I’ve been working hard with the Mayor and Council to ensure that this year’s city budget is investing in what’s important and serving us better.
Registration for spring recreation activities are open across the city. Toronto residents will be able to register for more than 16,700 courses with more than 151,000 spaces offered in swimming, arts and crafts, sports, fitness and much more, including adapted and accessible programs. Most registered programs begin on March 28.
Mark your calendars, as we'll be hosting our fourth annual Community Environment Day at Regent Park on July 4. Every year, I’m so happy to see so many community members come to drop off and recycle their hazardous waste, electronics and shredding. Regent Park will have bagged compost again this year. Last year, it was so popular that we ran out by 1:00 pm, so mark your calendars and come early!
It’s been a very busy fall and winter in Toronto Centre and at City Hall, and I’m proud to see that more and more results are visibly taking shape.
Together, we’ve made real progress and delivered real results. Encampments in our parks are now virtually zero: the plan that my team and I have put in place, in conjunction with fast responses by our City’s social services partners, has meant that hundreds of people have now come out of the cold and into supportive and transitional housing, where they can better access the supports and services they need.
Similarly, here in Toronto Centre we’ve achieved 10,257 housing starts: we’re building and delivering more housing and affordable housing. We’ve acquired a new, much larger building for the St Lawrence Library to move to in a couple of years so that it can serve Moss Park as well. We even made our voices heard and reversed a proposed cut to the Downtown East Action Plan – which now will really start ramping up this spring and summer.
This year, the clocks “spring forward” at 2:00am on Sunday, March 8. The start of daylight saving time means fewer daylight hours in the morning hours and reduced visibility for all road users. As the clocks “spring forward”, I am reminding all Torontonians, especially those driving, to stay alert, obey the speed limit and help keep Toronto’s streets safe for everyone.
The City of Toronto has issued 2026 interim property tax bills. Property owners who pay their interim property tax bill by the regular installment schedule should note that payments are due March 2, April 1 and May 1. Final tax bills will be mailed in May.
On February 13, the City of Toronto welcomed 58 new Traffic Agents to help ease congestion and keep Toronto moving safely. The City now has more than 100 active Traffic Agents who are deployed to some of Toronto’s most congested intersections during peak periods to effectively manage the safe movement of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
Spring recreation activities are now available to view and add to your wish list ahead of registration opening in early March. Early Local Registration begins on Tuesday, February 24 for eligible residents living near participating Free Centres. Registration for Older Adult 60+ programs starts on Monday, March 2. Other registrations open on Tuesday, March 3 for Etobicoke York and Toronto East York and on Wednesday, March 4 for Scarborough and North York. Most registered programs begin on Saturday, March 28.
Lace up your skates and join the Friends of Regent Park, Parks and Recrearation and me for a free Family Day Skate in Regent Park! Saturday, February 14, 2026, 12:00-6:00 pm at the Regent Park Ice Rink, 480 Shuter Street.
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.