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Toronto voters decide in four weeks whether Olivia Chow wins a second term or challengers Brad Bradford and Chris Alexander take the city's top job. The race features 53 candidates and is dominated by affordability, public safety and transit issues.
Toronto's mayoral election is now four weeks away. Voters will decide if Olivia Chow has earned a second term or if challengers Brad Bradford and Chris Alexander are better suited to take the city's top job.
Those three candidates have emerged as the frontrunners on a crowded ballot that includes 50 other names, for a total of 53 candidates. The race has been shaped by flashpoints including affordability, traffic congestion and safety. Chow is a former Toronto city councillor and NDP parliamentarian. She won the 2023 byelection by a roughly 34,000-vote margin.
She previously ran for mayor in 2014 but placed third behind former mayor John Tory. Tory went on to serve three consecutive terms before resigning over an affair he had with a member of his staff. Chow was born in Hong Kong and immigrated with her family to Toronto's St. James Town neighbourhood when she was 13. She credits the city for shaping the person she is today.
The 69-year-old politician is the widow of NDP leader Jack Layton, who died of cancer in 2011. She is the stepmother to Layton's two children. Bradford was elected in 2018 to Ward 19 Beaches-East York and came to the role with a background in city planning. He previously worked in the office of then-chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat.
He was one of only a few candidates at the time to receive an endorsement from Tory in a race where no incumbent was running. Bradford, a father of two, previously ran for mayor in the 2023 byelection but finished eighth among 101 other candidates. The 40-year-old was born and raised in the suburbs of Hamilton by his single mother, former MP Valerie Bradford, along with his two siblings.
Alexander is a former Conservative cabinet minister who oversaw the citizenship and immigration file under former prime minister Stephen Harper from 2013 to 2015. Before he was elected to the House of Commons to represent the former riding of Ajax-Pickering in 2011, he served as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. He later became one of two deputy special representatives of the United Nations in that country. The 58-year-old father of three was born in Toronto.
Bradford and Alexander Campaign on Affordability
His campaign has described him as overqualified for the role of mayor. Since leaving politics in 2015, Alexander worked as an executive, strategic advisor and corporate director in Toronto. The cost of living in Toronto has become one of the biggest topics of conversation this election cycle. Each of the frontrunning candidates, including Chow, has said the city has become too expensive while pitching their vision for a more affordable Toronto.
One of the tentpoles of Bradford's campaign is a one-year property tax freeze he promised last week. As part of the plan, he is pledging to also keep property tax increases for both homes and businesses below the rate of inflation for the rest of his term if elected. He said the plan can be funded without cuts to frontline service by leaning on recurring room in the city budget.
Chow raised property taxes by 9.5 per cent in 2023, the biggest property tax hike since amalgamation, 6.9 per cent in 2025 and 2.2 per cent in 2026. She has defended criticism of the spending, pointing to investments to feed more than 275,000 children through expanded school food programs. She also points to freezing TTC fares over the last three years and the addition of more than 263 new front-line workers.
Chow Pledges Property Tax and TTC Fare Caps
Chow has pledged to keep property taxes at or around the rate of inflation if re-elected. Beyond that, Chow has campaigned on keeping TTC fares frozen in 2027 while also introducing a weekly ride cap that would allow riders to take the TTC for free after 10 paid trips in a week. For his part, Alexander has also promised no property tax increases next year, followed by increases below inflation in his second year.
He wants to raise TTC fares to help fix the system, he told reporters last week. He has also unveiled a plan to address food insecurity in the city through strengthened cooperation with food banks. He also announced an action plan to combat U.S. tariffs through cheaper licensing and investment grants for businesses. Earlier this month, Chow unveiled her plan to address crime in Toronto at the root level with a four-year, $28-million expansion of youth safety programs.
Candidates Propose Crime Solutions Through Policing
The plan would scale up current youth violence prevention and intervention initiatives to reach 15,000 youth and 500 parents and caregivers each year. As well, she said the funding would prevent even younger children and youth, from as young as the age of six years old, from heading down the wrong path through mentorship, recreation and arts programs. According to her campaign, investments in those areas during her time as mayor drove down youth violence 40 per cent in 2025.
Meanwhile, Bradford says he will hire 1,000 net new police officers in his first term. He said the officers will be deployed to frontline positions, on patrol, in neighbourhoods, and at subway stations. Bradford explained that his pitch far exceeds the Toronto Police Service's current multi-year hiring plan, which he says will only see 250 net new officers deployed between 2026 and 2029. He said he also wants to add a police substation to Sankofa Square if elected.
Alexander Unveils Hate Crime and Transit Plans
Alexander has released a five-point plan to address hate crimes in Toronto. Hate crimes increased consistently from 2019 to 2024, according to police data. The most targeted group among those victimized were Jewish individuals. As such, Alexander said that under his leadership he would advocate for robust enforcement of the existing laws in the Criminal Code regarding hate crimes.
The plan also includes enhanced coordination between the mayor's office and post-secondary institutions which have received credible reports of intimidation or violence against Jewish students. It also calls for an overhaul of Toronto police hate crime reporting. Alexander has also introduced a five-point TTC Turnaround policy. The policy is aimed at cracking down on fare evasion, inappropriate use of transit, and a 10-cent fare increase, or 20 cents during rush hour, to generate an estimated $100 million in new revenue.
At a news conference earlier this month, Alexander called Toronto's transit system the backbone that keeps the city moving. Voters head to the polls in four weeks.
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CP24:Toronto’s mayoral election is four weeks away. Here’s everything you need to know if you haven’t been paying attentionThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Toronto Mayoral Election Olivia Chow Brad Bradford Chris Alexander Toronto City Issues
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