What to know
- In Monday’s Toronto municipal election, nearly 1 million voters cast their ballots at 1,431 polling stations across the city’s 25 wards.
- This resulted in a voter turnout of 45.8 per cent, the highest since 2014.
- Mayor-elect Olivia Chow received 54.2 per cent of the votes, beating out Brad Bradford, who got 41.1 per cent.
- A record number of Torontonians also showed up to advance voting days, more in 2026 than in the past five elections.
Torontonians came out in droves to cast their ballots in Monday’s municipal election, giving Olivia Chow the most votes of any Toronto mayor in history.
According to unofficial election results from Build Canada, 982,660 votes were counted at 1,431 polling stations across the city’s 25 wards. This resulted in a voter turnout of 45.8 per cent.
Chow received an impressive 532,201 votes, totaling 54.2 per cent of total votes, which is nearly double the amount of votes (269,372) she received in the 2023 mayoral by-election against outgoing mayor John Tory, who resigned following inappropriate conduct with a staffer.
Despite losing the mayoral race, runner-up Brad Bradford received a robust 404,013 votes, totalling 41.1 per cent of the votes. More Torontonians voted for him than for Tory in 2022 (342,158).
Voter turnout
Voter turnout in the 2026 Toronto municipal election far outnumbered the previous three elections, receiving its strongest voter participation since 2014 and reversing a historic low of just 29.2 per cent in 2022.
It was in 2014 that Tory narrowly beat out now-Premier Doug Ford. Chow came third in the race.
Turnout also increased for advance voting, with a record number of 222,550 residents showing up for the six days of advance voting from Oct. 6 to Oct. 11. In 2023, only 129,745 votes were cast in advance.
Chow’s victory speech
After a decisive victory, Chow held her Monday night victory speech at The Great Hall, reassuring voters that she’ll “work every day to earn your trust.”
“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 to welcome newcomers. A city that stands up for working people, celebrates our differences and believes everyone deserves a fair chance,” she said to a sea of supporters holding purple signs.
Chow will now get to serve her first full term as mayor of Toronto.
