Toronto mayoral race heads to polls with Brad Bradford and Olivia Chow leading
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Ontario's municipal elections are in progress, and Toronto voters will decide between mayoral candidates Brad Bradford and Olivia Chow.
Monday marks election day across Ontario, with voters casting ballots for mayors, city councillors and school trustees. In Toronto, polling stations are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and more than 11.9 million Ontarians are eligible to vote for 2,800 municipal seats.
The mayoral contest in Toronto features 53 candidates, but recent polling by Nanos Research shows Brad Bradford and Olivia Chow as the clear front-runners. The survey recorded 49.8% support for Chow and 46.6% for Bradford among decided voters, a margin that falls within the poll’s error range, indicating a statistical tie.
Olivia Chow, who assumed the mayoralty after a 2023 by-election, has a long political background that includes service as a Toronto school board trustee, city councillor and federal MP. Her campaign emphasizes affordability, proposing a weekly fare cap on the TTC, a fourth consecutive year of fare freezes, and the construction of the Scarborough East LRT. She also pledges to keep property-tax growth near inflation, provide free school lunches and prohibit surveillance pricing in grocery stores.
Brad Bradford, the current councillor for Beaches-East York, ran in the 2023 mayoral by-election and finished eighth. He focuses on what he calls the “three C’s”: congestion, crime and cost of living. His transit proposals include eliminating slow zones on the subway, prioritising the Eglinton East LRT and removing certain bike lanes and bus-priority lanes to improve traffic flow. On affordability, Bradford promises a property-tax freeze in his first year, a 25% reduction in water bills and the elimination of the municipal land-transfer tax on the first $1.1 million of home values.
Four city wards have no incumbent seeking re-election, and five additional wards feature high-profile challengers, making several local races noteworthy.
Eligible voters must be at least 18, Canadian citizens and residents of the municipality. Non-residents who own or rent property in Toronto, or have a spouse who does, may also vote. Voters need to present a valid piece of identification with name and address; acceptable forms include a driver’s licence, Ontario photo card, property-tax assessment, utility bill, T4 statement, mortgage statement or a Band Council document. Digital ID on a phone is permitted if it is an electronically issued document, not a photo or scan.
Results will be broadcast live by CP24 beginning at 7 p.m., with coverage extending to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.