Is Toronto 'Headed For The Welfare Lines'?

Years of job losses, the expense of paying for services formerly offered by the Provincial government, and an over-reliance on property tax revenue have left Canada's largest city with a huge deficit.

2 minute read

September 27, 2007, 2:00 PM PDT

By Michael Dudley


"[Toronto], Canada's biggest (2.5 million population) and most powerful [city], seems to be headed for the welfare lines.

Largely because of [provincial program] downloading, Toronto faces a $575-million deficit this fiscal year. As a partial solution, the city may take $34 million from its budget this fiscal year and $83 million in 2008 by cutting such services as street cleaning and repair and snow removal.

Toronto's problems are of interest because many Canadian communities, including major cities such as Winnipeg and Calgary, say property taxes, their main source of revenue, can't properly finance all the jobs they've been given to do.

Downloading, unfortunately, is not Toronto's only problem. Carol Wilding, president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade, says about 100,000 jobs have been lost in Toronto since 1989, compared to 800,000 created in the outlying areas. Toronto, she says, is becoming a jobs doughnut: "lovely and rich on the outside, but empty in the middle" despite the creation of the Greater Toronto Authority, GTA, a huge district in and around Toronto, that was supposed to mitigate such problems.

There's more bad news for Toronto. The Conference Board of Canada said this month the fastest growing large cities are Saskatoon (4.7 per cent), Calgary (4.4 per cent) and Winnipeg (3.7 per cent). Poor old Toronto was eighth on the list of 13 at 2.7 per cent. On top of this, the Burj Dubai in Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, is now taller than Toronto's CN Tower."

Monday, September 24, 2007 in The Winnipeg Free Press

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight