Explainers

Plain-language, 8th-grade-reading-level explainers on what’s actually going on in this city — what’s wrong, what’s been proven to work elsewhere, and what we could choose together. Every figure carries a source. Nothing here is a demand; each one ends with one honest question you can ask any candidate.

The City’s Money, Good Government & Democracy

Toronto’s budget gap, the frozen property-tax assessment, and what citizen budgeting has done elsewhere.

Homes & Homelessness

The social-housing waitlist, who funds shelter and housing, and what Housing First has done in Houston and Finland.

Getting Around

Traffic deaths, congestion costs, transit ridership, and what road pricing has done in Stockholm and New York.

Cost of Living, Food & Family Essentials

Food bank visits at a record high, child-care progress that’s still unfinished, and rising utility bills.

Safety & Emergency Readiness

Paramedic offload delays, police response times, and Toronto’s own Community Crisis Service.

Clean, Green & Resilient

Waste diversion, climate adaptation, ravines and biodiversity, and water and wastewater infrastructure.

Community, Culture, Sport & Belonging

Arts and culture funding, sport and recreation access, and what belonging looks like in practice.

Newcomers

Refugee-claimant shelter pressure, settlement services, and credential recognition.

Technology, AI & the Automated City

Who decides how AI is used on residents, who approved self-driving vehicles for our streets, and who gets left out of the digital city.