Toronto District School Board Chair Neethan Shan has secured his ticket back to city council after winning the ward 25 by-election in Scarborough-Rouge Park Monday night.
Shan came out with more than 26 per cent of the votes, according to unofficial election results.
Anu Sriskandarajah, who is the wife of Toronto councillor Parthi Kandavel and also a TDSB Trustee secured 17.5 per cent of votes, and business man Shawn Allen walked away in third place with 15 per cent of the votes.
Twenty candidates were in the running to fill the seat.
The by-election was called after former councillor Jennifer McKelvie resigned after winning a seat in the House of Commons in the 2025 federal election as a Liberal candidate.
Shan is no stranger to Scarborough, he previously won a council seat in the former ward of Scarborough-River by-election in 2017, however lost the seat to McKelvie in the city-wide election the following year.
Shan received immense support during this year’s by-election including endorsements from Progress Toronto, a progressive organization that also endorsed Chow’s mayoral run in 2023.
Shan also received an endorsement from the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.
The endorsements from progressive groups comes as no surprise since Shan was previously President of the Ontario NDP’s, and unsuccessfully ran as an NDP candidate in several Ontario general elections.
Shan campaigned on promises to build stronger communities, economy, and transit. Including commitments to build more community spaces, invest in programs for children and youth, and end gridlock.
The councillor-elect also promised to focus on tackling crime in the east-end neighbourhood, more specifically a rise in break-ins and car thefts.
Following last night’s win, Chow, who attended Shan’s campaign headquarters in Scarborough, took to X to congratulate him.
“Congratulations to Neethan Shan on your election as City Councillor for Scarborough-Rouge Park! I look forward to working together to deliver more for the residents of Scarborough and for all Torontonians,” Chow said.
Despite her attendance at Shan’s election headquarters, Chow did not publicly endorse any of the candidates.
However, City Councillor Brad Bradford voiced his support for Allen, who promised to rip out bus-only lanes in Scarborough.
Despite his win it won’t be long before voters return to the polls in another city-wide election next year.
