Olivia Chow, the incumbent in the Toronto mayor race, has secured a second term with 54% of the vote against Brad Bradford's 41% - a 13 percentage-point margin. Weeks of polling had suggested a dead heat, but the tightly fought election ended in a clear win and record turnout.

A decisive win after a tight race

Chow's total of more than 532,000 votes nearly doubles what she received in 2023, when she was first elected. The result settled a race that polling had framed as too close to call.

• •Chow: 54% of the vote
• •Bradford: 41% of the vote
• •Margin: 13 percentage points
• •Chow's vote total: more than 532,000, nearly double her 2023 figure

Two very different campaigns

Chow, 69, campaigned on more rental housing, free school lunches and reduced fares for frequent transit riders. She previously served as a school board trustee, city councillor and federal member of parliament.

Bradford, 40, a former city councillor and urban planner, attacked Chow's record on the cost of living and crime, pledging more police along with tax and spending cuts. He said Toronto crime rates were so bad that he slept with a baseball bat next to his bed. Auto theft and high-value property crime have risen in the city, while homicides, firearms-related violence and assaults have dropped significantly in recent years. Bradford also acknowledged that no incumbent mayor who has sought re-election in Canada's largest city has ever lost.

Hate, division and a gracious concession

Bradford allied with Toronto's Jewish community, arguing that Chow's absence from a debate on antisemitism meant she would not be an effective voice to combat hate. In office, Chow expanded the police hate crimes unit and pushed a 'bubble zone' bylaw barring protest within 50 meters of places of worship, schools and childcare centers.

In her victory speech on Monday night, Chow thanked supporters and Bradford, telling a jubilant crowd: "I know we share a love for Toronto and a belief in its future."

That concession came from Bradford, who cited the nearly 400,000 votes cast for him.

A progressive council and a Ford showdown

A large number of progressive councillors were returned or won for the first time, including Diana McNally Chan, a well-known advocate for unhoused people who will be the first renter to sit on city council.

Chow's second term begins with a likely confrontation with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ford called her an 'unmitigated disaster' when she was first elected in 2023, but later described their relationship as 'phenomenal' and told people to 'read between the lines' on his preference. The two are likely to spar in a fierce battle over the city's bike lanes, while a mounting affordability crisis - one that has engulfed major cities around the world - is expected to challenge the incoming council.