As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exert major stresses globally, the City of Toronto has been assessing, evaluating and monitoring the financial impacts.
“It is critical that as we continue to manage the City’s emergency response to COVID-19, that we also ensure that impacts to Toronto’s strong economy and strong pre-crisis financial position are addressed and that action plans are in place to best position the city when we emerge from this,” said Mayor John Tory.
“We are committed to helping the many business sectors through recovery and rebuilding and will be relying on our partners in the provincial and federal governments to continue to support our efforts.”
The city has created a COVID-19 financial impact working group to focus on stabilization and rebuilding. The working group is assessing the implications of the virus on the city’s budget, as well as “financial impacts that could result from this emergency continuing for an extended period of time.”
According to a city report, the current financial pressure is estimated at $65 million a week – driven by decreased TTC and other revenues and increased costs. Revenues are decreased due to closures, decreased demands, and property tax and utility payment deferrals, and increased costs are stemming from COVID-19 related needs like additional personal protective equipment supplies, cleaning, additional shelter space, and overtime.
Work is underway to begin rebuilding efforts after the city transitions into the recovery phase, with a focus on “growth and building resiliency.”
To achieve this, the city is conducting research to understand the economic impacts already experienced in the city and determine how to best support our many vital business sectors. Led by the Mayor, the City is engaging other orders of government and requesting relief funding from the federal and provincial governments to offset the cumulative financial impact.
Many staff are being redeployed to deliver essential, critical, and priority services. Additionally, approximately 5,400 recreational workers that are normally hired at this time of year are not being hired because of the cancellation of spring recreation, arts and museum programs.