The 2025 Ontario Budget has delivered a major win for vehicle owners in the City of Toronto and the Motor Vehicle Retailers of Ontario (MVRO). The province will amend the City of Toronto Act to remove the City’s ability to charge a personal vehicle tax. Eliminating this taxing power has been a priority for the MVRO ever since Ontario granted Toronto this authority in 2006.

“The Motor Vehicle Retailers of Ontario extend our heartfelt thanks to Premier Ford and Minister Bethlenfalvy for steering Toronto’s personal vehicle tax onto a dead-end road,” said Brent Ravelle, President of MVRO and a new car retailer based in Listowel, Ontario. “No longer will Toronto City Councillors keep targeting the family car looking to generate tens of millions of dollars every year.”

Since 2015, several City Councillors have brought forward at least eight separate motions to re-instate the vehicle tax – a mind-boggling amount and a colossal waste of time.

“The City of Toronto doesn’t need a new tax on the family car to generate revenue,” said Frank Notte, MVRO’s Director of Government Relations. “Ontario’s recent decision to assume responsibility for the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway frees up $7 billion in ongoing capital costs for the City. That’s nearly 150 times the $48 million the vehicle tax generated annually when in effect from 2008 to 2010.”

In 2018, the MVRO successfully defeated a campaign by York Region to have the same taxing powers as Toronto – including a personal vehicle tax. The MVRO’s successful advocacy campaign made front-page news in York Region.

The MVRO made a 2025 pre-budget submission recommending Toronto no longer have the ability to tax vehicles – the only municipality in Ontario to do so.

“Thanks to Premier Ford, none of Ontario’s 444 municipalities will have the power to tax the family car. With transportation costs accounting for nearly 15 percent of a family’s budget – about 1 in every 6 dollars – scrapping this tax for good is the right move,” said Ravelle.

Toronto’s personal vehicle tax had been in effect for only three years since becoming law – highlighting its unpopularity. But with the taxing power still on the books, the threat of its return was always looming. The 2025 Ontario Budget will eliminate that threat permanently.

Page 108 of the Budget states:

“Amendments would also remove the City of Toronto’s authority to implement a personal vehicle tax, bringing it in line with other municipalities. This will provide certainty to drivers that they will be protected from new charges for using their vehicles and accessing roads.”