Paula Fletcher

This report provides an update in response to Council direction (2025.MM29.9) for staff to engage with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) Foundation, the Ward Councillor, stakeholders and local residents to explore the feasibility of revitalizing and reimagining the Weston Lions Arena.

The Weston Lions Arena is a City-owned facility managed by the Weston Lions Club under a nominal lease since 1970. As directed, City staff in Parks and Recreation and Corporate Real Estate Management, in consultation with staff in Social Development, worked collaboratively with the local Councillor’s office and MLSE Foundation to explore the feasibility of reimagining the Arena. Specifically:

- Staff reviewed the City’s current community programming available in the Weston area and how this could be significantly enhanced through free, high-quality youth recreation, mentorship, and employment development opportunities that MLSE LaunchPad's "Sport for Development" program could bring by integrating sport, life skills and academic supports.

- Staff compared the long-term capital and operating financial implications of maintaining the Weston Lions Arena in its current state versus partnering with MLSE LaunchPad. This included consideration of ongoing operational costs, community benefit return, and long-term sustainability through a nominal lease arrangement.

- Staff examined ways to minimize disruption for existing ice users and evaluated the feasibility of relocating current programs to nearby arenas. Parallel analysis explored whether the proposed change, including the potential loss of one ice pad, would negatively impact overall access to ice within the Etobicoke York District. This will be addressed further through the forthcoming Ice Facilities Strategy under the Parks and Recreation Facilities Plan.

- Consistent with Council direction under MM29.9, staff collaborated with the local Councillor and MLSE LaunchPad in development of a comprehensive, iterative community engagement plan to explore feasibility and assess support for the proposal.

- Supported by City staff, the local Councillor and MLSE LaunchPad co-led a first phase of community engagement in August and September 2025. Through online surveys and in-person consultations, local residents and youth consistently expressed support for transforming the arena into a community hub focused on youth development and inclusion.

Revitalization through the MLSE Foundation would result in an estimated $25 million investment by MLSE, with potential to deliver major repairs and capital improvements to the existing facility. As part of this investment, the facility's seasonal ice pad would be removed and a new, year-round multi-sport facility would be created through MLSE's LaunchPad model.

Through implementation of the LaunchPad service model, the proposal is anticipated to advance positive community outcomes, City-wide funding priorities, and strategic objectives, including enhanced access to free, accessible programming in sport and recreation, life skills development, and academic support for children and youth facing barriers to participation. These will be delivered with no capital financial impact to the City at this location, and operating impacts of relocating existing ice users to other locations will be absorbed in annual operating budgets and off-set by new permit fees being paid to the City for use of ice.

This report provides the findings of the engagement to date, which confirm feasibility of the proposal and indicate broad community interest and support in the potential redevelopment and service model. Based on these findings, staff recommend that City Council authorize staff to negotiate a long-term, nominal lease with MLSE LaunchPad to operate the Weston Lions Arena and direct staff to continue working with MLSE LaunchPad, the local Councillor, and community stakeholders on the arena’s redevelopment, including consultation on its future design and programming

I was among the many Torontonians shocked to learn the Province of Ontario was contemplating ways to change or end “security of tenure.” While I am relieved that the Province has withdrawn plans to consult on this cut to renters’ rights, Bill 60 is still very concerning.

Fifty percent of Torontonians rent their homes. They have the right to feel secure, without fear of baseless evictions or needlessly paying more of their hard-earned income towards rent.

Some have claimed that the changes in Bill 60 will incentivize developers to build, however our experience at the City shows us that making it easier to evict renters is not what builds housing. Our successful Rental Housing Supply Program is waiving development charges for projects that build new rental supply and include affordable units. Through this program, Toronto is building 8,177 new homes in 15 developments. This program and other City-led and City-supported projects accounted for 65 percent of all housing starts in Toronto this year and we are on track to build 25,000 homes this year and next. If the Province wants to build more rental housing, they should join us and make it more affordable to build homes.

As Mayor, I have bolstered programs that protect renters, such as the Rent Bank, Eviction Prevention in the Community, and the Tenant Support Program (formerly the Tenant Defence Fund). We established a Renovictions Bylaw to prevent illegal evictions and hired more RentSafeTO inspectors so housing units are maintained in a state of good repair. We have expanded funding to help non-profits purchase buildings (MURA) so rent can be stable and kept affordable forever. 

Sadly, our progress to empower and protect renters is at risk due to the Province of Ontario’s new legislation. Bill 60 proposes changes to the Residential Tenancies Act that would make it easier to evict renters, and cut the financial compensation renters get when they are evicted. If passed, Bill 60 would:

-Block renters from introducing any new evidence and issues to support their cases at Landlord Tenant Board hearings.

-Deny renters the ability to challenge “voluntary evictions” when they have been pressured or misled into signing an N11.

-Cut in half the time available for renters to appeal unfair decisions at the Landlord Tenant Board to just 15 days.

-Eliminate the requirement for landlords to provide 1 month’s rent as compensation to renters when being evicted for “personal use” through an N12. Often, renters rely on this compensation to help them move or find a new home.

-Make it easier for landlords to evict renters by cutting notice periods in half, cutting the options for requesting an eviction be postponed, and hiring more enforcement officers to forcibly remove renters from their homes.

These proposed changes will make hardworking families less able to defend themselves against large real estate investors. Many of which are known to buy affordable rental housing and then find ways to raise the rent or remove tenants.

Tenant rights must be protected. Millions of people who rent their homes now, and the next generation looking for a place to live, need the same long-term security in their homes as everyone else. Instead of cutting renters’ rights, the province should restore rent control on homes built after 2018, invest in more resources at the Landlord Tenant Board so cases are heard more quickly, and invest in incentives for new purpose-built rental construction.

The purpose of this report is to provide City Council with an update on key directives pertaining to the Toronto Ferry Service, including the implementation status of recommendations arising from the operational review, progress on the fabrication and delivery of the new electric vessels and actions to improve the customer experience at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal.

In October 2024, City Council directed staff to conduct a review of the Toronto Ferry Service. Staff provided the findings of the review in a report to City Council in March 2025, including recommendations to strengthen fleet maintenance, asset management, safety oversight, and workforce planning. The review also included guiding principles for organizational alignment, which informed staff’s decision to reposition the ferry operation within the Fleet Services Division. Parks & Recreation and Fleet Services continue to collaborate to prepare for this transition, which will take place on November 1, 2025, ensuring continuity of service, knowledge transfer, and effective change management.

The fabrication of the City’s two new electric vessels is underway, with the first ferry scheduled for delivery in Q4 2026 and the second in Q2 2027. Extensive coordination of shoreside infrastructure, vessel commissioning, federal (Transport Canada) regulatory certification, and crew training is being carefully sequenced to prepare the ferries for passenger service. The project remains on track, within budget, and positioned to enable the future evolution of Toronto’s ferry service.

The City’s ferry ticketing system has reliably supported operations for over a decade and will remain in use under the current contract through 2030. Currently, staff are analyzing options to modernize the system while maintaining a strong focus on improving the overall customer experience at the terminal.

As the largest city in Canada, the people and businesses of Toronto are significant consumers of materials and goods, a majority of which end up in landfills that are quickly approaching capacity. A circular economy refers to a society-wide approach to production and consumption that aims to eliminate landfill waste and maximize resources by recovering as much as possible from used products. Transitioning to a circular economy not only supports sustainability, but also sparks innovation, creates jobs, addresses climate change and reduces costs related to waste management.

The City has been working on its circular economy transition since Council set an aspirational goal in 2016 to work towards zero waste and to make Toronto the first municipality in the province of Ontario with a circular economy. Building on this work, the City has developed its first "Circular Economy Road Map" (the Road Map) (Attachment 1).  

The Road Map was shaped by valuable input from residents, Indigenous people, industry and peer cities around the world, including London (UK), Glasgow, Rotterdam and members of the Canadian Circular Cities and Regions Initiative. It sets out a vision for Toronto’s circular economy transition over the next 10 years through five Strategic Directions and 15 Actions to support waste reduction and sustainable consumption in Toronto, with a focus on addressing wider consumption behaviours that generate waste. Through the Road Map, the City will deliver incentives, supports and programs for residents and businesses that make circular solutions easy and accessible. It will also lead by example by embedding circular practices into its own operations, while also identifying and addressing barriers to create an enabling environment for businesses and community to pursue their own circular innovations.

The Road Map will be implemented by multiple City Divisions using a whole-of-city approach (see Attachment 2 for the City's 3-Year Circular Economy Road Map Implementation Plan). City staff have identified key initiatives to prioritize beginning in 2026, which include communicating the benefits of circularity, establishing forums to hear from circular businesses, identify barriers and co-develop solutions and determining whether existing resources and programs, such as the Green Market Acceleration Program, could be used to support circularity. Additionally, the City will assess the feasibility of a reuse hub to stimulate a secondary market for construction materials and is seeking Council authority to implement a second intake period of the Circular Food Innovators Fund, a grant program that supports businesses in implementing reuse systems that eliminate single-use and takeaway items.  

Implementing the Road Map is expected to further strengthen Toronto’s leadership profile and position the City among the global peer cities that are advancing the transition to a circular economy. Furthermore, the Road Map actions support the City in adapting to trade uncertainties and affordability concerns, with the circular economy offering a framework for enabling supply chains and businesses to become more resilient by decoupling operations from the extraction of natural resources, increasing material security and reducing exposure to price volatility.[1], [2] Beyond supply chain considerations, circular solutions offer a pathway to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cannot be addressed by the renewable energy transition alone, including global greenhouse gases attributed to the production of materials, products, food and land management.[3] A transition to circular business models offers an opportunity for circular jobs and skills building,[4] innovation and new business partnerships and creates the pathways for residents to consume more sustainably and make the most out of the things they purchase through strategies like reuse and repair.

City staff will provide regular progress updates to City Council on the implementation of the Road Map. The first update will be delivered in 2029, following the initial three years of implementation (2026 - 2028).

[1] Rajaonson, Juste. (April, 2025). A stronger Canadian economy starts with a circular economy in cities and regions. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/04/circular-economy/
[2] Jensen, Henrik Hvid. (February, 2024). How the circular economy secures manufacturing supply chains. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/02/how-manufacturers-could-lead-the-way-in-building-the-circular-economy
[3] Canadian Climate Institute. (March, 2023). How circularity can contribute to emissions reductions in Canada. https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/how-circularity-can-contribute-emissions-reductions-canada.pdf
[4] Circular Economy, Solutions for Youth Employment, and International Labour Organization. (May, 2023). Decent work in the circular economy. https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5d26d80e8836af2d12ed1269/6459fd6277ede78534464251_20230424%20-%20CJI%20-%20Decent%20work%20in%20the%20circular%20economy%20-%20210x297mm.pdf

This report requests that Toronto and East York Community Council deny the request for a permit to remove one privately owned ravine-protected tree located at 171 Neville Park Boulevard. The applicant indicates the reason for requesting removal of the tree is as a precautionary measure to mitigate the risk of failure that could result in serious injury or loss of life.

The red oak tree (Quercus rubra) measures 93 cm in diameter. The City's Tree By-laws do not support the removal of this tree as it is healthy and maintainable. The permit was denied, and the applicant is appealing the decision. Community Council has delegated authority from City Council to make a final decision as to whether a permit may be issued when an applicant appeals the City's decision to deny a tree permit.

At its meeting on September 25, 2025, the Toronto Parking Authority - Audit and Risk Management Committee considered Item PR11.6 and made recommendations to the Board of Directors of the Toronto Parking Authority.

Summary from the report (September 2, 2025) from the President, Toronto Parking Authority:

As part of Toronto Parking Authority's operation of commercial parking, the management of tenanted properties and Bike Share Toronto, TPA is dealing with a range of legal matters related to supplier disputes, personal injuries, commercial tenancy disputes and the protection of Toronto Parking Authority’s registered trademarks. Toronto Parking Authority has suitable insurance in relation to such concerns, including general liability insurance for all of its facilities, and has assigned/retained legal counsel and insurance adjusters to manage any claims.  

Details about the specific legal disputes are included in Confidential Attachment 1. 

This report is a reoccurring update provided to the Board about the status of ongoing legal disputes. The Board will be provided with updates twice annually as substantive changes occur to the status of the specific legal disputes.  

The legacies of Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Anne Innis Dagg have reshaped global and Canadian understanding of wildlife and conservation. At the Toronto Zoo, young people get inspired every day to follow in their footsteps with curiosity about the natural world and how we can respect and learn from it.

Dr. Jane Goodall has inspired generations worldwide through her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and her tireless advocacy for conservation and youth empowerment through the Roots and Shoots program. Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, a Canadian zoologist, author, and trailblazer in animal behaviour research, is internationally recognized as the pioneer of modern giraffe field research and a tireless advocate for both wildlife conservation and the advancement of women in science.

Both Dr. Goodall and Dr. Innis Dagg embody values of courage, perseverance, and hope for protecting the natural world, and their legacies can ignite passion in young people to take positive action for our future. Access to nature provides students with unique experiential learning opportunities that cannot be replicated in a classroom, fostering empathy, critical thinking, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of biodiversity and the challenges facing our planet.

Creating a “Legacy of Learning” program that provides free school field trip access for Toronto students to the Toronto Zoo will both honour the extraordinary contributions of Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Anne Innis Dagg and invest in the next generation of Guardians of Wild, ensuring that young Torontonians inherit not only knowledge but responsibility to care for the planet.

Learning through direct connection with animals aligns with the Toronto Zoo’s mission of connecting people, animals, traditional knowledge and conservation science to fight extinction, and with its Guardians of Wild Strategic Plan goal to inspire youth to become active champions for wildlife and the environment and supports the Toronto Zoo’s TZNet0 Plan. This program will also support the City of Toronto’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and various City efforts to support young people.

This motion is urgent as adequate time is required to develop the program design and implementation plan to report back as part of the 2026 budget process.

Intimate Partner Violence is a pervasive and urgent issue that affects individuals, families, and communities across Toronto. It manifests in various forms—physical, emotional, financial, sexual, and coercive control—and its impact extends far beyond the individuals directly involved, leaving lasting harm on children, families, and communities. 

There are many services available to Torontonians, including shelters, hotlines, and crisis programs—but many people don’t know they exist, or feel too afraid or ashamed to reach out. Advocacy groups continue to sound the alarm that professionals are seeing increased cases of physical violence, confinement, and financial and emotional abuse in recent years. For example, Toronto’s Barbra Schlifer Clinic alone served 18,000 survivors from April 2023-March 2024.

Recognizing the severity of this issue, Toronto City Council, led by Mayor Olivia Chow, declared intimate partner and gender-based violence an epidemic on July 20, 2023. This declaration was passed unanimously and aligns Toronto with over 30 Ontario municipalities that have made similar declarations, following the recommendations of the 2022 Coroner’s Inquest into the deaths of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam. This inquest highlighted the urgent need for systemic change and called for formal recognition of Intimate Partner Violence as an epidemic. 

Despite Council’s declaration, Intimate Partner Violence incidents continue to rise in Toronto (from 2023 to 2024), with Toronto Police attending to 18,119 incidents in 2024. Many individuals still suffer in silence due to fear, stigma, and lack of awareness of available resources. A comprehensive public communications campaign is crucial for raising awareness, reducing stigma, and ensuring that every resident knows where to turn for assistance. Such a campaign would not only inform but also empower individuals to seek assistance, fostering a community-wide response to this epidemic. Survivors should be able to access key information across the City in the many places where they interact with City services. 

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in Toronto. Its courts are in high demand, with hundreds now across our city.

In 2023, City Council directed a report back as part of the reassessment of the Parks and Recreation Facilities Plan a review of the need for pickleball provision across the City, this work is underway.

Since this direction, other groups, including the City of Ottawa and British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association have developed their own pickleball strategies which have included noise mitigation efforts, due to the loud and frequent sound of the hard plastic ball hitting a solid paddle. As pickleball popularity grows, City Councillors offices are receiving more frequent complaints related to noise from these courts. To address these concerns holistically, implementation of the Parks and Recreation Facilities Plan’s recommendations on Pickleball should include considerations for noise impacts generated by this activity.

Although Toronto Public Health promotes eye examinations, it does not offer school-based eye examinations based on the dental model. Studies have shown that students with visual impairments have limited ability to learn incidentally. This affects how they form concepts and develop schema or frameworks for understanding new ideas and vocabulary that provide essential foundation skills for comprehension and abstract reasoning. Visual processing directly impacts one’s ability to learn, read, and retain information. Learning in school is typically directed at visual processing 75 percent of the time. So, to do well in school and in life, developing one's visual system is critical. Educational studies and epidemiological results have documented the high prevalence of poor vision among school-age students because of exposure to prolonged vision-demanding academic tasks and prolonged indoor sedentary lifestyles. Megan Collins, a pediatric ophthalmologist at the Wilmer Eye Institute, associate faculty at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Consortium for School-Based Health Solutions concluded in one study that “giving kids the glasses they need helps them succeed in school. This collaborative project with Johns Hopkins, Baltimore City and its partners has major implications for advancing health and educational equity all across the country.” Toronto Public Health has noted, “Each year, thousands of children start school without ever having an eye exam. Parents often believe that their child will let them know that they cannot see well, but children are rarely able to tell that they have poor vision because they have nothing to compare it to. That’s why we recommend that all children have their first eye exam at 6 months old, again at 2-3 years old, and every year after that." As many do not take this advice, it is recommended that Toronto Public Health explore the viability of co-ordinating school-based eye examinations for elementary students in high needs areas at the start of the school year.