How the city will (and won’t) stop stormwater from flooding our basements

If you came home to a flooded basement last summer, you’re not alone.

On July 16, 2024, stormwater flooded Toronto’s streets, stations and homes causing close to $940 million in damages. And this wasn’t the first time.

About a dozen Torontonians from Etobicoke to York South-Weston came to a packed and busy Executive Committee meeting in City Hall on Jan. 28 to voice their frustrations with the city’s plan, or lack thereof, to deal with recurrent stormwater floodings.

Residents complained about their basement flooding with rain water and backed-up sewage every time there’s a big storm.

• Tom Angellotti, an Etobicoke resident, shared that his family has had to endure 12 basement floods of contaminated sewage. 
• Several residents — including Emmay Mah, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance — called on the City of Toronto to implement a stormwater charge on commercial parking lots, emphasizing their responsibility for stormwater runoff into neighbourhoods.
• Rockcliffe-Smythe resident Sarah McVie called the city’s Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program “scraps for a demoralized community” when we needed massive upgrades to our sewer systems. Residents from McVie’s neighbourhood also shared their feelings of being gaslighted by their local councillor after their applications for the Rockcliffe No Fault Grant for Basement Flooding Damages Program were rejected. 
• Chiara Padovani, a social worker and community organizer in York South-Weston, called out city councillors for the lack of action and recurrent delays on $1.5 billion worth of upgrades to flooding infrastructure. She also pulled out a thick folder, which she said is a report from 1990, to show that these upgrades had been recommended decades ago.

What was the outcome of the discussions? 

The committee passed a motion to request Lou Di Gironimo, general manager of Toronto Water, to report on delivery and funding options to accelerate the construction and improvement of recommended local sewer infrastructure under the City’s Basement Flooding Protection Program. 

However, the committee indefinitely suspended all considerations of a stormwater service charge on commercial parking lots as a means of raising the needed funds. 

What does our documenter have to say? 

Our community engagement lead, Sebastian Tansil, who’s a resident of Kensington Market, said he and his neighbours have experienced recurrent basement flooding during heavy rainfalls. Last summer, during the Kensington Market Community Summit, many residents complained that the commercial parking lot by Spadina and Nassau Streets contribute to the stormwater runoff into their homes. The city is rolling out greenery incentives to help soak up the rainwater but there are no planned sustainable infrastructure projects.