Toronto’s 2026 municipal election is approaching, and voters face a large mayoral field. With 53 candidates running for mayor, simply identifying the candidates is only the beginning. The more difficult task is understanding what each candidate has actually said about the issues facing Toronto.
TorontoElections.com has expanded its candidate profiles and launched a Compare Candidates tool to help voters review publicly available candidate positions side by side.
Start with the issues that matter to you
There is no single issue that every Toronto voter will weigh in the same way. Municipal government affects a wide range of services and policies, including transportation, housing, policing, property taxes, infrastructure, planning and public spaces.
Our mayoral candidate profiles currently organize available positions into six broad areas:
Housing
Candidates may differ on how quickly Toronto should build housing, what types of housing should be encouraged, the role of public and non-profit housing, tenant protections, zoning and development approvals.
Transit
Toronto’s transportation system includes the TTC, buses, streetcars, subways, cycling infrastructure and major transit expansion projects. Candidate proposals can differ in both priorities and spending.
Property Taxes and City Finances
Voters can compare what candidates have said about property taxes, municipal spending, revenue, service levels and the City’s finances.
Public Safety
Candidate positions may address policing, emergency services, community safety, mental-health responses, traffic enforcement and other approaches to public safety.
Environment
Where candidates have published positions, these may include climate policy, parks, trees, transportation, energy use and other environmental priorities.
Development and Planning
Toronto continues to grow and change. Candidates may have different proposals involving density, zoning, neighbourhood planning, infrastructure and the approval of new development.
These categories are intended to organize information, not to suggest that one issue is more important than another.
Not every candidate has published a detailed platform
One challenge in an election with 53 mayoral candidates is that the amount of publicly available information varies significantly from candidate to candidate.
Some candidates have detailed campaign websites, policy documents and questionnaire responses. Others have published only a small number of positions, while some have very little substantive policy information available publicly.
A lack of information on a candidate profile does not mean that the candidate has no opinion on an issue. It means TorontoElections.com has not identified a sufficiently reliable public statement that can responsibly be attributed to that candidate.
Rather than filling those gaps with assumptions, candidate profiles display:
“No sourced public position found.”
This allows voters to distinguish between a documented public position and an issue where reliable information has not been located.
Look at the source, not just the summary
When reviewing candidate positions, voters should consider where the information originated.
TorontoElections.com prioritizes sources such as official campaign websites, candidate platforms, direct public statements, candidate questionnaires and reputable news coverage.
A short summary can make a lengthy policy easier to understand, but voters who are especially interested in an issue may also want to review a candidate’s original campaign materials and public statements.
The purpose of our summaries is to make the large field easier to navigate while preserving the distinction between what a candidate has actually stated and what someone else might assume about that candidate.
Compare candidates side by side
Reading dozens of individual candidate profiles can become difficult, particularly when candidates discuss the same issue using very different language.
The new Compare Candidates feature allows voters to select between two and four mayoral candidates and review their sourced positions side by side across the same six issue categories.
For example, one voter may primarily want to compare approaches to housing and property taxes. Another may be more interested in transit and public safety. The comparison tool allows voters to focus on the subjects that matter most to them without assigning candidates scores, ideological labels or rankings.
The goal is to make candidate information easier to review so voters can make their own informed decisions.
A large field makes research more important
With 53 candidates seeking the mayor’s office, voters may encounter names on the ballot that they have not previously seen in news coverage or campaign advertising.
Taking a few minutes to review candidate information before voting can make the ballot considerably easier to navigate.
Voters can begin with candidates they already recognize, compare their positions, and then explore other candidates whose proposals may be less familiar.
Important voting dates
Advance voting for Toronto’s 2026 municipal election runs from October 6 to October 11.
Election day is Monday, October 26, 2026.
For official information about voting locations, eligibility and voting procedures, voters should consult the City of Toronto’s Toronto Elections resources.
Explore the candidates before you vote
Toronto’s municipal election affects services and decisions residents interact with every day.
Whether your priority is housing, transportation, taxes, public safety, development, the environment or another local issue, there is value in understanding what candidates have publicly proposed before casting a ballot.
You can browse the 2026 Mayoral Candidate Profiles and use the Compare Candidates tool to explore the information currently available.
TorontoElections.com will continue updating candidate information when reliable new material becomes publicly available.
