Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has secured another term in office, according to projections released by several local television networks on Monday night.
CTV News reported that Chow had received approximately 54% of the vote with 87% of polling stations reporting, placing her roughly 113,267 votes ahead of her principal opponent, City Councillor Brad Bradford.
Chow first became mayor in a 2023 by-election following the resignation of her predecessor, John Tory.
Her reelection comes after a series of controversies involving Toronto's Jewish community, including criticism of her absence from events supporting Israel and commemorating victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.
In October 2024, Chow did not attend a memorial ceremony and vigil held to mark the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Israel.
The mayor subsequently attributed her absence to a “miscommunication" and maintained that her office had never received the email invitation.
Chow also drew criticism after declining to participate in a ceremony at Toronto City Hall celebrating Israel's Independence Day and the raising of the Israeli flag.
She explained that attending the event would be "divisive" because of the ongoing war in Gaza.
Another controversy emerged in June when footage circulated showing Chow saying “Free Palestine" while participating in Toronto's Pride Parade.
More recently, the mayor faced questions over her decision not to attend a forum focused on combating antisemitism, held at a local synagogue last month.
The event, organized by Jewish Lawyers of Canada, featured Bradford and Chris Alexander, another mayoral challenger who subsequently withdrew from the race.
Chow had been invited to participate but confirmed that she would not attend.
Her spokesperson explained that the mayor's reelection campaign was not scheduled to launch officially until the day after the forum and that she would therefore refrain from attending candidate events before that date.
Jewish Lawyers of Canada disputed the explanation, noting that the organization had initially approached Chow's team in early August and had not been informed that the event's timing would prevent her participation.
The controversies have unfolded against a backdrop of heightened concern over antisemitism in Toronto and its surrounding communities since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
According to Toronto police statistics, officers recorded 231 hate crimes in 2025, representing a 50% decline compared with the previous year.
Despite the overall decrease, Jewish residents remained disproportionately affected by religiously motivated incidents.
Of the 99 hate crimes classified as religiously motivated in 2025, approximately 82% were directed against Jews.
Jewish residents make up less than 3% of Toronto's population, highlighting the disparity between the community's share of the population and its representation among victims of religiously motivated hate crimes.