Most Torontonians say city is not a good place to retire. Here's why

The majority of Torontonians do not feel as though the city is a good place to retire, a new poll suggests.

The Liaison Strategies survey, released on Monday, asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed that Toronto was a good place to retire.

About 65 per cent of respondents said they disagreed with the statement while 32 per cent agreed.

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Three per cent of respondents said they were unsure.

"It's very likely that cost of living, traffic, availability of daycare and perception of safety are influencing these numbers,” Liaison Strategies Principal David Valentin said in a statement.

“That number rises to 70 per cent among seniors.”

About 57 per cent of respondents said that Toronto was good place to raise children while 52 per cent said it was a good place to own a dog.

In terms of transportation, over half of respondents said Toronto was not a good place to drive a car. Alternatively, 44 per cent also said it was not a good place to ride a bike.

Olivia Chow’s support drops slightly

The poll suggests that over the last month support for Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has dipped slightly.

About 53 per cent of Torontonians say they approve of Chow’s mayoral performance, which is down two percentage points from the previous month.

"It's not the 16 point drop we saw last month and these numbers are within the survey margins of error, so it remains to be seen if this is the continuation of a downward slide or if her numbers are stabilizing,” Valentin said.

Chow’s support appeared to take a significant hit following the release of the city’s 2024 budget in February, falling from over 70 per cent approval to 55 per cent approval.

At the time, Valentin attributed this to the end of Chow’s post-election “honeymoon.”

The majority of the mayor’s support can be found in downtown Toronto, where 66 per cent of respondents said they approved of how Chow was doing in the top role.

The poll suggests support is sitting at about 50 per cent in North York, 46 per cent in Scarborough and 39 per cent in Etobicoke.

Methodology

Liaison Strategies surveyed 860 Toronto residents between March 14 and March 15 using interactive voice response technology. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.34 per cent, 19 times out of 20.