Ward 22 — Scarborough–Agincourt

Scarborough–Agincourt is one of Toronto's most predominantly Asian wards, stretching from Midland Avenue east to Markham Road and from Highway 401 north to Steeles Avenue. The ward takes in the Agincourt neighbourhood — a historic settlement that predates Toronto's amalgamation — along with Tam O'Shanter-Sullivan and parts of Milliken. With a population of roughly 107,000, the ward is 81 percent visible minority and 66 percent immigrant, with Chinese residents comprising approximately 43 percent of the total population — the highest concentration of any ward in the city. The Sheppard Avenue and Finch Avenue corridors are lined with Chinese-language signage, supermarkets, and restaurants, giving the area a distinctly East Asian commercial identity.

Chow won Scarborough–Agincourt with 39.9 percent (9,065 votes) to Bailão's 29.0 percent (6,595), a margin of 2,470 votes — her second-strongest result in Scarborough after Scarborough North. Chow's decades of advocacy within Toronto's Chinese-Canadian community — from her early years as a school trustee through her time as a federal MP — gave her strong personal connections with voters in the ward's large Chinese community, and her margin here was wider than in any other Scarborough ward except Scarborough North. Saunders placed third at 11.2 percent. Chow dominated advance voting with 1,132 ballots to Bailão's 212. Councillor Nick Mantas, first elected in a January 2021 by-election after the ouster of long-time incumbent Jim Karygiannis (who had been removed from council after exceeding campaign spending limits), was a relatively new presence at City Hall.

Municipal Issues

The cancellation of the Sheppard East LRT — a planned 13-kilometre line that would have run from Don Mills station to Morningside Avenue — left Scarborough–Agincourt without a funded rapid transit project. The ward's residents relied on the TTC's Sheppard East and Finch East bus routes, which were among the most heavily used surface routes in the system. The combination of cancelled transit plans and ongoing service reductions fuelled frustration in a community that saw downtown Toronto receiving subway extensions while their own transit needs were deferred indefinitely.

The ward's Chinese community, which spans multiple generations and immigration waves — from Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s to mainland China in the 2000s and 2010s — was not a political monolith. Younger, Canadian-educated residents tended to lean progressive, while older homeowners in the ward's established single-family neighbourhoods often favoured more moderate candidates. The ward's high immigrant population also meant that language barriers and unfamiliarity with municipal politics suppressed turnout, particularly among more recent arrivals.