Some facts about City Divisions that may surprise you

The City of Toronto provides a huge number of services to improve the lives of local residents. Keep reading to learn some facts that may surprise you!

1) TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

• Maintains over 5600 km of roads, 8000km of sidewalks, 600 bridges, 600 pedestrian crosswalks, 2159 traffic signals, 1000000 road and traffic signs, 112 km of bike lanes, 168 km of bike trails, 139 km of bike routes and over 25000 pieces of street furniture.
• 600 snow plows, 300 sidewalk plows and 200 salt trucks to deal with winter storms.

2) TORONTO WATER

• Treats, transmits, stores, and distributes more than 1 billion litres of potable water daily
• Collects and treats wastewater from more than 4400 km of sanitary sewers, 4300 km of storm sewers, and 1300 km of combined sewers
• 5015 km of distribution watermains

3) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Helps local businesses expand and create jobs
• Attracts new companies and major international events
• Assists with about $500 million annual construction activity
• Helps people start and operate small business
• Attracts more than $600 million in film production
• Supports success of 70 BIAs who invest more than $23 million per year in neighbourhood revitalization
• Helps visitors discover things to see and do in Toronto

4) SHELTER, SUPPORT AND HOUSING ADMINISTRATION

• Funding for 93500 social housing units
• Emergency shelter services through 9 City shelters and 48 community facilities providing 3845 permanent beds each night
• Funding for 150 non-profit agencies to provide services to homeless people and those at risk of losing their homes
• 2800 people helped through Streets to Homes to move into permanent housing, most remaining in their new homes
• Ensures there is shelter/care for those evacuated during emergencies

5) CITY PLANNING

• 3927 development approval applications processed
• 8000 linear metres of streetscape enhancements
• 8800 properties on the City’s Heritage Inventory

6) FIRE SERVICES

• 82 fire halls
• 2790 firefighters responded to 142014 calls with 276764 vehicle responses.
• Responded to 79747 medical calls and 8283 fires
• Attended 2322 rescue calls

7) TORONTO POLICE SERVICE

• Average deployed uniform target strength of 5510 officers and 30 school resource officers
• 1385 cars, 75 motorcycles, 21 boats and 27 horses
• Responded to 876669 public calls for assistance
• 409249 vehicles stopped by RIDE

8 ) CHILDREN’S SERVICES

• More than 940 child care centres and 21 home child care agencies provide 56900 licensed child care spaces
• 24000 children are able to access a licensed space with the help of a child care subsidy
• Toronto has the second largest child care system in Canada – second only to the Province of Quebec
• Provides support to child care programs serving children with special needs

9) EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SERVICES

• More than 85000 visits to 15 City employment centres
• More than 21500 clients found employment in 2009
• Fourth largest social assistance delivery system in Canada
• Assists more than 240000 people (1 in 10 Torontonians)

10) TORONTO PUBLIC HEALTH

• 13742 food establishments inspected
• 105705 phone inquiries answered by Toronto Health Connection
• 225000 people immunized against H1N1 influenza
• 39292 home visits with pregnant women and new infants
• 15030 low income children treated in dental clinics

11) TORONTO ZOO

• More than 5,000 animals representing over 460 species
• More than 100 km of walking trails
• Approximately 1.3 million people visit the zoo each year

12) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

• 265000 requests for service annually
• 177 ambulances and response vehicles transported
• 179600 patients to hospitals
• 849 full-time paramedics
• 108 emergency medical dispatchers

13) MUNICIPAL LICENSING AND STANDARDS

• 50091 new and renewed licenses issued
• 145318 inspections conducted
• 95521 dog and cat licenses issued

14) TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY

• World’s largest urban public library system
• More than 17.5 million people visit 99 branches each year
• Almost 31 million items borrowed each year
• 1.5 million Torontonians hold library cards
• 73% of Torontonians use the library

15) SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES

• With the City’s goal of achieving 70% waste diversion, Toronto will recycle 180000 tonnes annually to save more than 2 million trees each year
• Green Bin Program is the largest curbside compost program in North America
• Green Bin Program has served more than 500000 single-family homes since 2005; expansion plans include services to 500000 apartments/condominium units

16) CULTURAL SERVICES

• More than half a million people visit the City’s 21 museums, historic sites, cultural centres and art galleries annually
• 150000 objects in the historic collection and 1 million archaeological specimens
• More than 120 event days produced annually
• Assists more than 500 of Toronto’s festivals and events

17) TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION

• Third largest transit system in North America
• 471.2 million rides a year on 1782 buses, 678 subway cars, 248 streetcars and 28 Scarborough Rapid Transit cars
• 399 Wheel-Trans buses
• Expansion plans include 7 new light rail transit lines and the expansion of the Scarborough RT (Transit City), and extension of the Spadina subway to York Region

18) TORONTO BUILDING

• 160000 buildings inspections conducted
• 28734 building permits issued with a construction value of $5.5 billion
• 3551 Residential Fastrack Building Permits issued
• 3528 pre-application and preliminary project reviews
• 767 Sign Permits issued; new Sign Bylaw effective April 6, 2010

19) PARKS, FORESTRY AND RECREATION

• 1504 named parks and 8045 hectares of green space
• More than 3 million City-owned trees on streets, in ravines and parks
• More than 62246 recreation programs offered city-wide
• Approximately 8.3 million program visits by participants

20) ENVIROMENTAL LEADERSHIP

• Toronto’s Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Action Plans target an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Key environmental programs include:

1. Live Green Toronto
2. Mayor’s Tower Renewal
3. Solar Neighbourhoods
4. Target 70% Waste Diversion
5. 20/20 The Way To Clean Air
6. Blue Flag Beaches
7. Doubling the tree canopy by 2050
8. Sustainable energy incentive funds
9. Better Buildings Partnership
10. 15% reduction in water consumption by 2011
11. Deep lake water cooling: world’s largest system
12. Green Roof Bylaw

21) LONG-TERM CARE HOMES AND SERVICES

• Operates 10 Long-Term Homes, serving more than 2566 residents
• Homemakers and Nurses Services provides more than 115000 visits each year
• Variety of physical and cognitive care provided to aged residents through adult day program – 12500 client days each year

22) AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• Housing Opportuities Toronto – An Affordable Housing Action Plan 2010-2020 proposes actions to help some 258000 households struggling with high housing costs or inadequate accommodation
• 2621 new affordable rental homes approved
• 567 new affordable ownership homes approved

10-YEAR CAPITAL PLAN

• Will invest $25.8 billion over the next 10 years and create or protect more than 300000 jobs
• Outlines the capital projects the City will undertake to develop, maintain and improve City assets such as transit, roads, bridges, community centres and libraries.