The City of Toronto continues to lose tens of millions of dollars in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now projecting a shortfall of more than $93 million by the end of 2021.

The latest financial update is contained in a staff report that will be considered by Mayor John Tory’s executive committee on Thursday.

The report reveals that while the city has received approximately $2.6 billion in federal and provincial relief funding since the beginning of the pandemic, it is still facing a shortfall of $93.7 million in 2021.

The bulk of that shortfall – about $74 million – stems from lower than expected ridership numbers at the TTC as many office workers continue to telecommute amid the fourth wave.

The Toronto Zoo also lost $3 million in revenue due to a prolonged closure during the third wave of the pandemic in the spring while the Toronto Parking Authority saw its revenue fall $2.9 million short of estimates.

Speaking with reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor John Tory said that he does remain “very optimistic” that the provincial and federal governments will step forward again to make the city whole in 2021 and does not foresee any scenario in which the city would be forced to cut services or raise taxes beyond the rate if inflation in order to account for the shortfall.

“Those two governments have been there for us in the City of Toronto for our transit needs and other needs over the course of the pandemic, they have been good partners. And secondly, with respect to the re-elected government in Ottawa they are a government that gets cities. They get the fact that a big city like Toronto cannot operate on some kind of a transit system that is cut in half because of the fact that ridership has slowed down,” he said. “They know that we have to keep operating the whole system to get essential workers into work and to accommodate the fact that we want people to get back to work in the downtown and other parts of the city.”

The city budgeted for nearly $1.6 billion in COVID-19 related impacts in 2021 but staff are now expecting the full impact to exceed that due to “increased pressure” related to the Delta-driven fourth wave of the pandemic.

TTC ridership also remains to trail behind projections at just 45 per cent of pre-pandemic levels with a full recovery not expected until late 2023 in the best case scenario.

Tory, however, credited what he said has been the “heroic efforts” of city staff in reducing costs during the pandemic and pointed out that the city’s credit rating has been maintained at a “high level” compared to some other municipal governments.

“People don't have to worry about that report written as of June 30. We're working on it, we will get that problem resolved and the city's finances will remain sounds, services will remain in place, and the tax hike, presuming upon the budget process, will not be above the rate of inflation if I have anything to do with it,” he said.