Toronto held its municipal election on October 24, 2022 — the second under the 25-ward system imposed by the provincial government in 2018 and the first following the passage of the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, which received Royal Assent on September 8, just 46 days before voting day. Mayor John Tory sought a third consecutive term against 30 challengers. Turnout fell to a record low of approximately 29.2%, with 563,124 of the city's roughly 1.89 million eligible voters casting ballots — a steep decline from 40.9% in 2018 and 54.7% in 2014. Every ward recorded lower participation than in the previous election.

Mayoral Race

John Tory won a commanding third term with 342,158 votes, capturing approximately 62% of the ballot and carrying all 25 wards. Urban planner Gil Penalosa finished second with 98,525 votes (17.8%), while policy analyst Chloe-Marie Brown placed third with 34,821 votes (6.3%) on a campaign budget of just over $7,000. Blake Acton took fourth with 8,893 votes (1.6%). The remaining 27 candidates combined for roughly 12% of the total. Tory's margin of nearly 244,000 votes over Penalosa was one of the largest raw-vote margins in a post-amalgamation mayoral race.

Mayoral Candidates

John Tory had served as mayor since 2014, making him Toronto's longest-serving post-amalgamation mayor by the end of this term. The son of a senior Thomson Corporation executive, Tory trained as a lawyer and served as principal secretary to Ontario Premier Bill Davis before becoming president and CEO of Rogers Cable. He chaired CivicAction, a Greater Toronto civic engagement organization, from 2010 to 2014. Tory led the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party from 2004 to 2009, serving as Leader of the Official Opposition at Queen's Park, before stepping down in 2009 after losing a by-election in Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock. He subsequently hosted a talk radio show on Newstalk 1010. As mayor, Tory defeated Doug Ford in 2014 and Jennifer Keesmaat in 2018. His 2022 platform centred on a five-point housing plan to reform zoning bylaws and streamline development approvals, alongside a pledge to be "laser-focused" on completing the $28-billion transit expansion plan encompassing the Ontario Line, Scarborough subway extension, Eglinton Crosstown West extension, and Yonge North subway extension. He supported the province's new strong mayor powers.

Gil Penalosa, a Colombian-born urbanist, had served as commissioner of parks, sports, and recreation in Bogotá, where he directed the construction of more than 200 parks and expanded the city's Ciclovía open streets program to 121 kilometres. After immigrating to Canada in 1998, he founded 8 80 Cities, a non-profit promoting urban design that works for people aged 8 to 80, and consulted for over 350 cities worldwide. Penalosa ran on an ambitious progressive platform: allowing as-of-right construction of up to six units on residential lots, building 300 kilometres of protected bike lanes, establishing 52 kilometres of rapid transit with dedicated lanes, and requiring that all housing built on public land be 100% affordable.

Chloe-Marie Brown, a policy analyst and community organizer from Parkdale—High Park, had first run for office in a 2016 Ward 2 by-election and co-authored the framework for the Woodbine Casino Community Benefit Agreement. She placed third in a field of 31 candidates.

Campaign Issues

Housing affordability was the dominant issue. A provincial task force had found that roughly 70% of Toronto — the so-called Yellow Belt — was zoned exclusively for single-family homes, severely constraining supply as prices and rents continued to climb. Both Tory and Penalosa proposed zoning reforms to allow greater density, though they differed on scope and speed.

Transit frustration ran high, particularly over the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which had been under construction for more than a decade without an opening date. Midtown residents along the route had endured years of disruption. The broader $28-billion transit expansion — the Ontario Line, Scarborough subway extension, and Yonge North extension — was underway but years from completion, and questions about cost overruns and timelines loomed over the campaign.

The strong mayor powers introduced by Bill 3 emerged as a significant flashpoint. The legislation gave the mayor authority to appoint committee chairs, propose the annual budget, and veto certain council decisions — overridable only by a two-thirds supermajority. All five living former Toronto mayors wrote a joint letter describing the new powers as an attack on local democracy. Tory's embrace of the powers and Penalosa's opposition to them drew a clear ideological line in the race.

Homelessness and the city's 2021 encampment clearances — particularly at Trinity Bellwoods Park and Lamport Stadium — remained contentious, with progressive candidates calling for supportive housing models and critics demanding enforcement.

Council Races

Seventeen of 18 incumbents who sought re-election were returned, maintaining Toronto's entrenched incumbency advantage. Only one sitting councillor was defeated: in Etobicoke—Lakeshore, Amber Morley unseated Mark Grimes with 46.4% of the vote in a rematch of their 2018 contest, when Grimes had won with 41% to Morley's 27%. Morley grew up in the ward and had spent years in community organizing, including directing the South Etobicoke Youth Assembly and coordinating the South and Central Etobicoke Vaccine Engagement Team during the pandemic. She was endorsed by Progress Toronto and the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.

Seven entirely new councillors joined the chamber, most winning open seats left by departing incumbents. In Davenport, Alejandra Bravo won a dominant 70.7% after Ana Bailão chose not to seek re-election. Born in Chile, Bravo's family fled to Canada after the 1973 coup. She earned degrees from the University of Toronto and OISE and spent more than two decades in community leadership, including roles at the Maytree Foundation and the Broadbent Institute.

In Spadina—Fort York, Ausma Malik won the open seat vacated by Joe Cressy with 36.6%. Born to Pakistani immigrant parents and raised in Mississauga, Malik had served as a TDSB trustee from 2014 to 2022, championing the development of Jean Lumb Public School — the first new downtown Toronto public school in over two decades. She later worked as director of advocacy at the Atkinson Foundation, pushing for higher minimum wages and paid sick days.

University—Rosedale produced the second-closest race in the city, with environmental lawyer Dianne Saxe edging Norm Di Pasquale by just 123 votes after all 77 polls reported past midnight. Saxe had served as Ontario's Environmental Commissioner from 2015 to 2019 before the position was eliminated by the Ford government. She ran as an Ontario Green Party candidate in the June 2022 provincial election before entering the municipal race.

In Toronto Centre, Chris Moise won the seat vacated when Kristyn Wong-Tam left for provincial politics. A small business owner in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood, Moise had served as a TDSB trustee since 2016 and had run as an NDP candidate in three previous provincial and federal elections. He took 48.5% of the vote.

Willowdale saw Lily Cheng win the open seat of retiring councillor John Filion with 41.7%, defeating the mayor's preferred candidate Markus O'Brien Fehr. Cheng had founded North York Moms, a community group with more than 11,000 members, and co-founded We Love Willowdale in response to the 2018 Toronto van attack. She also served as executive director of NeighbourLink North York food bank.

Scarborough North faced extraordinary circumstances when incumbent Cynthia Lai died on October 21, just three days before election day. Under the Municipal Elections Act, the election proceeded but votes cast for Lai were not counted. Jamaal Myers, a lawyer and transit advocate, won with 51.1%.

Two former councillors who had lost their seats in 2018 also returned: Vincent Crisanti won back Etobicoke North with 41.1%, and Jon Burnside, who had represented Don Valley West from 2014 to 2018, won Don Valley East with 44.7%.

Returning Councillors

Several long-serving incumbents were returned with commanding margins. Josh Matlow in Toronto—St. Paul's recorded the most dominant performance on council, winning 84.7% of the vote — more than eleven times his closest challenger. A former TDSB trustee (2003–2010) who studied political science at Concordia and trained at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, Matlow had served on council since 2010 and built a reputation as one of its most outspoken progressive voices.

Paula Fletcher won Toronto—Danforth with 74.0%. A former labour organizer who worked at the de Havilland aircraft plant and spent years in union activism with CAW Local 112, Fletcher had served on council since 2003 and was a leading advocate for affordable housing and environmental sustainability.

Mike Colle took Eglinton—Lawrence with 70.3%. A veteran politician who had served on York City Council (1982–1985) and Metro Toronto Council (1988–1994), including a stint as TTC chair (1992–1994), Colle spent 23 years as MPP for Eglinton—Lawrence, serving as Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration under Premier McGuinty. He won his council seat in 2018.

James Pasternak won York Centre with 73.5%. A former TDSB trustee with degrees from York University, the University of Western Ontario, and the London School of Economics, Pasternak had served on council since 2010.

Shelley Carroll won Don Valley North with 71.8%. A former banker who rose to prominence leading parent groups opposing Mike Harris–era education reforms, Carroll served as a TDSB trustee before joining council in 2003. As budget committee chair under Mayor David Miller, she delivered four balanced budgets and helped implement Canada's first municipal land transfer tax.

Gord Perks survived the tightest race among returning incumbents in Parkdale—High Park, winning a three-way contest with 35.5% in the ward that recorded the city's highest turnout. Before entering politics in 2006, Perks had worked with Greenpeace Canada, Pollution Probe, and the Toronto Environmental Alliance, and was the principal author of the Canadian Green Consumer Guide.

Frances Nunziata won York South—Weston by the narrowest margin in the entire election — just 94 votes over challenger Chiara Padovani. The longest-serving member of council, Nunziata had been in municipal politics since serving on the York City Council in 1988 and was elected mayor of the former City of York in 1994. She had served as Speaker of Toronto City Council since 2010.

Notable Outcomes

Progress Toronto, a left-leaning advocacy organization, ran a slate of nine "progressive champions" for council seats. Five were elected — Morley, Bravo, Malik, Moise, and Myers — while two others lost by razor-thin margins in York South—Weston (94 votes) and University—Rosedale (123 votes, where Saxe was not on the slate but Di Pasquale was). The organization claimed the results tilted the balance of power on council, adding progressive voices on housing, transit, and social services. In Scarborough Centre, incumbent Michael Thompson won re-election with 55.3% despite having been charged with two counts of sexual assault in September 2022, a month before voting day.

The new council comprised 16 returning incumbents, two former councillors returning after a term away, and seven first-time members — a significant generational shift that would prove consequential just months later when Tory resigned in February 2023 and the council entered a period of transition culminating in Olivia Chow's election as mayor in June.