The filed record
Authorization to Release Section 37 Funds for the Common Table - by Councillor Dianne Saxe, seconded by Councillor Mike Colle
The Public Gallery wrote no story on this item. What follows is the city’s own record of what happened to it, as filed: nothing on this page is summarised or scored by us.
The decision
2026-05-20 · Toronto City Council · adopted
As filed
City Council on May 20 and 21, 2026, adopted the following: 1. City Council increase the 2026 Operating Budget for Non-Program on a one-time basis by $150,000 gross, $0 net, fully funded by Section 37 funds obtained from the development at 11 to 25 Yorkville Avenue and 16 to 18 Cumberland Street (Source Account: XR3026-3701193), secured for community space, to upgrade the elevator at 162 Bloor Street West for the use of the Common Table (Cost Centre: NP2161).
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2. City Council direct that the $150,000 be forwarded to the Church of the Redeemer upon signing of an undertaking by the Church of the Redeemer that governs the use of the funds and the financial reporting requirements.
On the agenda
As the city filed it
The Common Table Drop-In Program is a grassroots community effort run each weekday morning in the basement of the Church of the Redeemer, a registered charity. Volunteers and donors feed and look after approximately 500 homeless individuals in the Yorkville area. The program offers two meals a day, toiletry supplies, basic health care services and housing referrals. The program also provides social and creative activities, psychotherapy, a membership card, support groups and more, and assists and encourages its clients to be good neighbours to the surrounding community.
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The Common Table gets no funding from the city but enjoys financial and other support from the Yorkville residential and business community. A number of the volunteers and clients have mobility limitations, and food and other supplies have to be delivered to the basement. Accessible passenger access to the basement is currently provided only by an outmoded and unreliable freight elevator, which frequently traps passengers for an hour or more. A Section 37 contribution of $150,000, combined with funds from the host church, will allow this essential infrastructure to be upgraded to provide dignified and reliable access to this program.
Staff recommended
Councillor Dianne Saxe, seconded by Councillor Mike Colle, recommends that: 1. City Council increase the 2026 Operating Budget for Non-Program on a one-time basis by $150,000 gross, $0 net, fully funded by Section 37 funds obtained from the development at 11 to 25 Yorkville Avenue and 16 to 18 Cumberland Street (Source Account: XR3026-3701193), secured for community space, to upgrade the elevator at 162 Bloor Street West for the use of the Common Table (Cost Centre: NP2161).
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2. City Council direct that the $150,000 be forwarded to the Church of the Redeemer upon signing of an undertaking by the Church of the Redeemer that governs the use of the funds and the financial reporting requirements.
On the record
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