For more than a decade businesses and jobs have been migrating away from the City’s urban core, resulting in increased urban sprawl, diminished air quality, traffic congestion and inefficient utilization of infrastructure. The City is now becoming the bedroom community for 905 municipalities.

Commercial development is vital to Toronto’s relevance on the local, national and international stage. In Toronto, commercial development is especially important because Toronto is Canada’s financial centre – the jobs will shift elsewhere if the cost of developing and maintaining commercial space is prohibitive. This is more than a Toronto issue – it’s a GTA and Ontario issue. The economic health of the province depends on the health of our largest city’s downtown core.

The Toronto Office Coalition supports the principle that applying taxes equitably across the region will promote economic growth and a better environment across all of the Greater Toronto Area.

TORONTO IS A GREAT CITY BUT OUR DOWNTOWN OFFICE MARKET IS UNHEALTHY.

• Toronto has lost 14,000 office jobs over the last five years – not a healthy situation for the downtown core
• Only two buildings of size have been built in last 10 years, which in the context of a 50-million square foot base is negligible growth
• Toronto may be competitive internationally but it is not competitive regionally
• Regional competitiveness is crucial – because of the markets they serve, many more companies make location decisions between Toronto and Mississauga than between Toronto and New York or other international centres
• A city where the number of businesses declines every year is not a healthy city

The Toronto Office Coalition is advocating for a means to phase in uniform commercial tax rate across the region and a phased reduction of the business education tax rate to the GTA average by 2009 as well as permanent protection of commercial property taxpayers in the City of Toronto Act.