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Mayor to hit citizens with property tax hike to cover $80 million spent on illegal migrants

October 1, 2025 | | Print Article

Little sympathy was spared for residents as a Canadian mayor threatened yet another property tax increase to cover a nearly $80 million shortfall resulting from harboring foreign nationals.

(Video Credit: CP24)

Much like blue cities across the United States squandering hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to provide food, shelter, and often spending cash, along with the increased cost in much-needed policing, Canadians have been equally plagued by the globalist agenda.

As a result, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced Monday that the lack of a federal bailout for her handouts to foreign nationals was expected to translate into a property tax increase of “at least two percent” to cover the shortfall of about $107 million in Canadian dollars.

“We have been providing shelter to people who arrive in Toronto fleeing violence, war, and persecution, but now the federal government won’t pay their bills for the service,” argued Chow as she shifted blame for the city welcoming in supposed asylum seekers. “And the city is short by $107 million. We can either stop sheltering refugee claimants, leave them on the street, which will make homelessness worse, reversing the progress we made on reducing the number of encampments, or Torontonians will have to pay for it through their property taxes.”

“Neither is fair. So the government, the federal government, must fulfill its responsibility, which is taking care of refugees and refugee claimants,” she went on.

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In a letter submitted to the Executive Committee, Chow specifically referenced a reduction in the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit for the upcoming year in a continued downward trend from $38 million in 2024 to $19.75 million in 2025 and now $7.95 million for 2026, all in Canadian dollars. As a result, Toronto would only receive 26% of the projected costs “to shelter refugees and asylum seekers” through the Interim Housing Assistance Program.”

Writing for the Toronto Sun, columnist Joe Warmington excoriated Chow over the steps she had avoided before seeking to further pick the pockets of taxpayers.

“Mayor Olivia Chow has not offered to trim any of her salary to pay for people without residency status in Toronto. Or vowed to no longer go on expensive trade missions abroad or pledge millions to pay for soccer games featuring millionaire soccer players inside a business worth billions,” wrote Warmington, who pointed out that the mayor had taken a trip to London, England, and Dublin, Ireland in July at a cost of about $23,000 USD to taxpayers.

While Chow is said to take a $161,661 USD salary, and the council had received a more than $23,000 USD per year raise, taxes in Toronto increased 7% in 2023, 9.5% in 2024, and 6.9% in 202,5 at the same time the proposed 2% increase failed to account for the property tax increase built into Chow’s 2026 budget.

Word of the mayor’s response to the shortfall found Canadian Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre reacting, “Liberals overwhelm Toronto with fake asylum seekers, forcing property taxes up on Canadians struggling to pay their mortgages. We must fix the broken Liberal immigration system.”

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That said, many were open to voters being rewarded for the policies they continued to support, as unsympathetic reactions insisted, “Wokerontonians getting exactly what they voted for. I don’t feel bad for you at all.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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