Standing inside city hall’s council chambers, wearing her signature yellow blazer, adorned with the chain of office, surrounded by bureaucrats, her new council, family and members of the public, the newly elected Chow encouraged residents to envision a more compassionate, safe and affordable Toronto under her watch.
“Together we can, and today we start.”
The progressive mayor had been elected in the wake of a John Tory scandal and his surprise resignation.
asserted
mayor → stand → scandal
Critics, including the premier, had said Chow would be an “unmitigated disaster,” that her campaign lacked detail and that she faced a daunting task post-pandemic to rescue a city in financial free fall.
asserted
she → include → fall
Chow vowed to get new financial deals out of the city’s “reluctant partners” at Queen’s Park and Ottawa.
asserted
Chow → vow → Park
She asked Torontonians to imagine more affordable homes, a reliable TTC, a city in which residents felt safe and support services are there for those in need of immediate mental health care.
asserted
services → ask → care
Toronto’s leading candidates to be mayor talk to the Star’s editorial board about the most difficult matters facing the city and their campaigns.
asserted
candidates → lead → city
Toronto’s leading candidates to be mayor talk to the Star’s editorial board about the most difficult matters facing the city and their campaigns.
asserted
candidates → lead → city
“The needs of folks, whether they are public transit riders or tenants having a hard time, immigrant families barely making it — if you notice, what I focused on in the last three years are people that, in some ways, have been left behind.”
asserted
that → have → ways
On the eve of the vote that will determine whether she continues her tenure, the Star offers an audit to help you decide your vote: We talk to Chow herself and others about how her record stacks up.
asserted
record → determine → Chow
Key Chow promise: Build affordable housing
Chow pledged she would get local government back into the business of building affordable housing.
asserted
she → build → housing
She promised to build 25,000 city-owned and nonprofit-run rent-controlled homes within eight years.
asserted
She → promise → years
She said there would be a minimum of 7,500 below-market affordable units, including at least 2,500 rent-geared-to-income units.
asserted
She → say → units
There are currently 14,300 homes under construction by the city, according to its own figures, of which about 4,300 are affordable.
uncertain
4,300 → be → which
Of these, about 6,600 homes, including about 3,300 affordable rental homes, are being developed on public land or by a public or non-profit organization.
asserted
homes → include → organization
Chow has also expanded a program to help non-profit housing providers purchase buildings and turn them into affordable housing.
asserted
providers → expand → housing
She strengthened rules to crack down on negligent landlords and rolled out new ones to curb so-called renovictions.
asserted
She → strengthen → renovictions
“I’m actually building affordable housing using the city of Toronto, saying that ‘You give me 20 per cent of your building, I will fast track you, give you city land, and lower all your development charges,’” Chow told the Star.
asserted
Chow → build → Star
“No other mayors have used that as leverage to build affordable housing.
asserted
mayors → use → housing
There has been “a lot of progress,” said Carolyn Whitzman, a senior housing researcher and adjunct professor with the University of Toronto School of Cities.
asserted
Whitzman → say → Cities
But while government-backed housing projects are now a larger share of Toronto’s market, the private construction market has cratered, leaving many projects struggling to get off the ground unless they can access government support.
asserted
they → back → support
“I do think (Chow’s efforts) have picked up steam, but it’s a bit like turning around a supertanker,” said Whitzman, referring to how decades of reliance on private developers to build affordable housing has “damaged” Toronto’s ecosystem.
asserted
decades → think → ecosystem
Chow noted that under her watch, wait times for approvals and permits have gone down.
asserted
times → note → approvals
Site plan applications before July 2023 took an average of 816 days to reach a decision; now the average is 256 days, according to the city.
uncertain
average → take → city
While Chow backed citywide permissions, most suburban councillors objected, and council approved a watered-down proposal instead that cost the municipality millions of dollars in federal housing funds.
asserted
that → back → funds
“The mayor could have been stronger on that,” Whitzman said.
uncertain
Whitzman → say → that
“I don’t think that’s a good look.”
asserted
that → think → ?
Key Chow promise: Ending homelessness
In 2023, Chow said homelessness should be treated “with urgency and compassion” and “as the emergency it is.”
asserted
it → end → emergency
She promised funding for rent supplements, opening 24/7 indoor respite spaces and expanding existing programs to protect tenants.
asserted
She → promise → tenants
Chow points to current data as proof of progress.
asserted
Chow → point → progress
According to the city, 98 per cent of parks were free of encampments as of September, and last year it moved about 5,000 people from the streets and shelters into permanent homes.
uncertain
it → accord → homes
Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office recently reported that Toronto’s known homeless population decreased by 8.2 per cent between 2022 and 2025, bucking a broader provincial trend that saw homelessness rise.
asserted
homelessness → report → trend
“I want to end homelessness,” Chow said, in a recent interview with the Star, referring to the roughly 12,200 people still in the shelter system.
asserted
Chow → want → system
“How do we do that?
asserted
we → do → that
Stuff like Dunn House,” Chow said.
asserted
Chow → say → House
Dunn House is a 50-unit permanent housing program serving homeless people who frequent emergency departments.
asserted
who → serve → departments
“We’re building Dunn House two, three, four, five.
asserted
We → build → five
It will change.
asserted
It → change → ?
But it’s not (going to happen in) one day.”
asserted
it → go → day
Greg Cook, a longtime outreach worker, said there are fewer park encampments, but it’s because Chow’s administration has been efficient in clearing them — not because everyone is getting housing.
asserted
everyone → say → housing
People are also still being turned away from the shelter system, he added, which saw its budget cut this year.
asserted
budget → turn → system
Key Chow promise: Reliable transit
Transit problems persist as Chow’s first, truncated term concludes.
asserted
term → persist → ?
…and 59 more, not listed.
The Aporia
