What’s New in Toronto Centre
At its June 2020 meeting, City Council approved $6,000,000 in section 37 funding for Dixon Hall to renovate the heritage properties at 502-508 Parliament Street into supportive rooming houses. Three years later, staff say the estimated project costs in December 2024 sharply increased to $13.96 million, with the opening date pushed back several months. This represented a sharp escalation in costs, and it was unclear to me when the escalation was discovered and why it wasn’t reported to my office and City Council. To better understand the construction delays and cost escalations associated with this project, I submitted an administrative inquiry.
The Executive Director of the Housing Secretariat responded, advising that the increase in costs was due to a variety of factors due to a variety of factors, including:
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Extensive additional renovation costs associated with reconfiguring the interior of the buildings to meet Building and Fire Codes, and the general age, poor condition and Heritage designation of the properties;
- COVID-related construction cost escalations;
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New life safety and security system requirements (fire escapes, sprinkler systems, security cameras);
- 2024 flooding at the site; and
- The unanticipated requirement to replace the sanitary sewer line.
City staff were aware that costs had nearly doubled as early as 2023, but failed to notify me or City Council. The Housing Secretariat agreed that this information was not adequately communicated and will ensure more frequent and proactive communication moving forward.
When it comes to future projects that involve a similar building type, staff will make considerations to ensure best use of City funds, maximum the affordable housing created and maintained, and the provision of clear and timely communication to City Council and the public.
Since this Administrative Inquiry, 504-508 Parliament has now opened. The final house at 502 Parliament Street is expected to open early in 2026.
Beginning on November 15, the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) will be deploying dedicated crisis worker teams at high-incident TTC stations 24-hours a day, seven days a week, as a pilot project that will run through the end of 2026. Since its expansion last year, TCCS has been operating city-wide as our fourth emergency service. Its workers are trained mental health professionals who provide mobile, in-person mental health supports, connections to services, and post-crisis follow-up support. To date, TCCS has already responded to approximately 29,000 calls. Both six-month and one-year evaluation reports found that TCCS resolved to 78% of calls transferred to them by 9-1-1 without needing to involve police.
Throughout August of this year there were 857 calls to Toronto Police and TTC Special Constables regarding concerns for safety, security and well-being. Crisis response teams are clearly needed in the TTC. As Chair of the Board of Health, I am proud to support this pilot project which aims to meet people where they are with compassion and care.This added layer of support will work alongside the other outreach services we already have in place, including the Downtown CORE team, Streets to Homes and the Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team.
Across the city, rogue e-bikes and e-scooters continue to cause chaos on our sidewalks and in bike lanes. While these devices offer affordable, sustainable alternatives to personal vehicles, we must ensure there are clear regulations in place to keep all road users safe.
Last year, City Council adopted a Microbility Strategy for Toronto. Since then, the City has delivered two public awareness campaigns aimed to reduce dangerous and illegal behaviours such as riding e-devices on the sidewalk and riding mopeds in the bike lane. TPS has also conducted two targeted enforcement campaigns in response to City Council direction. Council has now requested that Transportation Services and TPS continue both public awareness and enforcement efforts. The General Manager of Transportation Services has also been directed to report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in the second quarter of 2026 with recommendations from the Micromobility Safety Working Group to further improve public awareness of city rules for motorized micromobility devices. The Working Group will include representatives from a range of City divisions, external organizations such as cycling advocacy groups and app-based delivery companies, and unaffiliated riders.
The City also continues to seek support from the Provincial and Federal governments in regulating both the sale and licensing of micromobility devices. At this meeting, Council requested the Federal Minister of Transport and the Federal Minister of Health to introduce stronger regulations and enforcement addressing public safety risks posed by unregulated and uncertified electric micromobility devices. At the Provincial level, we requested the Ministry of Transportation to update the definition of power-assisted bicycles under the Highway Traffic Act to reflect the evolving range of micromobility devices currently on the market.
Recently, there have been a couple fires in Toronto Centre that are suspected to have been started by lithium-ion batteries - the rechargeable batteries found in many devices including personal devices, power tools and e-mobility devices. Across the city, Toronto Fire Services saw a 591% increase in fire incidents involving Lithium-ion batteries from 2020 to 2024. Toronto Fire Services is doing their part to mitigate these fire risks through education campaigns, but similar to the challenges with micromobility devices, the other levels of government must support us with regulation.
City Council has requested the Federal Minister of Transport and the Federal Minister of Health to introduce stronger regulations that address the public fire safety risk created by unregulated and uncertified lithium-ion batteries. This might involve new or enhanced regulations under the Consumer Product Safety Act, Canada Transportation Act, Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, and the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. We have also requested the Solicitor General of Ontario and the Office of the Fire Marshal to explore amendments to the Ontario Fire Code that address the public fire safety risk being created by uncertified and unregulated lithium-ion batteries.
