Toronto capital budget aims to flatten curve of growing infrastructure repair backlog
From the TTC to parks, proposed 2025 capital budget invests in fixing aging assets
From community centres to parks to the TTC, Torontonians may start to notice improvements to city maintenance, as Toronto pushes to invest majorly in addressing aging and crumbling infrastructure.
The city is in the midst of its 2025 budget process, and while the proposed $18.8 billion operating budget gets much of the attention, the proposed capital budget includes noteworthy investments in addressing the city's repair backlog.
Last year, the projected backlog was described by one city councillor as "terrifying." City staff say a historic $6 billion added to the state of good repair budget will help to flatten the growth curve of the backlog and get the city on the right track.
While the backlog will continue to grow from the current $9.4 billion up to $18 billion at the end of 2034, that outlook is in fact a significant improvement from last year's 10-year forecast, which predicted the backlog would balloon to $22.7 billion.
"[In] this year's budget you see a pretty significant step in the right direction," said Stephen Conforti, the city's chief financial officer.
How did we get here?
Some of the biggest contributors to the growing repair backlog are transportation services, TTC and Toronto Community Housing.
Years of low taxes and under-investment in maintaining infrastructure are to blame for the city reaching this point, according to Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto. He says the backlog has grown to the point where people are noticing it day to day.
"They're seeing it in transit that now has 'go slow zones.' They're seeing it in libraries and community centres that have buckets under the roof because they're leaking," he said.
"This is what happens when you defer maintenance."
Conforti says part of the reason for growing maintenance needs has to do with major investments made in the 1960s, as much of the city's infrastructure is now reaching the end of their useful life cycles at the same time.
Provincial, federal money helping to boost budget
Conforti says two big deals with other levels of government are significant contributors to the increased investment the city is now able to make to tackle the repair backlog.
As a result of the planned upload of the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway to the province, which was announced in late 2023, the city is able to reallocate $1.75 billion to the state of good repair budget this year.
The upload is not yet finalized, but Conforti says the city is receiving funds from the province to cover expenses. He says the Gardiner was the city's "single largest state of good repair liability."
Another deal that will help address the backlog is funding from both the province and the federal government to help buy new subway trains for Line 2. The current trains are nearing the end of their useful life.
Residents can expect 'tangible' improvements, says CFO
Siemiatycki says infrastructure is often "boring until it's broken," and he's glad to see the repair backlog is being prioritized in this year's capital budget.
He notes certain assests more than others are noticeable and visible to Torontonians day to day. That sentiment was echoed by Coun. Lily Cheng in a budget committee meeting this month, when she raised concerns about the projected decrease in roads that will be in fair or good condition by the end of 2034.
"When I go to cities where the roads are excellent, I really notice now," Cheng said.
With the accumulating repair backlog still set to outpace investments, Siemiatycki says the challenge for the city will be to prioritize enough work that is visible and high quality "so people see improvements and feel like they're getting value for their tax dollars," while still funding critical repairs that may not be visible to the public.
The agencies and programs expected to see the biggest influx of funds from the Gardiner reallocation will be the TTC, parks, forestry and recreation, transportation services and community housing.
From upkeep at pools and community centres to renovating washrooms at recreation centres, Conforti says he does expect Torontonians to notice some "tangible" improvements in the next few years.