Chow defends three tax hikes as Toronto reaches final election stretch

Mayor Olivia Chow defended her record of three property tax increases totalling 18.6% since taking office in a 2023 byelection, arguing the spending fixed urgent infrastructure failures and hired crisis workers to address rising crime. With three days until the Oct. 26 election, Chow pledged that future increases would stay "at or around" the rate of inflation — a promise without a specific number, though she said Toronto in a prior debate that if inflation hit 2%, her increase would not exceed 3%.

Chow inherited a city budget hole of $1.8 billion, largely due to COVID, and the city shortfall stood at about $1 billion according to Toronto's budget chief earlier this year. She pointed to the Scarborough RT, which had just derailed when she arrived. "The Scarborough RT had just derailed, and I realized that I have to fix [the] TTC's rails. If not, it's not safe. So [an] enormous amount of funding [was] needed," she said Friday on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

Her opponent, Brad Bradford, countered Thursday after their final debate that the city is no better despite the tax increases. "Where did the money go? Because the services aren't 20 per cent better, the transit's not 20 per cent more reliable," Bradford said. He pledged a one-year property tax freeze if elected — but Chow argued that freeze actually masks a 1.5% increase through the city building fund, a requirement predating her that directs 1.5% of assessed property value to infrastructure including transit.

The Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario reported homelessness in Toronto down roughly 8% since 2022-23. Chow said she funded declining encampment rates through affordable housing investments and claimed the TTC is more reliable now due to tax-funded spending. Bradford's campaign has not endorsed those claims.