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Humber commuters can breathe a sigh of relief with the TTC set to renew their fare freeze after receiving a $1.48 billion increase from the City of Toronto’s 2026 budget, which was approved by city council on Feb. 10.
Mayor Olivia Chow’s proposed budget included a significant investment in public transit, public safety, and education, and was passed unanimously by city council.
In total, the TTC will receive $3 billion in funding this year, with $1.48 billion being subsidized by the city, and $171.9 million going towards the city’s new LRT lines, including the Line 6 (Finch West LRT), which runs to Humber Polytechnic.
Chow and TTC CEO Mandeep Lali fielded questions from several skeptical city councillors, including Brad Bradford, Jon Burnside, and Vincent Crisanti.
During a city council debate about the TTC, Burnside said to Lali, “I believe we’re not meeting all the service standards, is that correct?”
Lali didn’t answer, but his staff agreed that “there is a gap” surrounding transit service standards in Toronto.
Crisanti, the councillor for Etobicoke North, raised several questions about the state of Toronto’s public transportation system. He asked the TTC leadership team about fare evasion, the monthly pass, and fare capping.
Fare capping, a new policy in this year’s budget, aims to give TTC riders free rides after they have taken 47 rides in a calendar month. It is a new initiative in the City of Toronto and is designed to support people who can’t afford the monthly pass, which costs $156. The policy will be implemented this September.
Brad Bradford, a 2026 mayoral candidate and fiscally conservative councillor for Beaches-East York, gave the most criticism to the mayor, mainly accusing her of raising taxes on Torontonians.
“The property tax increase you had in your two previous budgets were the highest and third highest in the history of the City of Toronto,” Bradford said during an exchange with the mayor. “So I’ll give you credit, you kept your promise to Torontonians that you were ready to tax.”
Bradford was also critical of taxes he says hurt small businesses. He was unhappy with the mayor’s use of reserve funds, which he claimed led to financial hardship amongst small businesses.
“I know a bunch of businesses [that] have had to leave the City of Toronto since then … you are effectively trying to buy Torontonians’ votes with this budget,” Bradford said.
Reserve funds are used for long-term investments like housing and transportation, and for maintaining financial stability. The city reportedly has about $14 billion in these funds, with much of it labelled for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Lali’s team said that fare evasion expenses were up $141 million and decreased to $121 million after a recent audit.
“The budgeting gap has produced a five per cent return [for] on-time performance, which has proven dividends, and we’re driving that through efficiencies,” Lali said.
Chow currently has a 40 per cent approval rating ahead of the October 2026 municipal election, according to a poll by Liaison Strategies. This rating is higher than her predecessors John Tory, who sat at 33 per cent and former mayoral candidate Bradford, who sat at 18 per cent.
