Toronto mayor calls on province, feds to protect city's downtown core from 'ravaging economic impacts' of COVID-19

Toronto Mayor John Tory speaks during a press conference in Toronto on February 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

TORONTO — Mayor John Tory is urging the federal and provincial governments to take further action to protect Toronto’s downtown core, which he says has been “devoid of activity” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips and federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Tory said there is “increasing concern” among business leaders and civic associations about the future of downtown cores in major cities in Canada and around the world.

“While experts expect the downtown to start bouncing back once people feel safer and travel resumes that could be many months away, or even longer for business travel and tourism,” Tory wrote.

“The vibrancy of the downtown when staff and travellers return could be dramatically different if the hospitality, entertainment and cultural industries are decimated with the associated huge loss of jobs and investment in these sectors.”

The mayor noted that approximately 90 per cent of the city’s 400,000 office workers are not coming into the downtown core every day and with the exception of a small number of professional hockey teams occupying hotels as part of the NHL bubble, most of the 17,000 hotel rooms in Toronto remain empty.

Post-secondary campuses in the city’s core are also down about 100,000 students and professors this fall, Tory said, and tens of thousands of hospitality workers have been laid off.

Aside from those who reside in the downtown core, few people are shopping or dining in the city, the mayor said.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Toronto in March, I have convened consultations with stakeholders about what government can do to address the ravaging economic impacts of isolation as a key preventive measure for the transmission of the disease,” Tory’s letter read.

“We recently conducted another round of rapid, yet broad consultations and as we have heard consistently since day one, liquidity remains the number one issue.”

Tory put forward a few recommendations that would help mitigate the financial blow to downtown businesses heading into the fall.

The mayor said a property tax deferral program could help hotels and larger attractions stay afloat while keeping “municipal cash flow whole.”

“Municipalities could then allow these facilities to defer their property taxes with repayments stretched over a number of years, with the province establishing a fund that the municipalities could draw from to replace the lost revenue,” he said.

“When the hotels repay, the municipality would then repay.”

Tory is also asking the federal government to replace the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program with a “simplified version” that focuses on hotels, large attractions, main street retail, and other small businesses that have taken a major hit as a result of the pandemic

The mayor also wants to see the provincial moratorium on commercial evictions extended until at least the end of the year.

His final recommendation is that the federal government keep the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program in place past Dec. 31 for the aforementioned sectors.

Tory asked that the other levels of government support a review to come up with a plan for “reviving, renewing, and repositioning” main streets and downtown cores in the medium to long term.

“This review is especially needed if work from home has any appreciable staying power. Membership should include all three governments, landlords, tenants and key sector associations,” he added.

Tory reiterated his belief that Canada’s economic recovery is dependent on thriving cities.

“If made now, these investments will not only help protect businesses, but will ensure our economy comes back strong by protecting valuable jobs and keeping our communities vibrant,” his letter conc