with amendments (Councillors Peruta and Cohen, Mayor Chow) - votes ranging 20-4 to 23-1 - Platform edge doors study and implementation support (Councillor Bradford) - Parts 3 and 4: 19-4, balance: 23-0 - Cultural districts expansion adding Little Iran and Banglatown - Development application at Queen Street East and Kingston Road with staff recommendations (22-3) - Type G Loading Review (MM 3986) - 24-1 - Bills 193-215 and 217-275 passed as bylaws

Rejected: - Councillor Bradford's alternative motions for Queen Street East development (Motion 1A and 1B) - both failed 5-19

Deferred/Held: - Item EY 29.1: 250 Winalt Drive and 4620 Eglinton Avenue West (stood down) - Item MM 3986 initially held by Councillor Holiday for staff questions, later passed

Attendees

Present: Mayor Chow, Deputy Mayor Malik, Councillors Bradford, Bravo, Carol, Carville, Chang, Chernosllin, Cole, Fletcher, Holiday, Mantis, Matlo, Metholz, Moyes, Myers, Nietta, Perks, Prudza, Sachs, Thompson