Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square will be spruced up in time for the holiday season.

Mayor John Tory announced the new initiative that he says will tidy the "heart of the city" on Saturday afternoon. He was accompanied by members of Toronto's solid waste, transportation, municipal licensing and police services.

Mayor John Tory speaks announced a new initiative Saturday to keep Yonge-Dundas Square clean during December. (Barry Smith/CBC)

Tory touted that the focus is to keep the downtown area safe and clean for the month of December, as shopping season descends on the Eaton Centre and surrounding businesses. The mall itself attracts over 50 million people a year, according to its website.

"If we start from the premise that we want Toronto to be a welcoming city, to be a place where — while the downtown is booming — that it remains safe, it remains caring, it remains clean, then we're going to have to make an effort to do that," he said.

Tory spoke about a three-pronged approach to keeping the tourist district "safe, clean and caring."

A larger police presence will be added, with a daily foot patrol to monitor the streets. The project will also amp up street and laneway cleaning, as well as increased outreach to the homeless and people with addictions and mental health issues.

He told reporters there may be a "modest budget impact," but that most of the resources would be pulled from existing city services.

Mayor John Tory speaks to a city worker cleaning O'Keefe Lane in the city's downtown core. (Barry Smith/CBC)

Tory preceded the announcement with a tour of O'Keefe Lane, between Yonge and Victoria Streets. He stopped to speak about the project with a solid waste worker, a street sweeper and a crew member from nearby Ed Mirvish Theatre.

This is the second time in the same number of weeks that he has visited the alleyways around the square. The first time he was invited by representatives from the Downtown Yonge BIA and Ryerson University. He said they expressed their concerns about "increased litter and about people who are struggling on the streets.

"That made me determined to try to pull together people to develop a plan to begin to address what they told me, and what I saw with my own eyes," he said.

Area taking time to 'adjust' to safe-injection site

When Tory was asked whether a temporary safe-injection site that officially opened in November near Yonge-Dundas Square was the cause of some of the issues cited by Ryerson and the BIA, he admitted the city is taking time to "adjust."

"[We're] making sure that a service, which will saves lives, is available to people, but at the same time that's it's done within the context of a neighbourhood," Tory said, adding that Toronto Public Health is taking part in the effort.

Tory will meet with the concerned groups again in January to decide on the next steps.

"We really do have all hands on deck and if there are more people we need to add to this, more departments of the cities, more outside agencies, we will do this" he said.