Toronto Mayor John Tory says the new funding deal between the federal and provincial government including municipal cash, does not necessarily mean the city won't have to explore possible service cuts or tax increases.
"I think this will go a long way, but again, until the allocations are done quite precisely and until we see all the fine print as it were, it's premature for me to declare victory, but I will just say this is a very solid step forward," he said.
Earlier this week, Tory laid out the city was facing a $1.9 billion year-end loss, but thanks to over $500 million the city found in savings, the shortfall would be $1.35 billion.
That laid the possibility for those possible cuts or tax increases if massive funding didn't arrive soon.
He said news of the deal, worth $19 billion and $7 billion of which would go to Ontario, was welcomed, although it's unclear how much Canada's largest city would receive.
"Hopefully go a long way to making sure that the kinds of cuts or tax increases that had been discussed will be minimized or perhaps eliminated, but we'll have to wait and see," he said.
As for when the city will find out how much it'll receive, Tory suspects they'll have the number for city council meets at the end of the month.
He said negotiations for the deal can be difficult because the governing structure around funding for municipalities, but credited Premier Doug Ford and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland for getting it done.
"Staying power won the day," he said.