Toronto Mayor John Torrey says he is optimistic about the future of the city’s economy, but admits that the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will take place in a “challenging” economic period.
In a speech to the Toronto Region Trade Board on Thursday, Torrey said he saw the city’s economic recovery and future growth resting on five pillars; restoring and inspiring trust, attracting new business and expanding existing ones, supporting businesses with a focus on small business, supporting growth and readiness for the future and possible “transformational change”.
Torrey said there is “always tomorrow” after the crisis, but planning is needed to make it brighter.
“That’s why I talked a lot about the recovery of the city from the pandemic, a recovery that will happen in difficult economic times,” the mayor said. “I’m fully committed to making sure Toronto comes back stronger than ever and that will be my main focus in the coming weeks and months.”
To that end, Torrey said he would bring together a group of volunteer leaders to help provide “real-time advice” as the city continues to reopen after more than two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
“I believe that the rapid pace of change and the need to adapt will continue and I will rely on this group to help us provide real-time advice and insight so we can stay nimble,” Torrey said.
Although the mayor did not go into detail about the city’s economic challenges, Toronto faces a number of obstacles. The city still faces a large budget deficit as a result of shrinking revenues. While the TTC was crowded on a daily basis, the number of passengers has not yet returned to normal and passenger models have become more unpredictable as many companies allow their employees to work from home for at least part of the week. It is also unclear how rising interest rates and inflation will affect the local economy in the coming months.
“Successfully tackling the problems we face as a city will take away everything we have,” Tori said in a speech, acknowledging that the pandemic had hurt people and businesses.
“I am committed to making sure that those who have lost so much in the last two years will get the support they need and can be confident that they will play a full and satisfying role in a strong recovery,” he added. .
He said the future of the work remained a key issue in rebuilding the city, and said the commission would consider it one of its key issues.
“This is a very deep question with potentially very profound consequences depending on the answer, so we need to get the best answer we can from our advisers and from you,” Tori told the board in his speech.
He said, for example, that just people working from home on Monday and Friday could significantly affect TTC and its revenue.
“This means a huge revenue shortfall for the transit system, because the operating costs of the system for Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and for people who go to work on Mondays and Fridays remain roughly the same, (even if it can make some changes at the edges.” said Tori. “And that creates a huge problem for us. So this is just a small example of the kinds of questions we need to answer. “
Torrey also highlighted the city’s success and highlighted recent investments from the film and pharmaceutical industries by companies such as Netflix and Sanofi Pasteur. He said he would like these successes to be replicated in other industries.
“The world has paid attention to Toronto’s history of growth and success,” Torrey said. “It was a constant conversation in the halls of the Collision conference. But at the same time, Toronto and all cities are facing difficult times.
More details on the work of the consultation panel and who will be in it are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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