Toronto needs to spend big to stop our street lights from fading out
The city proposes more than $577M over 10 years to speed up the switch to LEDs, fix aging wiring and avoid a reliability crisis across Toronto neighbourhoods.
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By Torontoer Staff
You might have noticed more dark corners on your walk home, or flickering lamp posts on your commute. Toronto’s street light system is showing its age, and city staff now say the fix will cost a lot more than the current budget allows.
The plan on the table would double spending on street light repairs and upgrades, pushing total capital investment to about $577 million over the next 10 years so the city can speed up its conversion to LED fixtures before older lamps and parts fade out of production.
Why the bill is ballooning
There are two big reasons for the jump. First, a large chunk of the street light network is past its useful life, especially the underground wiring and bases that keep poles powered. Staff tell us about 33 per cent of the system is aging, and the underground infrastructure jumps to 86 per cent past its useful life. Second, manufacturers are phasing out the old high-pressure sodium and metal halide lamps, so Toronto is racing to buy replacement parts and make the LED switch before those conventional models become scarce.
The proposed 2026 capital budget would send Toronto Hydro, which has owned and operated the street light system since 2005, $60 million this year, and about $74 million in each of the following two years. The total planned spend across a decade comes to $577 million.
This creates some operating room.
Stephen Conforti, city chief financial officer
That line points to another piece of the puzzle: the city is shifting roughly $22 million a year from operating costs into capital spending. That helps keep this year’s property tax increase looking modest, but it also means deferred repairs elsewhere in the city could grow.
What this looks like on your street
Right now only about 12 per cent of Toronto’s luminaires, roughly 22,400 out of 173,100 lights, are LEDs. Under the plan that would grow to 61 per cent in five years, and full conversion in 10 years. That should mean fewer outages, lower energy bills and a cleaner environmental footprint, but it won’t instantly fix every neighbourhood.
City staff warned that temporary fixes are everywhere. More than 11,000 'jumpers' are in use to bypass failures. These are meant to be short-term repairs, but many have become long-term band-aids, creating safety and reliability risks on local streets from Scarborough to Etobicoke.
This is an emergency. Our street lighting is essential for safety from crashes, from crime and so much is now so old that it’s unreliable.
Coun. Dianne Saxe, University-Rosedale
How the city plans to fix it
The capital plan focuses on accelerating LED replacements and repairing underground wiring that’s failing. The near-term injection of funds into Toronto Hydro is meant to speed procurement and work scheduling so crews can replace outdated fixtures and remove temporary jumpers.
Even with the $577 million commitment, the briefing note says about one third of the neighbourhood-level upgrades still won’t be complete after 10 years, and an extra $200 million would be required to finish everything. That shortfall has become part of a broader debate about balancing low tax increases with the visible, and invisible, repairs the city needs.
What you might notice, and what to do
- Flickering or fully dark lights on your block, especially at junctions and laneways, as crews triage the oldest fixtures.
- Gradual change in light quality as LEDs are installed, usually brighter and more energy efficient than the older orange sodium lamps.
- Short-term repairs, such as electrical 'jumpers', which are effective but not permanent.
- If you see an outage, report it to 311 or through Toronto Hydro’s online outage map so crews can triage and track problems faster.
- Sign up for local neighbourhood apps and community newsletters, especially in places like Danforth or Junction, to stay informed about scheduled upgrades and road closures.
Why this matters for Toronto life
Streetlights are one of those background services you only notice when they stop working. They affect road safety, how safe you feel walking home late, and even how welcoming a street looks when you’re out for an evening in King West or Leslieville. Moving to LEDs also cuts energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, which matters if you care about cleaner air and lower long-term costs for the city.
But the trade-off is visible in the draft 2026 budget: by keeping near-term property tax increases low, some repairs to roads, pools and community centres could be delayed. That’s a position that will be argued over at council and in community meetings through the spring.
It’s worth paying attention, because infrastructure choices now shape the look and safety of Toronto streets for decades. If you want brighter, more reliable lighting in your neighbourhood, ask your councillor how this plan affects local priorities and keep reporting outages when they occur.
Toronto HydroinfrastructureLED lightsbudgetneighbourhoods
