Toronto heads to the polls to elect the next mayor of Canada's most populous city

TORONTO – Polls are set to open today as Toronto voters elect the next mayor of Canada’s most populous city, capping a hotly contested byelection campaign to replace scandal-departed John Tory.

It’s the second mayoral election for the city since October, after Tory admitted to having an affair with a staffer and resigned just a few months into his third term.

A record 102 candidates lined up to replace him, with roughly a half-dozen names rising to the top of the field over the course of the 12-week campaign.

Former NDP parliamentarian and past city councillor Olivia Chow emerged as the frontrunner as she vies to reverse her electoral fortunes after finishing third in the 2014 mayoral race.

Ex-police chief Mark Saunders and former deputy mayor Ana Bailio have pitched themselves as the best placed candidates to challenge Chow’s lead in the polls.

Rounding out the list of high-profile candidates are former Liberal provincial education minister Mitzie Hunter, city councillors Josh Matlow and Brad Bradford, and right-wing columnist Anthony Furey.

The campaign has been headlined by issues of housing affordability, public safety and damaged municipal finances.

Whoever is elected Monday will inherit a city budget with a nearly $1-billion pandemic-related shortfall, driven partly by reduced transit revenue and increased shelter costs.

The next mayor will also inherit largely untested “strong mayor” powers, allowing them to pass budgets with just one-third council support, veto bylaws and unilaterally shape the city’s top-level administration. Several leading candidates have vowed not to use those powers to overrule council.

Polls are open today from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 1,445 voting locations across the city.

Advance polls held earlier this month saw 129,745 people cast a ballot, an increase of 14,000 over early voting in the October election.

That election saw a record low 30 per cent voter turnout in a race where Tory cruised to a third term against a field absent of any contenders with high-profile name recognition and experience in elected office.

With a number of established candidates contesting this election, city hall watchers have speculated the winner could be elected with the lowest share of the popular vote since amalgamation. Tory’s 2014 win stands at the low watermark, when he captured 40 per cent of the vote.