TORONTO -- Toronto’s proposed budget for 2021 relies on nearly $900 million in assumed funding from other levels of government as the city’s finances continue to be ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff say that they embarked upon this year’s budget process facing a staggering $2.2 billion shortfall but were able to reduce that number after finding $573 million in efficiencies, including tens of millions of dollars from freezing the salaries of non-unionized employees. They say that the remaining $1.6 billion in financial pressures related to the pandemic can be offset through $740 million in Safe Restart funding that has already been secured and another $856 million in assumed funding that the city hopes to receive from other levels of government in 2021.