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Toronto’s transit agency is writing off almost $6 million in debts owed to it by the tenants of retail spaces and kiosks in its subway stations.
A new report prepared for a Toronto Transit Commission committee meeting revealed rental debts accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic are being forgiven, in part because some businesses went under altogether.
Almost $4.9 million of the $5.7 million in defunct debts was held by Gateway Market Canada and Tobmar Investments International, two subway retailers that declared insolvency.
The two subway vendors filed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act after sustaining heavy losses during the COVID-19 pandemic when ridership on public transit plummeted.
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“The 2025 write-off concludes a multi-year recovery process for debts incurred by each of Gateway and Tobmar during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report explained.
Another roughly $840,000 was written off for independent retailers.
While the losses were sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto’s transit system has still not fully recovered.
According to the TTC’s 2026 budget document, hopes that more mandatory return-to-work orders would result in more passengers were misguided.
“Despite employer policy changes in Fall 2025 requiring more in-office workdays, no significant ridership increase has been observed,” the document found. “In fact, Fall 2025 ridership slightly declined versus expectations.”
The agency said any ridership growth from office returns had been damaged by layoffs, non-compliance and plummeting numbers of international students.
Instead of increasing, ridership on the TTC fell short of its budget expectations, even dropping below the numbers for 2024.
Agency spokesperson Stuart Green acknowledged the agency is still struggling to fill its vacant storefronts.
“TTC continues to work through tenant turnover resulting from the pandemic, with a focus on securing viable operators under updated commercial terms that reflect current ridership and market conditions,” he said.
The losses, the agency said, had already been accounted for — and the agency “does not expect uncollectible amounts at this level to persist going forward, absent similar external shocks.”
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