Office of the Chief Executive

At the TTC we have an obligation to ensure the system is as safe as possible at all times. I want to be clear with everyone about how seriously we take this obligation.

On March 25, a tragic attack took place at Keele Station – incidents like this one are of great concern to all of us. Like all Torontonians, I am deeply saddened by the passing of Gabriel Magalhaes. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.

Events like the one on Saturday night can be upsetting and hard to process. They can also have an impact on your mental health. Please remember that health and wellness supports are available. The immediate and confidential Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP also known as Lifeworks). EFAP is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To get in touch with EFAP please call 1-800-572-0039 or TTY: 711 (TTY to Voice) or 1-800-855-1155 (Telecommunications Relay Service). You can also access these supports on the MyEAP App or online at workhealthlife.com.

We know that the challenges before us are complex and won’t be solved overnight. We remain committed to working with our partners at the City of Toronto, our union partners as well as our frontline employees and customers on ways that we can all make the TTC as safe as possible.

At the TTC we have been adding additional supports and resources to address these challenges including changing the deployment of special constables, mobilizing existing frontline employees to be more visible to support community safety initiatives and we also relaunched the SafeTTC app to support suspicious incidents in real time.

We have also deployed Station Supervisors, Chief and Mobile Supervisors, Assistant Managers in stations to audit security on a regular basis. There are more uniformed staff throughout the system who can directly contact Transit Control to call 9-1-1. If you see something, say something – these individuals are here to help.

Everyone needs to feel safe – whether working on the front lines or riding the TTC.

Please keep safe and look out for each other.

Richard J. Leary
Chief Executive Officer
March 31, 2023