Ontario signals no second New Deal for Toronto

Ontario does not appear ready to give Toronto a second financial deal. Colin D’Mello reported on X that Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the province is still “digesting” the first deal after the fall economic statement, its autumn budget update.

Global News reported that the 2023 deal’s operating agreements, which fund day-to-day costs, gave Toronto $200 million a year for homelessness and $110 million for transit. The deal’s term sheet, the terms a Toronto-Ontario working group recommended to Premier Ford and Mayor Chow on November 26, 2023, set $330 million over three years for the Finch West and Eglinton Crosstown light rail lines.

Ontario projects a deficit of $16.9 billion in 2026–27, falling to $6.7 billion by 2028–29. Rob Flack, the municipal affairs and housing minister, said no meeting on a new deal is scheduled. Whether the operating agreements will be renewed is not yet known.

Sources: Colin D’Mello on X · Global News · Government of Ontario