Toronto Mayor John Tory has submitted his formal resignation, days after he announced plans to step down following an affair with a former staffer.
Tory made the announcement in a statement issued late Wednesday evening. “I will be spending the next two days in meetings with Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and City staff to continue to ensure an orderly transition,” Tory said in his statement.
The resignation is effective on Friday. He called his time as mayor the “job of a lifetime.”
“I continue to be deeply sorry and apologize unreservedly to the people of Toronto and to all those hurt by my actions without exception,” Tory said.
Tory announced last Friday he would be stepping down as the city’s mayor after having a relationship with a staffer.
Tory said the relationship did “not meet the standards to which I hold myself as mayor and as a family man.”
According to Tory, the relationship began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he and his long-time wife were spending “lengthy periods apart.”
Tory said he will be stepping down so he can “reflect on my mistakes” and “do the work of rebuilding the trust of my family.”
He said the relationship “ended by mutual consent” earlier this year, adding that the former staffer had also decided to pursue employment outside of city hall.
On Monday, Tory’s office confirmed he would be attending the budget meeting on Wednesday to “ensure the 2023 city of Toronto operating and capital budgets are finalized.”
The budget is the first Tory prepared under new “strong mayor” powers granted by the provincial government.
Wednesday’s hours-long budget meeting was temporarily suspended twice over disruptions from the gallery. The budget was eventually passed after 10 p.m. and Tory announced his resignation after 11 p.m.
— with files from The Canadian Press.