Ward 13 — Toronto Centre

Toronto Centre is the geographic and political heart of the city, encompassing the downtown core from Bloor Street south to the waterfront and from Yonge Street east to the Don River. The ward takes in a striking cross-section of Toronto life: the towers of the Financial District, the heritage rowhouses of Cabbagetown, the Church-Wellesley Village — the centre of Toronto's LGBTQ+ community — the massive St. James Town apartment complex, the revitalized Regent Park social housing community, and the Distillery District. With a population exceeding 120,000, it is one of the most densely populated wards in the city and contains extremes of wealth and poverty. St. James Town, a cluster of high-rise apartment buildings near Sherbourne and Bloor, is one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Canada and has a high proportion of recent immigrants and low-income families.

Toronto Centre gave Olivia Chow her highest vote share in the city: 54.6 percent (17,142 votes), more than double Bailão's 20.7 percent (6,498). The margin of 10,644 votes was the largest in absolute terms of any ward. Josh Matlow placed third with 5.1 percent, narrowly ahead of Saunders at 4.9 percent. Chloe Brown earned 4.5 percent, her second-strongest showing after Spadina–Fort York. The ward's progressive tilt is long-standing: the provincial riding was held by the NDP's Suze Morrison from 2018 to 2022, and the federal riding has been held by Liberal Marci Ien since a 2020 by-election. Councillor Chris Moise, elected in 2022, endorsed Bailão.

Municipal Issues

Homelessness and the opioid crisis were more visible in Toronto Centre than anywhere else in the city. Encampments at Moss Park, Allan Gardens, and along Sherbourne Street confronted residents daily, and the debate over supervised consumption sites — several of which operated in the ward — was deeply polarizing. Chow's platform of supportive housing and mental health investment aligned with the approach favoured by local social service agencies and community health centres, while Furey's promise to close supervised injection sites and Saunders's enforcement-oriented approach had limited appeal in a ward with intimate, daily experience of addiction and homelessness.

The Ontario Line, with stations planned for Moss Park and Corktown, promised to bring rapid transit connections to underserved eastern parts of the ward but also threatened displacement of low-income residents and small businesses along the construction corridor. Regent Park's ongoing revitalization — a multi-phase, multi-decade project to replace aging social housing with mixed-income communities — remained a test case for whether city-led redevelopment could deliver on its promises to existing residents. The 9 percent TTC service cut weighed heavily in a ward where the majority of residents rely on public transit and walking.