Toronto 2026/Ward 8/Liz Grade
LG

Liz Grade

Campaign site
WebsiteTwitterFacebookOther
Running for
Councillor
Ward 8
Eglinton-Lawrence
Days until polls open
29

About Liz

Written by Liz Grade in answer to our questionnaire, and published as given. Not our description of them.

Liz Grade is a Toronto-based commercial real estate broker, business owner, and community leader with over 20 years of experience. She specializes in industrial, retail, office, and multifamily properties across the Greater Toronto Area, advising clients on leasing, investment sales, and strategic property decisions.

Liz holds a Bachelor’s degree and additional training in real estate, international business, and public speaking, strengthening her expertise across business and built environments.

Liz has lived in Ward 8 (Eglinton–Lawrence) since 2015, where she raised her family. Her connection to the community informs her understanding of local market dynamics, housing needs, and neighbourhood development.

In addition to her real estate practice, Liz is a director of a family-run construction company and comes from a three-generation background in home building and construction, bringing practical insight into development and project execution.

Liz is actively involved in community and volunteer initiatives. She has served as a committee member of the TRREB Commercial Committee and supported charitable causes including GIRO/Villa Charities, JACK.ORG youth mental health, and Run for the Cure breast cancer research. She has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and supports the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated exclusively to funding women’s shelters and violence prevention programs.

Her combined experience across real estate, construction, and community involvement positions her as a knowledgeable voice on urban development, housing, and infrastructure in Toronto. She remains committed to delivering practical solutions that support sustainable growth, affordability, and responsible development across the city of Toronto going forward every day.

Our questionnaire

Where Liz Grade stands

Liz Grade’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.

Five decisions facing the next council

Should Toronto permit substantially more housing as-of-right in every ward, including areas currently dominated by detached and semi-detached homes?

  • Liz Grade    No

When a person living in a park has been offered an available indoor space that meets their accessibility, safety and household needs, should the city require them to leave the encampment?

  • Liz Grade    Yes

Should Toronto introduce road-pricing measures, such as congestion charges or tolls, if the revenue is dedicated to transportation improvements?

  • Liz Grade    No

Should Toronto raise additional local revenue to address its infrastructure repair backlog rather than defer maintenance while seeking funding from other governments?

  • Liz Grade    No

Should Toronto publish project-level budgets, schedules and performance updates for all major capital projects?

  • Liz Grade    Yes

    As a City Councillor, accountability, efficiency, and transparency will be my priorities.

Public safety and public space

Which approach should receive the greatest additional investment to improve public safety?

  • Liz Grade    Police, bylaw enforcement and a more visible official presence

    This supports safer communities through stronger enforcement, accountability, and a visible presence to deter crime and improve public confidence.

Over the next council term, the Toronto Police Service budget should:

  • Liz Grade    Increase above inflation to expand police staffing or services

    Supports safety and growth.

How should Toronto govern automated licence-plate readers and similar surveillance technology used on public streets?

  • Liz Grade    Establish citywide limits on access, retention, auditing and data sharing

    Balances safety and privacy with clear rules, limits, and oversight of technology use.

Transit and transportation

What should receive the greatest share of the next available transit funding?

  • Liz Grade    New rapid-transit lines and extensions

    Toronto needs long-term solutions that increase capacity, reduce congestion, and support housing growth along transit corridors.

When there is not enough street space for every use, which should generally receive priority?

  • Liz Grade    Deliveries, trades, emergency vehicles and accessibility

    This reflects a focus on keeping the city functioning safely and efficiently, ensuring emergency response, essential services, and economic activity are not disrupted.

Housing and growth

If Toronto could make one major housing intervention this term, which should receive the greatest emphasis?

  • Liz Grade    Reduce approval times, development charges and other city-imposed costs

    Enable private housing through faster approvals, lower development charges, and less red tape so builders can deliver more supply efficiently.

What should be Toronto's primary role in delivering affordable and supportive housing?

  • Liz Grade    Focus primarily on permitting enough housing and reducing barriers to construction

    Toronto’s role should be to enable housing, not build it. The City should focus on faster approvals, less red tape, and predictable rules so builders can deliver more housing efficiently.

Where should Toronto permit the greatest increase in housing density?

  • Liz Grade    Concentrate growth on major streets and near rapid transit

    We should build more housing where there is already transit and infrastructure, while keeping growth planned, focused, and respectful of neighbourhoods.

City government and service delivery

Which change would you implement to reduce the cost of building housing in Toronto?

  • Liz Grade    Expand as-of-right zoning and automate routine permits

    Reduces delays and costs by cutting red tape and helping builders deliver housing faster.

What is the most important change Toronto should make to reduce capital-project delays and cost overruns?

  • Liz Grade    Strengthen professional project management, procurement and contracting

    Improves delivery and accountability through better project management and closed contracts to control costs and reduce delays.

Which service-delivery model should Toronto use more often?

  • Liz Grade    Move major functions to arm's-length organizations with clear performance mandates

Taxes, spending and fiscal sustainability

Over the next council term, residential property-tax revenues should generally:

  • Liz Grade    Grow approximately with inflation and population

Which type of additional revenue should Toronto rely on most heavily?

  • Liz Grade    Land-transfer taxes, development charges and taxes on real-estate activity

    Relying on growth related revenue with the use of technology to improve efficiency, reduce red tape, and speed up approvals.

What should Toronto do first to address its infrastructure repair backlog?

  • Liz Grade    Redirect money from new facilities and projects toward existing assets

    It’s important to address decades of decline in existing assets.

Governance and representation

What should be Toronto's primary approach to the provincial government?

  • Liz Grade    Align with provincial priorities where doing so secures funding or approvals

Strong mayor powers should be used mainly for:

  • Liz Grade    appointing and removing senior staff, restructuring departments

    Strong mayor powers should be used sparingly and not concentrated in one area or function.

Your ward and your record

Which objective should receive the greatest attention in your ward during the next council term?

  • Liz Grade    Enforcement, public-space management and responses to disorder

    All three priorities are important for the ward, including growth, safety and order, and strong core services.

Which single result should voters use to assess your performance at the end of the term?

  • Liz Grade    Improved fiscal sustainability and service performance

Priorities and trade-offs

Over the next council term, Toronto should:

  • Liz Grade    Remove or redesign lanes that fail defined safety, ridership or congestion standards

When demonstrations substantially block transportation or access to essential institutions, the city should prioritize:

  • Liz Grade    Keep major roads, transit, hospitals and essential facilities operating

Where should Toronto direct its next major technology investment?

  • Liz Grade    Procurement, finance, staffing and administrative efficiency

When Toronto faces a structural operating-budget gap, what should it do first?

  • Liz Grade    Reduce or redesign lower-priority services

What is the most important municipal intervention for improving Toronto's business climate?

  • Liz Grade    Accelerate permits, inspections and approvals

How should Toronto attract major employers, investment and events?

  • Liz Grade    Housing affordability, transportation, safety and quality of life

What should Toronto prioritize to increase construction capacity?

  • Liz Grade    Encourage modular construction, prefabrication and more efficient building methods

What should receive the greatest priority in Toronto's public-realm budget?

  • Liz Grade    Cleanliness, roads, sidewalks, snow clearing, washrooms and routine park care

What should be Toronto's primary tool for supporting arts, culture and nightlife?

  • Liz Grade    Simpler permits, flexible operating rules and later hours

    I support simpler permits and rules for arts, culture and nightlife, but without changing current hours.

If autonomous taxi services operate in Toronto, which condition should the city prioritize?

  • Liz Grade    Accessibility, geographic coverage and minimum service standards

Each card is one question, with Liz Grade 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 answered

Registered 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.

Everyone running in Eglinton-LawrenceWhere the whole field stands