Toronto voters have re-elected Olivia Chow as mayor of Canada’s largest city.
Unofficial results show Chow ahead of her main challenger, Brad Bradford, and 50 other mayoral candidates in Monday’s municipal election. She had 54 per cent of the vote as of 11 p.m., compared to Bradford’s 41 per cent. Chow will now serve her first full term as mayor after winning the 2023 mayoral byelection.
Unofficial results include vote totals from advance voting, voting by mail and election day. The official election results are anticipated to be certified by the City Clerk later in the week.
“Every person who calls Toronto home, whatever your background, whatever you believe, whoever you love, wherever you live. I will listen to you,” Chow told the crowd at her election night headquarters.
“I will listen to you. I will stand up for you, and I will work every day to earn your trust because that’s what being mayor means to me – it means serving everyone.”
Chow ran on a platform to protect city services, expand transit-signal priority for TTC vehicles and increase funding for youth-violence-prevention programs.
Her key promises included measures to lower grocery prices, provide free school lunches and build more affordable homes.
During her first term as mayor, Chow supported property tax increases of 9.5 per cent in 2024, 6.9 per cent in 2025 and 2.2 per cent in 2026. She also implemented a TTC fare freeze and secured a deal with the Ontario government that will see Queen’s Park take ownership of the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway.
Chow, 69, has spent decades in politics and is a prominent figure on the political left. She first moved to Canada from Hong Kong at 13, living with her family in an apartment in St. James Town.
She was introduced to politics after working for NDP MP Dan Heap, whom she credits as her mentor. She was elected as a TDSB trustee in 1985, a position she held for six years.
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Chow was elected to Toronto council in 1991, where she served alongside her late husband, Jack Layton, who later became federal NDP leader. In 2006, she was elected to the House of Commons as an NDP MP for Trinity-Spadina.
In 2014, Chow ran against former mayor John Tory and now-Premier Doug Ford in the Toronto election but came in third place.
She unsuccessfully sought a return to Parliament in 2015 and stayed out of politics until the mayoral byelection.
Chow is Toronto’s fifth mayor since amalgamation on Jan. 1, 1998.
“I have never forgotten what Toronto gave my family and I have spent my life trying to give back. Because Toronto is a city that believes in people. A progressive city, a city of compassion, a city that welcome newcomers,” she said.
“A city that stands up for working people, celebrates our differences and believes everyone deserves a fair chance – not because we always agree, we don’t, but because deep down we understand something important. We are stronger when we care for each other, and that is the Toronto I believe in. That is the Toronto we voted to keep building tonight.”
Bradford, a 40-year-old, two-time Beaches East-York councillor, ran in the 2023 mayoral byelection and finished eighth. During Chow’s term, he became one of her most vocal critics.
Both frontrunners hit the pavement daily in the final week to reach undecided voters. Chow and Bradford were quick to trade barbs throughout the campaign, with Chow last week accusing her opponent of neglecting residents in his own ward during his time as a city councillor. Bradford has claimed Chow has failed to address the city’s traffic and transit woes.
He ran on a platform that prioritized tackling crime, congestion, cost of living, cleanliness and economic competitiveness.
Bradford told the crowd at his election night party he wishes Chow success.
“When the mayor succeeds, whether that’s mayor Bradford or mayor Chow or anybody else, Toronto succeeds,” he said.
Bradford added his campaign was one of “hope and energy.”
“This was a positive campaign, not a negative campaign because you folks are positive people and that’s what Toronto deserves,” he said.
“I implore all of us, everybody in a leadership position here in Toronto, to make sure that we spend the days, weeks and months ahead bringing this city back together, healing this city, making sure that this is a city for everybody, a city that’s safe for everybody, and a city where nobody is left behind.”
Chow said Bradford brought “new energy” and ideas to the race and thanked him for his candidacy.
She added she will begin working on to deliver her promises as soon as possible.
“Tomorrow we get back to work because an election victory isn’t the finish line: it is a responsibility,” Chow said.
“We’ve come a long way together and we have so much more to do, so let’s keep moving forward together with each other for every neighborhood, every community, every person. Let’s get to work building the Toronto we love.”
mayor Chew encourages the homeless industry to grow and prosper. The rampant drug use everywhere including parks and the TTC to grow as well… Safe Streets? No way….to those who voted for this for another four years, enjoy losers!
chow is a loser
You almost have to admire their consistency for self destruction.
Toronto is a total garbage dump.
Must wonder how bad it needs to for Toronto residents to make better choices. So glad I don’t live there.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice…
No words Torontonians.
Man people in TO are stupid.
Tomorrow is the big one the one that the entire world Waits upon
@Mississauga Resident. No one cares about your suburb.
Let’s focus on hogtown.
Isn’t alleged that Chow was married to a guy who was once found by police in a rub n tug ?
Think about this the other day I take out my garbage not just the other day several times the garbage been there are full cannot take nothing cover close un extra garbage bin is there under chain on padlock think about that we have to throw the garbage and the concrete for the staff to come in and clean it up I don’t have to say nothing more9
LOL, “Chow’s key promises include measures to help lower grocery prices in the city, offer free lunches in schools and build more affordable housing units.” ALL HER PROMISES are built on the back of all canadian taxpayers, money given to the city by PM Trudeau years ago. Chow and her husband many years ago used to live in low cost housing and yet the story by the media said that they were paying the regular rate. Really? I never trusted her and I have never lived in Ontario.
You want to believe that your political leaders understand your plight and represent you.
You decry the older generations for not understanding, as is the way of it, and then you vote for 70 year old women in your 40s.
Here I am, being old and remembering the youth where I thought it was a systemic problem that our leaders were always old.
Now this same demographic keeps voting for 70 year olds.
I do get it. I don’t think they do.
I am sick of people that think 70 year olds still have good ideas for a plurality of people.
It’s utter nonsense. I love my aging everyone, that doesn’t mean auntie Chow should run a City of millions.
So, the fare cap, starting with the initial monthly cap, is precisely what the old metropass worked out to be.
The weekly cap she promoted as better, is the exact same formula, thus no more than pennies savings using bankers rounding.
Both were touted as savings for those that need it when neither reflected that reality.
I have never, in my 29 years in this city, needed to take the sufficient number of trips for a Metropass to represent a savings. The only time I purchased one, was when receiving a group discount through an employer.
Olivia Chow is, and always has been a populist, and today, can no longer see the popular movement.
Sound advice:
Look into your insurance policies.
And don’t get me wrong, I get the reason why operational budgets should not generate debt, and those that don’t possess the same reasoning are the very people that become insolvent.
But I feel like it is a restriction that is not applied evenly anymore than a standard operating procedure in business or accounting.
We do not need 70+ year old Mayors. Olivia Chow’s days as a political force are over. She is from an era that no longer exists.
We need change. We need someone that understands the complexities of planning and decision making.
Chow is a populist with no vision.
During the Food Banks debate, Dipika Damerla said that Bonnie Crombie “should not running for mayor of Mississauga”.
On X-post 2026 Alvin Tedjo published a 2024 tape of Dipika Damerla claiming, “anyone who’s saying freeze taxes is irresponsible”. However, Dipika Damerla is now campaigning to freeze taxes! Hello?
On her X-post 2026 Dipika Damerla’s video says she reached 200,000 people during the campaign. Damerla is now polling single digits. Her catastrophic election loss will reflect her impression left on those folks.
Regarding criticism, Damerla said, “I have the shoulders to take it”. General Committee Meeting May 8/2024. Also, she recently said, “criticism comes with the territory”. Well, so does failure and Dipika Damerla’s will be devastating.
Even big campaign money with a long council tenure could not save her. Dipika Damerla failed Dipika Damerla. The polls had it right from the start.