TORONTO, October 26, 2026 – Toronto’s 2026 municipal election is taking place today, October 26, with polling stations across the city open until 8 p.m. Unofficial results for the mayoral, city council and school board trustee elections are expected to be released throughout the evening after voting closes. Toronto Elections said its results reporting system will go live at 8 p.m., with updates continuing as votes are counted at polling locations.
In the final stage of this year’s mayoral race, much of the attention has focused on incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow and City Councillor Brad Bradford. Their polling gap narrowed significantly at one point in October, although recent surveys conducted by different polling organizations have produced varying results.
A Mainstreet Research poll released on October 20 placed Bradford at 48.9 per cent and Chow at 47.5 per cent. A Canada Pulse Insights survey published by CityNews on October 23 showed Chow leading Bradford 51 per cent to 46 per cent among decided and leaning voters. The latest Liaison Strategies poll, released on October 25, put Chow at 52 per cent and Bradford at 44 per cent. As the surveys used different methodologies and were conducted at different times, the final outcome will be determined by today’s actual vote.
Over the past several weeks, the two candidates have presented competing policies on housing and the cost of living, property taxes, public safety, the TTC, bike lanes and municipal finances. With campaigning coming to an end over the weekend, attention has now shifted to voter turnout and the ballots being cast today.
Advance voting has already set a new record this year. Between October 6 and 11, a total of 222,550 voters cast their ballots in advance, an increase of approximately 92 per cent from 115,911 in 2022. The figure also surpassed the previous record of 161,147 advance voters set in 2014.
Toronto has approximately 2.14 million eligible voters this year. Residents voting today must visit their designated polling station based on their home address. Polling stations are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and anyone already in line before 8 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.
Tonight’s results will include ballots cast during advance voting, mail-in ballots and votes cast in person today. Election night results are unofficial and will be formally certified by Toronto’s City Clerk at a later date.
（LJI by Yuanyuan）
