Board Meeting (Special) - January 10, 2025

Meeting No.: 2094
Meeting Date: Friday, January 10, 2025

A Special meeting of the TTC Board was held in Committee Room 1, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, and by video conference on January 10, 2025, commencing at 10:08 a.m. 

Present at

Public Session

Commissioners:

J. Myers (C

air),
J. De Laureniis (Vice-Chair),

P. Ainslie,
A. Bravo, 
F. Jagdeo,
L. Kim, A.
Malik, J. Matlow,
J. Osborne,
and D. Saxe.

Staff:

G. Percy (Interim Chief Executive Officer),
M. Atlas (General Counsel),
J. Colle (Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer),
S. Davies (Chief Capital Officer),
G. Downie (Chief Capital Officer),
J. La Vita (Chief Financial Officer),
B. Macgregor (Deputy CEO), 
F. Monaco (Chief Operations and Infrastructure Officer),
S. Naraine (Chief People and Culture Officer),
N. Poole-Moffatt (Chief of Corporate Affairs),
R. Wong (Chief Transportation and Vehicles Officer),
D. Shanmuganayagam (Chief Information Officer), 
B. Case (Executive Director - Innovation and Sustainability),
J. Montagnese (Executive Director - Finance),
K. Thorburn (Executive Director - Corporate Initiatives),
M. Del Vecchio (Head, Financial Planning and Analysis),
S. Green (Senior Communications Specialist), 
L. Lui (Head, Service Planning & Scheduling),
T. Markandaier (Head, Procurement and Category Management),
D. Metcalfe (Head, Business Management and Performance), 
C. Triggs (Director, Safety, Health and Environment),
E. Franc (Manager, Performance Reporting),
C. Finnerty (Director - Commission Services),
and L. Soto Maya (Coordinator - Secretariat Services) were present.

C. Alexander (Mayor’s Office),
D. Jain and M. Mason (Chair’s Office) were also present.

J. Myers was in the Chair.

Land Acknowledgement

Chair Myers acknowledged that the TTC Board was meeting on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, and that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Declaration of Interest – Municipal Conflict of Interest Act

Nil

Public Presentations

The Board received the following deputations for information:

• Item No. 1 - Recommended 2025 Operating Budget: 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan, 15-Year Capital Investment Plan and Real Estate Investment Plan Update
  • Kel Chen
  • Avreet Jagdev, University of Toronto Students' Union
  • Filip Panaitescu
  • Alan Yule
  • Adam Cohoon
  • Vincent Puhakka
  • Yobie Saravanabavan
  • Rudy Yuan
  • Noa Sabbah
  • Pranami Harsora
  • August Puranauth, TTC Riders
  • Zain Khurram, Toronto Youth Cabinet

Presentations/Reports/Other Business 

1. Recommended 2025 Operating Budget: 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan, 15-Year Capital Investment Plan and Real Estate Investment Plan Update

Greg Percy, Interim Chief Executive Officer, provided an introduction and Josie La Vita, Chief Financial Officer, delivered a presentation on the Recommended 2025 TTC Operating Budget; 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan,15-Year Capital Investment Plan and Real Estate Investment Plan Update.

Commissioner Matlow moved the following motion:

That the TTC Board:

1. Directs the TTC CEO and Director - Commission Services, to publicly release the TTC’s annual budget at least 10 business days prior to its consideration by the Commission.

The motion by Commissioner Matlow carried.

Commissioner Bravo moved the following motion: 

That the Toronto Transit Commission Board:

1. Establish a Strategic Planning Committee to assist the TTC Board in managing strategic planning and priorities, including through a Ridership Growth Strategy and other existing strategic documents, and direct the Director, Commission Services to report back to the February 24, 2025 TTC Board meeting on a proposed structure and meeting schedule after canvassing Commissioners’ interest in committee membership.
2. Amend the 2025 Schedule of Meetings to add a Special Meeting of the Board in September 2025 to consider recommendations from the Strategic Planning Committee, receive an update on the 2026 Budget, and discuss budget priorities informing the development of the 2026 TTC Operating Budget; 2026-2035 Capital Budget and Plan and 15-Year Capital Investment Plan and Real Estate Investment Plan Update
3. Direct the Director, Commission Services to include a Special Meeting to consider recommendations from the Strategic Planning Committee, receive an update on the next year’s budget, and discuss budget priorities informing the development of the next year’s budgets in future year’s recommended annual schedule of Board and Committee meetings for the Board’s approval, in accordance with Section 20 of the By-law to Govern Board Proceedings

The motion by Commissioner Bravo carried.

Chair Myers moved the following motion: 

The TTC Board requests that: 

1. TTC Staff conduct public consultations and develop a Ridership Growth Strategy 2.0, building upon the Ridership Growth Strategy 2018-2022 and report back to the Board in July 2025;
2. TTC staff develop a hiring strategy on the basis of the approved Ridership Growth Strategy 2.0 and report back to the Board October 2025;
3. Use the approved Ridership Growth Strategy 2.0 and associated hiring strategy to inform the 2026 TTC Budget process.

The motion by Chair Myers carried.

Chair Myers moved to adopt the item as amended: 

1. Approve a 2025 Operating Budget totalling $2.819 billion in gross expenditures, $1.432 billion in revenues and a net funding requirement of $1.387 billion for the TTC comprising the following services, as summarized in Appendix A of this report:
   a. 2025 TTC Conventional Operating Service Budget of $2.636 billion in gross expenditures, $1.423 billion in revenues and a net funding requirement of $1.214 billion; and,
   b. 2025 Wheel-Trans Operating Budget of $182.6 million in gross expenditures, $9.4 million in revenues and a net funding requirement of $173.2 million.
2. Approve $1.6 million gross and $0 net to establish a General Body Repairperson Apprenticeship program, conditional on securing funding under the provincial Skills Development Fund (SDF) Training Stream; 
3. Endorse the TTC 2025-2039 Capital Investment Plan of $53.379 billion, as outlined in Attachment 1 of this report; 
4. Endorse the TTC 2025-2039 Real Estate Investment Plan Update, including the implementation timeline, as outlined in Attachment 2 of this report; 
5. Approve a 2025 Capital Budget of $1.688 billion and future year planned estimates of $14.707 billion for a total TTC 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan of $16.395 billion, comprising the following, as outlined in Appendix D of this report:
   a. A 2025 Capital Budget of $1.618 billion and future year planned estimates of $14.615 billion, for a total TTC 2025-2034 Base Capital Budget and Plan of $16.233 billion, and,
   b. A TTC 2025 Capital Budget of $70.54 million and future year planned estimates of $92.35 million, for a total TTC 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan of $162.89 million for Transit-Expansion-Related Projects.
6. Approve a 2025 year-end workforce complement of 18,201 positions, comprised of 14,916 operating positions and 3,285 capital positions, reflecting an increase of 476 operating positions and 199 capital positions, as summarized in Appendix B of this report;
7. Reaffirm requests to the Federal and Provincial Governments for a tri-partite discussion on the development of a sustainable, long-term funding model for public transit capital and operations needs;
8. Delegate authority to the Chief Executive Officer to execute any transfer payment and/or contribution agreements required with the Province of Ontario and/or the Government of Canada to receive intergovernmental funding for priority projects and programs, subject to terms and conditions satisfactory to the TTC’s General Counsel; 
9. Forward this report to the City Budget Committee and the City Manager as the official 2025 Operating Budget and 2025-2034 Capital Budget and Plan submission for the Toronto Transit Commission;
10. Directs the TTC CEO and Director - Commission Services, to publicly release the TTC’s annual budget at least 10 business days prior to its consideration by the Commission;
11. Establish a Strategic Planning Committee to assist the TTC Board in managing strategic planning and priorities, including through a Ridership Growth Strategy and other existing strategic documents, and direct the Director, Commission Services to report back to the February 24, 2025 TTC Board meeting on a proposed structure and meeting schedule after canvassing Commissioners’ interest in committee membership;
12. Amend the 2025 Schedule of Meetings to add a Special Meeting of the Board in September 2025 to consider recommendations from the Strategic Planning Committee, receive an update on the 2026 Budget, and discuss budget priorities informing the development of the 2026 TTC Operating Budget; 2026-2035 Capital Budget and Plan and 15-Year Capital Investment Plan and Real Estate Investment Plan Update;
13. Direct the Director, Commission Services to include a Special Meeting to consider recommendations from the Strategic Planning Committee, receive an update on the next year’s budget, and discuss budget priorities informing the development of the next year’s budgets in future year’s recommended annual schedule of Board and Committee meetings for the Board’s approval, in accordance with Section 20 of the By-law to Govern Board Proceedings;
14. TTC Staff conduct public consultations and develop a Ridership Growth Strategy 2.0, building upon the Ridership Growth Strategy 2018-2022 and report back to the Board in July 2025;
15. TTC staff develop a hiring strategy on the basis of the approved Ridership Growth Strategy 2.0 and report back to the Board by October 2025; and
16. TTC staff use the approved Ridership Growth Strategy 2.0 and associated hiring strategy to inform the 2026 TTC Budget process.

The motion by Chair Myers carried.

Amended

On a motion by Commissioner Matlow the meeting adjourned at 1:11 p.m.