Unofficial results· 100.0% of polls in
Mayor · updated Oct 27, 1:10 a.m. ET
Written by Chris Alexander in answer to our questionnaire, and published as given. Not our description of them.
I was born and raised in Toronto, attending Oriole Park Public School and the University of Toronto Schools before studying at McGill University and Oxford University. I spent 18 years in Canada’s foreign service, including six years at our Embassy in Moscow and six years in Afghanistan, where I served as Canada’s first resident Ambassador and later as the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative. Chris Alexander for Mayor I returned to Canada to enter public life, serving as Member of Parliament for Ajax-Pickering from 2011 to 2015 and as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2013 to 2015. Since then, I have worked in Toronto as an executive, strategic adviser and corporate director. Toronto is the city that raised me and the city my family and I call home. I am running for Mayor because I believe we can do much better on housing, transit, economic growth, public safety and the basic services people rely on every day. I want to put everything I have learned in public service to work for the city that gave me so much.
Our questionnaire
Chris Alexander’s own answers to the questions we put to every candidate, published as given — including, where they wrote one, their reasoning in their own words.
Toronto should permit more missing-middle housing right across the city, while giving neighbourhoods a stronger role in shaping clear local rules on form, streetscape and public realm. Growth should be predictable, faster to approve and strengthen neighbourhoods.
People should not be displaced from one form of homelessness to another. Encampments should be resolved with stable housing offers that meet accessibility, safety and household needs, with supports in place so people can remain housed.
Toronto should focus first on fixing the transportation system we already pay for: better TTC service, smarter signal timing, faster construction and improved traffic flow. I would not add a new charge on people simply trying to get around the city.
Toronto should stop deferring essential repairs, but new local taxes should not be the first answer. I would prioritize and publish the backlog, find savings, and secure a permanent funding framework with Queen’s Park and Ottawa so infrastructure is repaired on time.
Major capital projects should have public budgets, schedules and performance updates, with promised cost and completion dates shown beside actual results. Torontonians deserve to know where projects stand, why delays happen and who is accountable.
Public safety requires prevention as well as enforcement. I would expand youth violence-prevention programs and make the Toronto Community Support Service a permanent first responder, while ensuring police have the resources to tackle serious crime.
Police should have the resources to tackle serious crime and hate, but new spending should focus on specialized capabilities, accountability and civilian crisis response not across-the-board expansion. Every dollar should deliver measurable safety results.
Technology can help police investigate serious crime, but automated surveillance needs clear limits. I would require strict rules on access, retention, auditing and data sharing, with independent oversight and public reporting.
Fix what is physically broken first. I would publish the unfunded capital backlog, table a prioritized ten-year state-of-good-repair plan, and publicly track costs and delays. Reliable transit starts with maintaining the system we already have.
Street space should reflect how each corridor actually works. Transit, pedestrians, cyclists, deliveries, emergency access and traffic all matter. I favour practical designs that move the most people and goods safely without creating unnecessary congestion.
Toronto needs all three: more housing, faster and cheaper approvals, and public delivery at scale. My priority is to increase supply across the board, including 3,000 affordable starts in year one and up to 10,000 annually by 2029.
Toronto should build and acquire substantially more affordable and supportive housing directly, while partnering with non-profits, co-ops and land trusts. Public land should remain public, with housing built at scale and operated for long-term affordability.
Toronto should allow more missing-middle housing across the city, not force nearly all growth onto a few major avenues. Clear as-of-right rules can add homes while protecting strong neighbourhoods, tree-lined streets and good public space.
Toronto’s housing problem is supply, and slow approvals add time and cost. I would expand as-of-right zoning, put a public clock on every application and approve compliant projects on firm timelines.
Major projects need professional delivery, disciplined procurement and public accountability. I would publish promised costs and completion dates beside actual results, track delays quarterly and intervene early when projects fall off schedule.
Use the model that delivers the best public result. City Hall needs strong internal capacity, but should use competitive outside providers where they deliver better value, with clear contracts, measurable targets and public accountability.
I will freeze residential property taxes in 2027 and keep increases below inflation in 2028. Toronto needs to restore fiscal discipline, find efficiencies and grow its economy rather than continually asking residents to pay more.
Toronto needs a stronger and more predictable revenue base, but the first answer cannot always be another tax. I would focus on economic growth, better financial management and securing Toronto’s fair share from Queen’s Park and Ottawa.
Fix what we already own before allowing maintenance backlogs to compound. I would publish the unfunded backlog, prioritize state-of-good-repair work, fully cost major projects and report publicly on costs, schedules and delays.
Toronto should work constructively with Queen’s Park to secure funding, approvals and better outcomes. I will defend Toronto’s interests when we disagree, but our biggest challenges require cooperation, not political confrontation between governments.
Strong-mayor powers should be used carefully and transparently where they can break unnecessary gridlock. Housing is the clearest case: Toronto needs faster approvals and substantially more homes, while maintaining clear rules and public accountability.
Toronto needs more housing, investment and opportunity in every part of the city. I would speed up housing approvals, strengthen neighbourhood main streets and attract the investment and jobs needed to raise living standards.
Judge me by whether Toronto works better: stronger finances, more reliable transit and services, and clear public standards showing whether City Hall is delivering what it promised, on time and on budget.
Toronto should complete a safe, protected cycling network, but new projects must be designed with neighbourhoods and tested for safety, ridership and congestion impacts. Bike lanes should improve mobility without unnecessarily worsening vehicle commutes.
Protest is a protected democratic right, but major roads, transit, hospitals and essential institutions must remain accessible. I support clear, lawful enforcement when demonstrations cross into intimidation, threats or serious disruption.
City Hall should use technology to make performance visible. I would publish service standards, permit clocks, transit dashboards and project ledgers so residents can see what government promised, what it delivered and where delays occur.
When there is a structural gap, the first step should be to reduce internal and operating costs before asking residents for more. I would review administration, contracts and operations, protect core services and publish the savings.
Toronto’s business climate depends on the basics working: housing, transportation, safety and infrastructure. I would also move City Hall faster, cut unnecessary licensing costs and make permits and approvals more predictable.
Major employers invest where talent can afford to live, move efficiently and feel safe. Toronto should get the fundamentals right while using targeted sector strategies to connect our hospitals, universities, finance and emerging industries.
Toronto should build more efficiently. I would expand standardized designs, modular construction, mass timber and prefabrication where appropriate, creating predictable demand that lowers costs and helps projects move faster.
Start with the basics. Streets, parks, sidewalks and public spaces should be clean, safe and well maintained in every ward, with published service standards and response times so residents can see whether City Hall is delivering.
Public funding should protect Toronto’s cultural strength. I would double the Toronto Arts Council budget by 2030, protect cultural spaces and make affordable City space easier for artists and arts organizations to access.
Autonomous vehicles should be judged on evidence. If they operate in Toronto, the City should require transparent data on collisions, trips, congestion and curb use so safety and transportation impacts can be measured publicly.
Each card is one question, with Chris Alexander filed under the answer they gave and their own words underneath it. The other options offered are not shown, nor how the rest of the field answered.
How the whole city answeredRegistered candidates from the City Clerk’s official list, refreshed daily. Campaign sites are linked as published by the candidate; a link is not an endorsement.