If you're a transit user you know how expensive it can get to move around the city. Especially since between 2009 and 2016 TTC monthly passes have gone up by a whopping 30% ($109 to $141.50), which is far more than salaries across the province have risen.
Both the City of Toronto and the TTC acknowledge that this price hike has made it difficult on the lower income adults in the city trying to travel using transit, and have rolled out the Fair Pass program, which, "improves transit services in the inner suburbs" and "makes transit more affordable for low-income residents."
@moonsafari211According to a City of Toronto report, low-income adults aged 20 to 64, as a group, pay the highest TTC fares. This is because they aren't able to afford the high upfront cost of a TTC monthly pass which gives riders the largest discount per ride, so they must resort to higher cost option of tokens.
However under the new pass program, lower income adults can qualify for massive discounts. The discount level for the Fair Pass Program be 33% for the adult single fare ($1.95/ trip) and 21% for the adult monthly pass ($112/ pass).
@ttczoneThose eligible for the Fair Pass Program discounts are all Toronto residents living with an income below the Low Income Measure + 15% (see chart below), excluding Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works clients who are already receiving transportation support.
The program is being rolled out in multi-phases as follows:
-
Phase 1 – staring in March 2018 – includes only Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works clients not in receipt of transportation supports
-
Phase 2 – starting in March 2019 – extends eligibility to residents receiving housing supports or child care fee subsidy whose household income fall under the Low-Income Measure +15% eligibility threshold
-
Phase 3 – starting in March 2020 – extends eligibility to all other Toronto residents living with an income below the Low Income Measure +15% threshold
With the 3 phases in mind, only Ontario Disability Support programs clients and Ontario Work clients are eligible for the discounts right now. General low income Torontonians won't be given access to these Fair Passes until 2020.
Source: City of Toronto
Luciano Frattolin is taken away in custody from the Essex County Court in Elizabethtown, New York on Friday, July 24, 2026. Luciano Frattolin charged with 2nd-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Police officers open the back of a recovered truck during a press conference regarding Project 24K, a joint investigation into the theft of gold from Pearson International Airport, in Brampton, Ont., on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey
The Rockyview General Hospital is pictured in Calgary, Thursday, March 20, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
This composite image shows, left to right, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby in Vancouver, on April 13, 2026; B.C. Conservative interim Leader Lorne Doerkson, in Vancouver, on Sept. 22, 2026; B.C. Green Party Leader Emily Lowan in Victoria, on Sept. 23, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck, Rich Lam, Kevin Light