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34 St Patrick St,
Toronto, ON M5T 1V1

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416 977-1629

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416 977-9546

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Local 79 members were proud to join @cupelocal2 today for their picket sign party. These are the electricians, technicians, and linespersons whose work powers the TTC every single day, and they deserve a contract that reflects it. The @takethettc has had every opportunity to bargain fairly — Local 2 has been ready. We stand with them until they get what they’ve earned.

$Toronto’s community crisis response is working. In 2024, the Toronto Community Crisis Service handled 10,339 calls. 78% of them were resolved without any police involvement. By 2027, the city is targeting 16,000 calls annually — with 90% diverted from police response entirely. That’s an emergency service that is growing, succeeding, and saving money — built on the work of trained community crisis workers responding to people in their most vulnerable moments. Local 79’s Toronto Public Health Nurses are part of this ecosystem too. Through the Downtown CORE program, public health nurses are doing proactive street outreach — connecting people experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, and substance use challenges to care before they ever need to call 911. There are already calls to expand their role and reduce police involvement in that program, and we agree. But the entire community crisis system runs on a fraction of what Toronto spends on police — with zero support from the province or federal government. That has to change. On May 22nd and 23rd, workers from across the city are coming together at the Toronto Workers Summit to do just that.$

May Day celebrates workers who refused to accept that their labour meant nothing — and that fight is as alive in Toronto as it’s ever been. This May Day, we celebrate what solidarity looks like when it’s real: CUPE Local 79 members showing up for their neighbours, their communities, and each other — in shelters, clinics, long-term care, and on the street when it counts.

Happy International Workers’ Day to every member, ally, and community partner who’s been in the room, on the street, and in the fight with us!

Toronto has increased its emergency shelter capacity since 2019 by about 50%— but it still isn’t enough.

Since Mayor Chow took office in 2023, the City has made meaningful strides to expand shelter capacity, and the number of people housed in emergency shelter on any given night jumped from roughly 9,600 to over 12,000 in 2024 — a significant increase in a short period of time. That is real investment, and it matters to the workers delivering those services and the people depending on them.

But the crisis predates her tenure and continues to outpace what the City can do alone. Since tracking began in 2021, the number of people turned away from shelters every night has risen from around 40 to over 220 in 2024, and still remains nearly 150 a night. Now, the City faces catastrophic cuts to the Federal funds supporting refugee and asylum claimants, and Provincial funds supporting transitions from emergency to permanent housing. The City cannot shelter, feed, and house its most vulnerable residents while the province and federal government continue to download responsibility without the funding to match.

On May 22nd and 23rd, workers from across the city are coming together at the Toronto Workers Summit to change that.

Today, members of CUPE Local 79 joined the Toronto and York Region Labour Council at Larry Sefton Park to mark the National Day of Mourning — honouring workers killed, injured, or made ill on the job.

TYRLC President Andria Babbington took a moment to acknowledge our fellow member from Recreation who died at work. Her words carried our message that no worker should ever be working alone.

We carry the memory of our fellow member with us.

Since 2019, food bank usage in Toronto has grown by 340%. Last year alone, there were 4.1 million visits to Toronto food banks between April 2024 and March 2025. Today, 1 in 10 Torontonians relies on a food bank to get by.

On May 22 and 23, Toronto workers are coming together at the Toronto Workers Summit to demand better.

$Toronto’s community crisis response is working. In 2024, the Toronto Community Crisis Service handled 10,339 calls. 78% of them were resolved without any police involvement. By 2027, the city is targeting 16,000 calls annually — with 90% diverted from police response entirely. That’s an emergency service that is growing, succeeding, and saving money — built on the work of trained community crisis workers responding to people in their most vulnerable moments. Local 79’s Toronto Public Health Nurses are part of this ecosystem too. Through the Downtown CORE program, public health nurses are doing proactive street outreach — connecting people experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, and substance use challenges to care before they ever need to call 911. There are already calls to expand their role and reduce police involvement in that program, and we agree. But the entire community crisis system runs on a fraction of what Toronto spends on police — with zero support from the province or federal government. That has to change. On May 22nd and 23rd, workers from across the city are coming together at the Toronto Workers Summit to do just that.$

CUPE Local 79

Keeping Toronto at its best is what gets us up every morning. The work is worth it. And so are we.

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