Neoliberalism is transforming and reshaping urban areas. It does not take the same form in all urban spaces (Hameed, 2020), yet is similar across landscapes in its ability to create inequalities through a desire for free-market and state liberalization. Toronto’s urban space is impacted by a neoliberal agenda through the replacement of welfare with privatization and the commodification of space. Overall, neoliberal influence on Toronto’s urban agenda creates a city of inequality and social divide.

Neoliberal influence on Toronto’s urban agenda is creating inequality due to the commodification of space. One way in which space is commodified under neoliberalism is through gentrification. As stated by Niel Smith, “Gentrification is a back to the city movement...of capital rather than people” (1979). Indicating that gentrification is created through “rent-gap” and the “decay” of neighbourhoods, the “decay” is “produced through a combination of public policy interventions, legal instruments (such as eminent domain, fiscal austerity) and racialized and discriminatory practices” (Hameed, 2020). The commodification of these neighbourhoods can then begin, the rent gap increases and in these neighbourhoods “the investments required are small, and older buildings and abandoned properties are cheap to purchase and redevelop for a different, higher-income earning consumer base” (Hameed, 2020). Real estate developers and corporations gain from gentrification as communities are left displaced. South Parkdale is an example of a neighbourhood in Toronto being gentrified driven by neoliberal policy (Slater, 2004). Disinvestment in South Parkdale began in the 1960s following the construction of the Gardiner Expressway crucial for suburban expansion (Slater, 2004) and in the 1980s when its location near the Queen Street Centre for Addiction and Mental Health turned it into an affordable housing location for recently discharged patients, gaining the neighbourhood a reputation as “a ‘service‐dependent ghetto’” (Slater, 2004). Over time these two circumstances resulted in South Parkdale’s decay. As housing prices increase in Toronto and housing policies change, affordable housing and residents who cannot afford rising rent as a result of gentrification are threatened. Gentrification within Toronto creates inequality within the population where specific individuals, such as middle and high class residents, benefit from urban growth while others do not. In Toronto, space is also commodified through informal housing, creating inequality within the city. Within Toronto, informality is unequally viewed depending on who and what it is for. Informal housing and structures that monetizes space and creates profit are deemed most acceptable and welcomed, while housing and structures that do not create a profit are viewed negatively and deemed illegal. During the COVID 19 pandemic a double standard of informality became apparent. Restaurants and businesses during the pandemic were encouraged by the government to build informal structures and patios on Toronto’s sidewalks and roads. When the weather got colder, several restaurants built covered structures on sidewalks to winterize their patios. Around the same time the City of Toronto encouraged restaurants to build informal structures, they were threatening to remove informal shelters built for the homeless by a Toronto carpenter (Jones, 2020). The City’s reason for removing the shelters was that they were “breaking municipal bylaw in terms of having structures on city property” (Jones, 2020), at the same time Toronto’s sidewalks, which are city property, were flooded with patio structures. This recent double standard is an example of growing revanchism in Toronto, where policies and actions are “aimed to ‘take back’ the city and ‘cleanse’ it of those deemed to be a threat” (Hameed, 2020). The threat in this case are the homeless, who in Toronto face “anti-squatter” and “anti-homeless” policies (Hameed, 2020), in addition to hate and descrimination from certain social classes. The removal of informal structures for the homeless on public property, is just one example of how the city and Toronto neighbourhoods attempt to cleanse the city of homelessnes through displacement. At the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic in Toronto, several white upper class neighbourhoods protested the creation of homeless shelters in their neighbourhoods (Draaisma, 2020). The shelters were spread across the city and meant to create more space and prevent the spread of COVID 19 among homeless populations but also disrupted the social order and purity of these neighbourhoods resulting in protest. Spatial urban developments within Toronto are uneven due to neoliberalism and the prime concern of commodifying space. The commodification of space creates inequalities within urban areas as certain populations are deemed desirable.

With neoliberal influence, Toronto’s urban agenda is creating inequality and divide in social stratification by replacing public services with privatization. Recently as a result of Doug Ford’s government, Toronto is experiencing serious budget cuts to public services as the private sector thrives. So far during his time as premier, Ford has proposed budget cuts and drastic changes to public transit, education, childcare, social assistance, healthcare and more (Jones, 2019). The 2020 pandemic has allowed the Ford government to further infringe on public transportation, with an aim to privatize it. The conservative Ontario government proposed in Toronto, that in order for transit companies to be eligible for more COVID 19 relief funding they would need to replace the “least-used bus routes with private “microtransit” services — potentially through partnerships with companies like Uber” (Spurr, 2020). Instead of providing relief for the Toronto Transit Commision (TTC) which was significantly impacted by the pandemic, Ford is using this vulnerable time to force his neoliberal agenda and privatize the TTC and other public transit systems within Ontario. Prior to the pandemic Ford proposed changes to Toronto’s transit to commodify it, including paid parking at GO transit stations (Jeffords, 2020) and ending GO to TTC transfer discounts (Spurr, 2020). It is apparent that Ford's drive to privatize is nothing new but the pandemic has created vulnerabilities in multiple sectors in the city in which he can exploit to establish his neoliberal policies. Much of Toronto’s population is distracted by the shock of the pandemic and some public agencies such as the TTC are desperate enough to take on services such as microtransit. Similar to what Naomi Klein describes in the Shock Doctrine, Ford is using a national crisis to push privatization and free market policies (2007). The privatization of social and public services detrimentally impacts urban areas. Privatization increases inequalities and divides within social class. If public sources become private, they become less available to all social classes and income which creates divides in the city. Some residents will be able to continue on and be able to afford services, while others will not. In the example of transportation, if it does not remain public, accessible and affordable, it will limit certain communities' access to jobs, food, healthcare, childcare and more. That is certain communities, especially those built for the use of a car and low income neighbourhoods, will suffer as others are unaffected. Individuals of higher social stratification will have even more privilege and accessibility to the city than those of lower social stratification.

The destruction of public and rise of private, involved in a neoliberal urban agenda, also creates bias and judgment of who should receive government assistance. In Canada, a neoliberal influence on urban agendas results in corporations and the rich receiving welfare with no judgment. The government offers several rebates and tax deductions for property owners, such as rental income and new housing rebates (TurboTax, 2020). The homeowners receiving these benefits face little backlash or guilt for doing so. Similarly, corporations in Canada receive welfare from the government, with little awareness from the general public or widespread criticism. Canadian federal, provincial and municipal governments between 1995-2004 spent nearly $144 billion on corporate welfare through tax-financed subsidies (Milke, 2007). While corporations and the rich comfortably receive welfare, the neoliberal city reduces welfare and assistance for lower income communities in addition to creating stigma around the poor receiving assistance. Welfare for corporations aids in “the establishment of a global capitalist order” (Hameed, 2020), whereas neoliberal discourse blames citizens for requiring assistance, suggesting they require it due to their own personal failures (Swales et al., 2020). Food insecurity, for example, is an issue in Toronto that disproportionately impacts certain communities such as low income neighbourhoods or racialized communities. In the City 13.6% of households face some extent of food insecurity, which is slightly higher than the national number of 12.7% (Tarasuk & Mitchell, 2020). Our current food systems are “characterized by deregulation, privatization, and the growth and consolidation of corporate monopoly power” (Holt-Giménez, 2011), neoliberal influence both creates food insecurity and guilts individuals for acquiring food assistance. Within urban areas, “food insecure households are affected by dehumanizing neoliberal narratives, and... many try to minimize accompanying negative judgements” (Swales et al., 2020) by not accepting help or services. Food insecurity is just one example where citizens may require assistance and face guilt or judgment for seeking basic necessities of life. Homeless populations in Toronto face stigma and may be denied housing, food or money if there is even a slight chance they are also facing addiction. It is apparent that in Toronto, there is exclusion from basic resources and services based on social class, income and societal position.

Neoliberalism is influencing Toronto’s urban agenda through replacing welfare with privatization and commodifying space, which overall creates an unequal and divided city. Neoliberal impact is entwined in Toronto’s inequalities and urban development. The current state of the city is constructed to benefit corporations and the wealthy, as many residents are denied space and resources. To create a more equal and less divided Toronto, neoliberal policy cannot influence urban development.