Toronto should receive “hundreds of millions of dollars” in transit funding from a new fund that was unveiled as part of the federal budget on Tuesday afternoon, Mayor John Tory says.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is vowing to invest $3.4 billion in transit over the next three years with the money being allocated to municipalities based on ridership.
Since the TTC accounts for about 26 per cent of the public transit ridership across Canada, Tory said the city could be in line for a significant infusion of cash that it could use to fund new transit projects or pay for much-needed repairs to existing transit infrastructure.
The TTC currently has a $2.7-billion repair backlog and billions more in unfunded capital projects.
“If you take the new money and assume our share is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 26 per cent we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars,” Tory said. “This is going to make a difference and it is going to make a difference that people will notice.”
Tory told reporters at city hall that he has “been assured” that the Liberal government will follow through on the Harper government’s promise to provide $2.6 billion in funding for SmartTrack and $660 million in funding for the Scarborough subway extension, meaning any money the city receives from the new National Public Transit Fund will allow it to invest in other pressing needs.
In addition to the $3.4 billion for public transit, Tory said he was also encouraged by language in the federal budget that suggested the government would fund up to 50 per cent of the cost of eligible projects. Traditionally, the federal government has only funded projects where the municipality and the province both agreed to fund one-third of the cost.
“It is a very significant step for big cities,” Tory said. “I am hopeful that if both of the governments are willing to step up, this will lessen the burden on property taxpayers which I think has held back a lot of transit projects over the years.”
On top of major investments in transit, the federal budget also sets aside $2.3 billion over two years for affordable housing. That total includes $200 million over two years to repair and build affordable housing units.
Though it remains to be seen how much of that money Toronto could receive, Tory said the city will undoubtedly get more than it did before, which was “next to nothing.”
“It is a great step and it represents new money that we just didn’t have before,” he said.
Three years ago city council approved a 10-year, $2.6-billion plan split among the three levels of government to repair crumbling Toronto Community Housing units but neither the federal or provincial governments came forward with any money, forcing Toronto to accelerate the awarding of its one-third share.
