Council's Goals Background Challenges Accomplishments

Priority to Make Toronto Clean and Beautiful

Background on this priority

What makes a city clean and beautiful can be different to each one of us. For some it can be as  fundamental as litter reduction or park maintenance, for others it can be as dynamic as attracting international attention to innovative streetscapes or transforming a neighbourhood eyesore into a community defining mural.  City Council’s Clean and Beautiful campaign reaffirms the City's commitment to the public realm and will give Torontonians renewed pride in their city. During this term, the five-point Clean and Beautiful action plan will carry us forward from clean-up initiatives toward our ultimate goal of an architecturally splendid city that we are proud to show off to the world.

Sweep It - These actions are primarily directed at achieving a Clean City. Programs include roadway and roadside cleaning, litter removal, graffiti management and sustainable maintenance.

Design It - These activities are about getting projects ready for delivery. It includes designing and fundraising for projects and implementing them.


Grow It - These activities are about restoring and enhancing the system of parks, gardens, ravines and trees that make Toronto green and healthy and act as an effective barometer of urban health and well-being.

Build It - This refers to the actual bricks and mortar construction phase of projects.



Celebrate It - Celebration recognizes the collective achievements of the Toronto Public Service, the community and the private sector in beautifying Toronto.

City Council adopted "The Clean and Beautiful City Agenda" at its March 2004 meeting.  It outlined a multi-year approach to achieving a Clean and Beautiful City focusing largely on a coordinated and sustainable program of cleanliness as well as a coordinated approach to street furniture. City Council recommended that the City "develop and implement programs that encourage the participation of individuals, community groups and the private sector to clean and beautify City parks, boulevards and other City spaces throughout the City".
The Roundtable on a Beautiful City was established to advise the Mayor and City Council, through the City’s Standing Committees, on strategies and actions to implement a variety of beautiful city-related actions including ways to form partnerships, to find and leverage resources and to build public awareness.

Goals to achieve a Beautiful City include raising the bar on urban design and architecture, forging partnerships and strategic alliances within City services and with private citizens, philanthropic donors, organizations and institutions, working with the development industry to ensure that proposed developments meet the City's urban design standards and provide a high level of public amenity and, improving the attractiveness of public parks, local parks ravines and civic open spaces.