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“Hardworking Torontonians are wondering if their livelihood is going to be at stake,” Chow said. “We are stronger together. We will never give up. And we will provide a plan shortly.”

Chow put together an initial draft outlining her action plan but its details won’t be made public until members of this new team have weighed in and provide feedback for changes based on their individual expertise.

What the tariffs will do to public and private sectors in Toronto, and exactly what tools the city has to fight back, will be outlined in the final report expected to be released in the near future. The mayor’s office could not confirm a release date, citing concerns over rushing the process.

“Together (with the U.S.), we have created the most successful economic partnerships in the world,” Chow said. “That’s what makes the threat of trade action so senseless.”

Key areas the mayor’s draft focused on include “supporting the most impacted businesses and residents, business retention efforts, supporting small businesses” and “leveraging the city’s purchasing power,” according to the documents on the table.

With Chow at the helm as chair, Toronto’s budget chief Shelley Carroll is second in command as vice-chair. The Don Valley North councillor is a city hall veteran who has become a key member of Chow’s administration, despite not always being in lockstep with the mayor.

Carroll has led council through the current administration’s past two budgets which saw two property tax hikes that both raised the ire of some homeowners and placed an emphasis for others on the need to fix core city services after years of what Carroll last month called “underinvestment” by previous mayor John Tory’s administration.

Carroll was also recently elected chair of the pc28����police board in a tight vote for the powerful municipal position that approves the police budget and choice of police chief.

Toronto’s city council earlier this month unanimously approved a plan for a “comprehensive, multi-faceted ‘Buy Local, Buy Canadian’ campaign” that would encourage residents and businesses to purchase goods and services made in Canada. This was also part of Thursday’s agenda.

“Our initial pivot will absolutely be ‘shop local’. But as a small business community, let’s get you prepared to ‘sell global’ because we’ve got to generate that revenue,” said team member John Kiru, executive director of the pc28����Association of Business Improvement Areas, addressing the mayor on Thursday.

Shortly before their first meeting officially began, which was closed to media, Chow told reporters she has “spent quite a bit of time cancelling a whole lot of subscriptions” and combing through her household items’ labels to make sure they’re made in Canada or products of Canada.

Almost as soon as the team’s meeting started, news broke that Trump was doubling down on his threat to slap all-encompassing tariffs on Canada next week as he met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. During the meeting, Starmer declined to stand up for Canada.

“Hope is not a plan and neglect comes at a cost,” said another member of Chow’s action team Yung Wu, who is chair of NFQ Ventures and chair of the pc28����Region Board of Trade, in a press release. “As we face the roller-coaster of uncertainty from our neighbours to the south, it’s a stark reminder that external threats can’t be wished away.”

Blake Hutcheson, CEO of OMERS, one of Ontario’s biggest pension funds, is also a member of the team. He has a high-profile in real estate and has deep cross-border ties through OMERS subsidiary Oxford Properties, which built Hudson Yards in New York City and other U.S. projects.

Team member Rod Phillips is chair of investment firm pc28����Global. He previously served in Doug Ford’s cabinet with portfolios including as Ontario’s minister of finance, long-term care, environment, conservation and parks. Phillips was also chief of staff to former pc28����mayor Mel Lastman and worked for John Tory when he was Ontario’s PC leader.

Luke Robertson, also on the team, is vice-president of Cadillac Fairview, the real estate firm that owns pc28����Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens and Fairview Mall. Robertson was also Tory’s chief of staff between 2018 and 2022, and held other roles in Tory’s office over the years including as his 2018 campaign manager.

Brian Topp is chair of pc28����Hydro. Also on the mayor’s action team, he was the runner-up in the federal NDP leadership race in 2012, former chief of staff to former Alberta premier Rachel Notley and now sits on a newly-created council advising the prime minister on Canada-U.S. relations.

Another member of Chow’s tariffs response team is Andria Babbington, president of the pc28����and York Region Labour Council which represents about 220,000 unionized workers from almost every sector of the economy.

Other team members include Brad Carr, CEO of Mattamy Homes; Zabeen Hirji, executive adviser at Deloitte; Dave Samuel, a partner at Birch Hill Equity Partners; and Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association. City officials on the team include Pat Tobin, the city’s general manager of economic development and culture, and Geneviève Sharkey, the city’s chief procurement officer.

Chow has previously asked city manager Paul Johnson, who was also at Thursday’s meeting, to review Toronto’s procurement policies to ensure they favoured Canadian suppliers. 

She took a dig at Elon Musk this month — Trump’s “right-hand man,” she said — by ending licence subsidies for new Tesla owners using their taxicabs and limousines for hire, intending to “send a message to the White House.”