Municipal election day in Toronto is on October 26, 2026.

The 2026 municipal election comes at a tipping point for climate and environmental action. As the province bulldozes environmental protections and leaves us vulnerable to flooding and heat, Toronto can be a stronghold of local action. 

There are many solid policies either in effect or in development that candidates can vocally support and implement, which will cut waste and litter, speed up transit, protect hundreds of thousands more trees, and save lives during heat waves. 

We need our Mayor and Councillors to commit to moving forward with the opportunities we have on the table to keep our city green.

TEA’S VISION

Local Toronto elected officials can help make a greener, more equitable, zero-waste city that is safer from climate impacts like heat and flooding.

  • Protect people from dangerous heat waves:

    • Bring in an effective and equitable maximum temperature bylaw for tenants to keep rental units at or below 26 degrees, with programs to mitigate cost passdowns
    • Continue and expand the City’s free air conditioner program
    • Update the City’s Heat Relief Strategy every year as it gets hotter

    More trees and shade:

    • Enhance the City’s private tree bylaw by protecting more trees 
    • Continue to increase budget for tree planting, watering and pruning
    • Fund more tree planting in hot neighbourhoods with less existing shade  

    Protect people from floods:

    • Increase funding for green flood-absorbing infrastructure, like the City’s Green Streets program
    • Keep funding infrastructure support for basement flooding in hard-hit neighbourhoods like Rockcliffe/Black Creek
    • Make water bills fair - charge owners of big paved lots to fix flooding 

    Fund community climate resilience work:

    • Fund more climate grants that support neighbours helping neighbours, emergency planning, wellness checks, local gardens and food security projects
    • Fund existing physical spaces to be local hubs for communities to meet, access help, and be cool during extreme heat waves 
    • Fix up Toronto’s buildings and cut emissions

    Make existing buildings more energy efficiency and climate-safe with city-wide building standards (Building Emissions Performance Standards):

    • Cut single-use trash - support reusables!
    • Get Toronto’s Single Use Strategy moving forward with new policies to cut single-use trash at big events and for dining in at restaurants
      • Cut waste in the city’s own buildings by ditching single-use for reusables
      • Don’t burn Toronto’s garbage - oppose toxic and climate-harming incineration and focus on diverting waste to blue box and green bin instead
    • Move ahead with circular economy solutions like building deconstruction requirements & procurement policies for municipal purchasing

    Additional resources on reducing waste:

    • Make transit faster, cheaper, more reliable 
      • Protect TTC fare freeze, fare capping and TTC autonomy  
      • Speed up streetcars and buses with more RapidTO transit priority measures like dedicated lanes
    • Create more transportation options
      • Keep building cycling infrastructure wherever possible as targeted in the Cycling Network Plan, support new and existing lanes in your home ward, and resist provincial attempts to remove or limit bike lanes
      • Dedicate more pedestrian-first space in public areas
    • Continue to oppose expansion of Toronto’s island airport, which would cause a downtown traffic disaster alongside more pollution, noise and devastating loss of parks, green spaces, and waterfront activity.