Olivia Chow Re-elected Mayor of Toronto with 54% of Vote

Incumbent mayor Olivia Chow was re-elected in Toronto, securing roughly 529,000 votes, or 54.2% of the mayoral ballot, while challenger Brad Bradford received about 401,000 votes. The election saw a marked rise in participation, with unofficial totals indicating 976,550 votes cast, compared with 563,124 in the 2022 municipal election.

Chow won decisively in Scarborough, taking all five wards there with vote shares ranging from 51% to 56.7%. She also carried most downtown wards, including Parkdale-High Park (69%), Davenport (69.3%), Toronto Centre (72.4%) and Toronto-Danforth (71.1%). In Etobicoke North she edged Bradford by 0.9 percentage points, while Bradford prevailed in Etobicoke Centre (59%) and Etobicoke-Lakeshore (49.4%).

The race was close in several areas; Chow’s margin was 5.1 points in Toronto St. Paul’s, 4.9 points in York South-Weston and just 0.7 points in Don Valley North. Bradford led in six wards, primarily in Etobicoke, mid-town Toronto and North York.

Pollster Nick Nanos told CP24 that Chow’s victory reflected effective ground-level campaigning, noting the campaign’s strong performance in downtown and Scarborough. Political observers had anticipated a competitive contest, citing the candidates’ outreach efforts as a key factor.

The results also marked a higher overall turnout than in the 2022 election, when the winning candidate, John Tory, received 342,158 votes. In the 2023 by-election that followed Tory’s resignation, Chow had won with 269,372 votes.