Councillor Update - February 2026

A huge thank you to everyone, including residents, business leaders and their associations, who wrote to Mayor Chow and the Budget Committee to demand that the Downtown East Action Plan (DEAP) be fully funded. Thanks to your support, funding for the DEAP will increase from $756,000 to $1.4 million this year. The plan will need a full $2.2 million in 2027, so I hope you will continue to support this significant work next year. This critical funding supports our Clean Streets teams and Community Safety initiatives to ensure our neighbourhoods are clean, safe, and welcoming.

Last December, I wrote about the impact of Premier Ford’s Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025’s impact on renters. The impact of Bill 60 goes beyond the Premier’s  fight against bike lanes in Etobicoke; it threatens to derail any current or future transportation project in Toronto that dares impact a lane of traffic. 

Bill 60 Strikes Again! The Gerrard East Complete Street project–set to provide a bi-directional cycle track between Sherbourne Street and Parliament Street–will be delayed until at least 2027. This comes after over three years of consultation and work to push this project forward by the City, overcoming issues with utility coordination and new provincial requirements related to geotechnical investigation. Gerrard East’s crime in this case isn’t even the cycle track itself, but the removal of a pair of turning lanes for traffic safety considerations. 

Bill 60 prohibits municipalities from removing a lane of traffic to accommodate a bicycle lane, or any other “prescribed purpose.” The former is frustrating, but it’s the latter “prescribed purpose” that I’m worried will scuttle projects including the pedestrianization of Market Street and yongeTomorrow (the latter of which has been delayed due to the provincial Ontario Line construction). The City can spend years planning to accommodate all modes of traffic on our streets–pedestrians, cyclists, delivery vehicles and personal automobiles–and with a stroke of its pen the province scuttles that work with a new regulation with no consultation out of nowhere. 

Transportation projects are already challenging downtown because of traffic congestion and over a hundred years of incremental infrastructure buried underneath the road. I continue to advocate for projects like the Gerrard East Compete Street, yongeTomorrow and the pedestrianization of Market Street, and vigorously oppose the province telling the City how it should design its own streets. 

On one final note, I want to thank the public for their patience after a record-breaking 56cm of snow fell on January 25. Toronto Centre residents have shown a lot of grace towards snow removal crews, despite far too many sidewalks and bike lanes and parking areas needing additional attention. Please reach out to my office if there remain any significant accessibility issues.

Yours in service,

Chris Moise
City Councillor
Ward 13 - Toronto Centre

Latest posts

The City is accepting applications for its new Material Exchange Directory, a user‑friendly online resource that will showcase local programs helping Torontonians sell, buy donate or trade materials instead of sending them to landfill.  Launching later in 2026, the directory will help residents, community groups and businesses find local organizations that support the reuse, resale or donation of excess goods and materials, including household items, equipment and building materials.   

Help shape Toronto’s waste future by sharing what matters to you. Your feedback in the final phase of the City’s Long-term Waste Management Strategy Update consultations will help inform the 10-year (2026–2036) Reduction and Diversion Plan to increase waste diversion, reduction and reuse through implementation of policies, programs and education. Join the virtual consultation on Wednesday, February 11 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm and take the online survey before Sunday, March 8. 

Share this post

Take action

Sign up for Updates
Invite Me To Your Event
Priorities
Sign up to Volunteer