Coun. Brad Bradford is pushing to change the City of Toronto’s 2025 budget to offer tax relief to local businesses impacted by new tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, President Trump promised 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum. In May 2018, he imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and 10 per cent tariffs on aluminum, which lasted for one year.
“We need to protect Toronto’s economy by making our city the most attractive place in the world to build a business, invest capital and create jobs,” Bradford said on Monday.
Mayor Olivia Chow’s second budget is up for approval at Tuesday’s council meeting, where councillors can propose changes to the $18-billion spending plan. Chow can veto any changes but council can override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
Bradford wants a 25 per cent property tax cut for nearly 3,500 industrial businesses and 30,000 small businesses across the city.
Because cities can’t run deficits, Bradford’s proposal would need to be funded through higher taxes elsewhere or spending cuts. The councillor proposed his $30-million plan could be paid for by tapping into the city’s $130-million reserve fund.
Mayor said tariff impact being analyzed by city staff
Chow poured cold water on Bradford’s idea and said she doesn’t expect any “dramatic changes” to the budget.
“I do not believe that it is responsible to raid the ... reserve fund,” she said. “The reserve funds are for rainy days and there might be rainy days ahead.”
Chow said she already tasked city bureaucrats with analyzing the impact of the Trump tariffs.
“We know that we have to be strategic. We have to know precisely what we are reacting to and we have to target our support in the most intelligent way,” she said.
Toronto’s manufacturing sector already on the decline
The city’s industrial base was going through a tough time before Trump’s tariff threats.
A recent city study showed Toronto’s manufacturing was the only sector to lose jobs between 2023 and 2024. During that time, employment declined by one per cent from 128,500 to 127,400.
Over a slightly longer period, the numbers paint a grimmer picture.
In 2019, the city had over 136,000 manufacturing jobs. In the last six years, Toronto shed over 9,000 jobs in the sector, a drop of nearly seven per cent.
Small businesses, defined as having fewer than 50 employees, account for a much larger share of the city’s total jobs. In 2024, nearly 500,000 Torontonians were employed by a small business.
Bradford’s proposal would only apply to the 30,000 small businesses that qualify for an existing 15 per cent reduction on the commercial property tax rate.
A tough fight
The Beaches-East York councillor could have trouble convincing his colleagues to take his side. Chow has extraordinary power over the city budget thanks to the province’s strong mayor legislation and has many allies on council.
Bradford is a vocal Chow critic who was recently stripped of his role as the vice-chair of the city’s planning and housing committee in favour of Coun. Frances Nunziata.
However, Bradford hopes to take advantage of a rising tide of Canadian nationalism at city hall spurred by Trump’s incessant threats.
Last week, council approved a campaign to push Torontonians to buy local products over American imports. Chow also directed the civil service to find ways to reduce the city’s reliance on American suppliers — and potentially cancel existing contracts.
Given the scale of the problem, Bradford said that’s not enough.
“We must do more to address the great threat this poses to our economy and jobs in Toronto.”
