Councillor Lily Cheng

Toronto’s climate plan TransformTO aims for net-zero by 2040 but overlooks the city’s powerful financial sector. A U of T study found that Bay Street ranks as the 5th largest global climate polluter (behind China, the United States, Russia, and Japan) due to its fossil fuel financing—emitting nearly 100 times more than the City itself. Recently, five major Canadian banks withdrew from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, raising concerns about accountability. Despite new voluntary climate disclosure standards, stronger action is needed. A proposed Sustainable Finance Hub would help Toronto address climate risks, promote credible climate transition plans, and boost investment in clean energy—similar to initiatives in the UK and Australia.

“Queens Quay East is a rapidly growing corridor and is the major thoroughfare of the East Bayfront neighbourhood. Several key destinations and institutions are located here. The corridor has experienced major development growth over the past 15 years. The Queens Quay East Interim Priority Bus Lanes project is intended to only address the immediate and urgent challenges faced by current transit customers and is not a replacement for future higher-order transit to be provided by WELRT (Waterfront East Light Rail Transit).”

“A more protectionist posture by the new US administration and a series of economic policy announcements, including tariffs and rising to the threat of the annexation of Canada, have shattered the confidence of Canadians in this economic union, upon which the Canadian economy has long relied. While the application of tariffs presents the immediate threat, the deep uncertainty and the risk of a new US political consensus in favour of economic nationalism, pose long-term threats to Toronto’s economy.”

Ensuring that all types of housing along the housing spectrum are available, especially affordable and supportive housing, is crucial as the impacts of the climate crisis worsen. People experiencing homelessness are at a higher risk of getting heat stroke in the summer and worsening air quality from forest fires coming in from the north. These climate events can negatively impact the physical and mental health impacts of Torontonians, particularly people experiencing homelessness. For this reason, we need affordable and supportive housing now. In recent years “the City of Toronto has taken an increased role in the creation of new supportive and rent-geared-to-income (RGI) homes for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, particularly since the adoption of the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan (HousingTO Plan) and as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite increased action and investments, Toronto’s housing and homelessness crises have worsened. Deeply affordable rental housing is at risk of being lost, and difficult and volatile economic conditions have made the construction of new housing, particularly RGI, supportive, rental homes, more challenging. The shortage of supportive homes, inadequacy of social assistance rates, and need for greater mental health and social supports is illustrated most starkly by the rising number of encampments in Toronto.”

Buying local generally has environmental benefits. For instance, buying locally sourced and produced food can reduce "food miles" (the distance food travels from farm to plate), leading to lower transportation emissions and supporting more sustainable farming practices. Moreover, on February 5, 2025, City Council adopted several measures in response to potential 25% tariffs from the Trump Administration. The City Manager and relevant Divisions were instructed to create a "Buy Local, Buy Canadian" campaign to encourage residents, businesses, and city agencies to support locally made Canadian goods and services, helping protect jobs in Toronto and Ontario. Additionally, efforts to strengthen local procurement processes, as outlined in the "Sidewalks to Skylines" economic plan, were to be accelerated. The Federal Government was also urged to develop a standardized label for Canadian goods that clearly indicates the percentage of Canadian and foreign content. Finally, the motion was forwarded to all Ontario municipalities, encouraging them to join Toronto's campaign.

“Toronto needs a new arrangement with senior levels of government that ensures we have the independence necessary for 21st century cities to thrive and achieve results for residents… It's time for Canada's largest city to have the tools it needs to effectively chart its own course to decide how we grow, get around, support each other, and improve our quality of life. A City Charter will also assist in making the division of roles and responsibilities between senior levels of government and City Hall more transparent and therefore more accountable to the public.”

“City Council has committed to a phased-in approach to a universal school food program, including a universal mid-morning meal by the 2026 to 2027 school year and a universal school lunch program no later than 2030. This matter is urgent as action is needed from all orders of government, particularly as the 2025 to 2026 budgets are prepared at the Federal and Provincial levels.”

“Research from various sources based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Netherlands indicate that side guards could reduce cyclist fatalities by approximately 62%, pedestrian fatalities by 20%, and serious injuries for cyclists by 6%. However, there are currently no federal or provincial requirements for vehicles to be fitted with side guards. As the federal government sets national vehicle safety standards, the City of Toronto does not have the jurisdiction or authority to mandate all commercial vehicles operating within the City of Toronto be equipped with side guards. However, City Council, through Vision Zero 2.0, authorized the implementation of side guards and a comprehensive fleet safety and accountability program for all Solid Waste Management Services (SWMS) vehicles, both in-house and contracted. Currently, thirty (30) units in the City’s fleet are equipped with side guards.”

Densification is an important part of becoming more energy efficient and systemically reducing emissions from buildings in Toronto. Smaller homes require less energy for heating and cooling rooms. The recommended "As-of-right Zoning for Mid-rise Buildings on Avenues" is part of the Housing Action Plan to enable more housing along major streets and avenues. It includes updated "Rear Transition Performance Standards" and aims to allow "as-of-right heights and densities" for mid-rise buildings, potentially adding nearly 61,000 new dwelling units. These changes support the goal of meeting or exceeding the provincial housing target of 285,000 new homes over the next decade.

“In recent news that the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail transit won’t open in 2024 is yet another disappointing setback for the many Torontoians that live and work along the line that is al least a billion dollars over budget and has delays for years…Residents and businesses along 19 kilometres of Eglinton Avenue hav ebeen enduring over 12 years of hardship due to the endless construction…Despite repeated calls by City Council demanding greater transparency and accountability, Metorlinx continues to refuse to explain the repeated delays, cost overruns and won’t even set a forecasted completion date.”

“Fossil fuel companies have a well-documented history of using their immense wealth for advocacy advertising to undermine public support for policies that reduce fossil fuel pollution. Such policies are necessary and urgent to preserve a liveable future for today’s young people. The Pathways Alliance, a coalition of six billionaire fossil fuel companies who produce 95% of tar sands bitumen, has actively advertised for this purpose in Toronto, eliciting a number of public complaints. Another fossil fuel lobby group, Canada Action, has also actively advertised across Canada.”

“At its meeting on July 24, 2024, City Council approved the award of a contract to construct and deliver two new fully electric ferry vessels for operations to and from Toronto Island. This [item is] in response to Council's request outlines the work plan to install shoreside infrastructure at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal ("Shoreside Infrastructure Project")”.

“The rising cost of groceries is putting pressure on families in our City. In Toronto, nearly one in three food bank clients are children and youth. The reality is, in our city with so much wealth, we have thousands of kids going to school every single day hungry. When you’re hungry, you can’t learn. We need our kids to be able to focus on their teacher, not their hunger. We know that student meal programs increase attendance, improve math, science and reading scores, reduce dropouts, and create healthier communities.”

“As a result of climate change, Toronto is experiencing more frequent and severe storms, resulting in flooding events that impact our road and transit network, our homes and businesses, and our infrastructure. While the City must invest in meeting our emissions reduction goals, we must also invest in mitigating the impacts of climate change a making our city more resilient.”

“The City of Toronto’s TransformTO Net Zero Strategy indicates that meeting our climate goals and reaping the benefits to health, equity, prosperity, and resilience, is heavily dependent on the availability of affordable, reliable, low-carbon electricity. The City identified that the need for all parties to work together to transition Ontario’s electricity system away from natural gas to a resilient system focused on low-carbon energy sources, distributed local renewable energy generation, storage, and energy efficiency.”

“Natural gas is a fossil fuel responsible for over half of Toronto’s annual greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions as the primary energy source for heating buildings…Enbridge Gas Inc. (“Enbridge”) is the utility serving Toronto's consumption of natural gas through a network of transmission and distribution pipelines that connect to over 550,000 gas customers in Toronto.”

“There is a history of community advocacy for change on Avenue Road. Narrow sidewalks and lack of bikeways, excessive vehicular speeds, and a history of collisions resulting in fatality or serious injury are highly vocalized concerns. Most recently, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, a person was fatally injured while cycling on Avenue Road near Elgin Avenue.” The changes proposed in this item “would [help] improve both safety and mobility options by providing improved cycling connections to transit, parks, local schools, businesses, and residences.”

“A successful city requires a transportation system that is safe for people of all ages and abilities. Research and experience across North America have shown that when cities do not provide safe and comfortable alternatives to driving, the majority of residents travel by motor vehicle…Travel mode choice is a crucial aspect of creating healthy, livable cities, and requires investing in new transit, bikeway and pedestrian projects.”

“The Portlands Energy Centre is a 550 megawatt fossil natural gas electricity generating station located in the Port Lands. In September 2023, proposed upgrades to the facility were announced, which would expand its electricity generating capacity by 50 megawatts.”

Back in March 29, 2023, City Council adopted an item called ‘Place Names in the Port Lands’. “City staff have been working with an Indigenous engagement consultant and Elder to design the engagement process”. This includes a place naming advisory circle, which will recommend an Indigenous name for the Island and proposed names for streets and parks to be considered by City Council in fall 2024. The item also emphasizes future opportunities for the City to "collaborate with Indigenous communities" and integrate "Indigenous knowledge systems, oral histories, protocols, and connections to the land" into the waterfront revitalization process.

“In 2023, Toronto Parking Authority made recommendations to Toronto Parking Authority's Board and City Council to modernize Bike Share Toronto's rate structure…City Council's adoption of the new rate structure included several amendments regarding the development of new payment methods, special passes, an accelerated implementation schedule for a low-income pass and completion of an equity-based investigation into the impacts of the new rate structure on the inner suburbs.”

“In Toronto’s weather, because of…frequent fluctuations above and below zero, no bike lane is “safe and passable” unless it is cleared to bare pavement. Layers of snow/slush that are passable for cars quickly become icy and unsafe for bicycles. Last year, protected bike lanes (cycle tracks) were generally properly cleared after the first few weeks of confusion. However, on-road bike lanes were often left hazardous with frequent patches and barriers of ice, especially in the most dangerous locations such as curves and hills…[In addition], improved winter bike lane maintenance is necessary for Vision Zero and to support Toronto’s climate commitments.”

“While the majority of transit planning efforts in the City of Toronto are focused on higher-order transit initiatives, bus and streetcar routes provide transit services across most parts of the city as complements to, and extensions of, the higher-order transit network. Currently, 70% of all TTC journeys include a surface transit trip. Improving the reliability of bus and streetcar transit supports the City's priority of keeping Toronto moving. A reliable surface transit network is essential to enable people to move around the city and access employment, business/retail, education and recreational/cultural facilities, particularly for Neighbourhood Improvement Areas and equity-deserving communities.”

“Existing buildings are Toronto’s largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for approximately 58% of total community-wide emissions…Mandatory emissions performance standards for all existing buildings that will require improved emissions performance over time is the most critical of these actions to drive transformation.”

“The transportation sector as a whole represents an estimated one third of the city’s total emissions, of which the VFH industry contributes 4-6% of total transportation emissions. The VFH industry, which encompasses taxicabs, limousines, and private transportation companies (PTCs) such as Lyft and Uber, has a unique opportunity to be a leader in zero emission transportation, as VFH on a per-vehicle basis travel three to four times the number of yearly kilometres driven by private passenger vehicles.”

In May 2023, “City Council adopted “A Clean Energy Future for Toronto” which expressed City Council’s objection to any increase in the burning of fossil fuels in the City. Spurred on by a Provincial proposal to increase emissions at the Portlands Energy Centre, this Item underlined the commitment of the City to its climate goals. The Provincial Government then announced that their interpretation was that the increased emissions from the Portlands Energy Centre would not be subject to the requirement to obtain municipal consent.”

“The Government of Ontario is moving forward with plans to increase electricity generation in our province by including in the mix additional natural gas-fired power production despite the increase in greenhouse gasses this will bring. The Electricity Distributors Association, of which Toronto Hydro is a member, has produced studies showing that investment in conservation and efficiency would meet the Province's energy goals at a much lower price than adding more natural gas-fired power generation. Locally the new provincial policy could mean burning more fossil fuels at the Portlands Energy Centre on our waterfront when the City of Toronto has repeatedly committed to combatting climate change through reduced emissions.”

“The Line 3 Scarborough Rapid Transit will be decommissioned by [the end of]2023, with the Scarborough Subway Extension set to replace it by 2030. In the interim, the Toronto Transit Commission has approved a plan to serve the SRT's 35,000 daily riders with up to 70 express buses per hour, using transit priority measures such as priority bus lanes and transit signal priority on key roads. These measures will connect Kennedy Station and Scarborough Town Centre Station. Monitoring will guide improvements and inform long-term transit strategies under the RapidTO program” which may help improve transit service and reduce impact on road users.

“In recent months, Toronto has experienced an increased level of traffic gridlock. This does not only impact motor vehicles, but also other modes of transportation, especially public transportation. It is important to attract riders back onto the TTC and our vast public network. Not only will this reduce the number of vehicles on the road, but it would encourage a wider array of transit options for commuters. Gridlock can be reduced and improved without major street reconstructions.”

“Continued ambitious climate actions and programs will be critical to reaching the City’s 2025 target of 45 per cent GHG emissions reduction from 1990 levels. Further, these efforts must be scaled up to reach Toronto’s community-wide future targets of a 65 per cent reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2040.”

“The climate crisis and Toronto's TransformTO goals require that most local trips under 5 kilometers be made by active transportation, i.e. by walking, bike, wheelchair or similar means. This goal cannot be achieved if cyclists and wheelchair users must put their lives at risk to get around our City.”