TORONTO — Olivia Chow has won re-election as Toronto’s mayor, defeating city councillor Brad Bradford in a tight race that centred on property taxes, transit fares, housing and public safety.Chow, the former NDP MP and city councillor, held off Bradford after polls in the final days showed the two candidates within a few points of each other. She first won the job in the 2023 byelection that followed John Tory’s resignation.During the campaign Chow pledged to keep property-tax increases at or around the rate of inflation. She also promised a weekly TTC fare cap that would make rides free after 10 paid trips, an expansion of school lunch programs she said could save families up to $1,800 a year, and the start of construction on another 10,000 rental homes next year through the city’s housing program.She said she would create a Bad Landlords Task Force to inspect and order repairs on poorly maintained buildings, continue the multi-year police hiring plan that adds up to 360 officers a year, and reopen the former 54 Division station in East York. She also committed to advancing the Scarborough East LRT.Chow has said she will not use strong-mayor powers to override council. The new term runs until 2030.
