CBC Toronto is hosting a mayoral debate on Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. ET, featuring the two leading candidates in Toronto’s mayoral race: incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow and Councilor Brad Bradford. The livestreamed event will be moderated by Chris Glover of CBC Radio’s Metro Morning and will cover key issues such as public transit, safety, and property taxes. Previous debates have become heated between the two, with Chow pointing to Bradford's past role in budget decisions that led to higher tax rates, while Bradford has criticized Chow for recent high property tax increases, including a 9.5% hike in 2024.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
At noon today, Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford, the two leading candidates for Toronto mayor, will participate in a debate hosted by CBC at its downtown headquarters. The event will be moderated by Chris Glover from CBC Radio’s Metro Morning and livestreamed on various platforms including CBC News app, CBC Gem, YouTube, TikTok, TV, and radio from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET. This third debate in a week's span is crucial as advance voting is currently underway until Sunday, with former MP Chris Alexander having dropped out of the race, potentially affecting voter preferences. The discussion will focus on key issues such as transit, public safety, affordability, and property taxes, giving Torontonians insight into the candidates' platforms and personalities.
Written for “Toronto Mayoral DebateCBC” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Toronto’s 2 mayoral front-runners to face off in debate hosted by CBC Toronto
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runners → face → Toronto
Debate will be livestreamed on Thursday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET
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Debate → livestreame → ET
The two top candidates in Toronto’s mayoral race are set to face off in a debate inside the CBC Broadcasting Centre on Thursday.
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candidates → set → Thursday
Incumbent mayor Olivia Chow and Coun. Brad Bradford will go head-to-head at noon to discuss key issues affecting the city.
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Chow → go → city
The debate is happening at a crucial moment in the election.
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debate → happen → election
Advance voting is underway across the city until Sunday, and Chris Alexander officially dropped out of the mayor’s race on Tuesday.
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Alexander → drop → Tuesday
The former MP had been polling at third place and his votes are now up for grabs.
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votes → poll → grabs
The discussion will be moderated by Chris Glover, host of CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.
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discussion → moderate → Morning
The program will dig into both candidates' platforms and provide an opportunity for the audience to glean a sense of their personalities.
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audience → dig → personalities
The debate will run until 1 p.m. and will be streamed live on the CBC News app, CBC Gem, YouTube and TikTok, as well as on TV and Radio.
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debate → run → TV
Click here to learn more about where you can watch the program.
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you → click → program
Tune in Thursday afternoon to see how the candidates respond to pressing questions about issues that affect the lives of Torontonians.
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that → tune → Torontonians
It will also be available on demand afterwards for those who can't watch live.
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who → watch → those
A head-to-head rivalry
At past debates, the discussion between Chow and Bradford has, at times, become heated as the opponents make their case for why they should be Toronto's choice for mayor.
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they → become → mayor
Chow and Bradford have often clashed over their approaches to public transit and safety, and have made jabs about each other’s track records while at city hall.
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Chow → clash → hall
They’ve also butted heads over taxes and city finances.
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They → butt → taxes
Throughout the course of the campaign, Bradford has been critical of Chow’s increases to property taxes over the years — which were raised 2.2 per cent in 2026, down from 6.9 per cent in 2025 and 9.5 per cent in 2024.
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which → raise → 2024
Previous debates between Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford have become heated.
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debates → become → Chow
This time around, Chow is promising to keep property tax increases "at or around" the rate of inflation.
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Chow → promise → inflation
In response, Bradford's team said voters "have every reason not to take her word for it."
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voters → say → it
In past debates, Chow has pointed at Bradford’s past role as vice chair on the budget committee under former mayor John Tory and said her opponent holds responsibility for sending the city into the red and creating the circumstances that drove the tax increase.
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that → point → increase
When Chow first took office, the city was dealing with a budget deficit of $1.8 billion post-pandemic and the city’s credit rating has improved since Chow's election win.
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rating → take → win
Candidates spar over transit, public safety at Toronto’s 1st mayoral debate
- Video
Affordability, property taxes: What you need to know about Toronto's mayoral debate
Chow has been critical of Bradford’s promise to cut Torontonians' water bills by 25 per cent — a plan Bradford says he'll pay for by changing how the city deals with debt and increasing borrowing for capital projects.
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city → spar → projects
Chow's team has said Bradford won't be able to deliver on that promise and has said the councillor will "say anything to get elected."
To read more about the candidate’s platforms check out CBC Toronto’s platform tracker.
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councillor → say → tracker
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