Politics of Toronto

The politics of Toronto, Ontario, Canada involve the election of representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. A total of 24 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons of Canada in Ottawa (the federal capital), and another 25 Members of Ontario's Provincial Parliament (MPPs) sit in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen's Park, in Toronto. Being Ontario's capital, many provincial offices are located in the city.

Overview

In terms of electoral politics, Toronto had been an important source of support for the federal Liberal Party of Canada and the provincial Ontario Liberal Party although the downtown area tends to support the New Democratic Party (NDP). The federal Conservative Party and the provincial Progressive Conservative Party have historically been weaker in the city, but some right-leaning Liberals come from Toronto ridings.

In the past, the Liberals usually dominated the inner portions of the city federally, and the outer portions were split between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. However, the Liberals swept every seat in Toronto from 1993 to 2004, when former city councillor and NDP leader Jack Layton won a downtown riding. The NDP won two more seats in 2006 but lost one in 2008. In the 2011 federal election, Toronto sent nine Conservative MPs to Ottawa, eight NDP MPs, and six Liberal MPs, the first time that a centre-right party had won seats in Toronto since 1988. However, in 2015, the Liberals swept every seat in Toronto.

Large parts of Toronto, mainly its outer portions, supported the right-wing government of Mike Harris during the 1995 and 1999 Ontario elections. However, largely as a result of amalgamating Metro Toronto municipalities against the wishes of three quarters of voters in a municipal plebiscite, as well as of the downloading of responsibility for costly services onto the city, the Conservatives were shut of Toronto in provincial elections from 2003 to 2013, when they won a byelection.

The businessman and politician Mel Lastman was the first mayor of the newly-amalgamated City of Toronto and the 62nd mayor of Toronto after he won the 1997 and was re-elected in 2000. The centre-leftist David Miller was elected as Toronto's 63rd mayor in December 2003 and was re-elected in November 2006 with nearly 60% of the popular vote with a mandate to make Toronto a city of prosperity, livability, and opportunity for all. Miller declined to run in the following election and a conservative ally, Rob Ford, won the 2010 election handily. Three years later, however, Ford's tumultuous reign and admission to smoking crack, as well as other indiscretions that attracted unwanted international media attention, led City Council to remove many of his powers and much of his office's budget. In the following election, Ford was forced to drop out because of treatment for pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer. The mayoral election was won by John Tory, a lawyer and a former a talk show host, businessman, Member of Provincial Parliament, and Leader of the Official Opposition at Queen's Park. Among Tory's top priorities are tackling transit and traffic congestion.

The Stronger City of Toronto for a Stronger Ontario Act, 2006 (Bill 53) was enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on June 12, 2006. The provincial law changed the city's legal powers and responsibilities.

Members of Parliament

Members by riding

	Riding	Pic	Name	Party	Prior Experience	Education	Assumed Office	Born In
	Beaches—East York		Nathaniel Erskine-Smith	Liberal	Lawyer	Queen's University (BA; JD) University of Oxford (BCL)	2015	1984
	Davenport		Julie Dzerowicz	Liberal	Director of Strategic Planning and Communications at the Bank of Montreal	McGill University (B.Comm.) University of British Columbia (MBA) London Business School	2015
	Don Valley West		Rob Oliphant	Liberal	United Church minister CEO of the Asthma Society of Canada	University of Toronto (B.Comm) Vancouver School of Theology (M.Div.) Chicago Theological Seminary (D.Min.)	2015	1956
	Don Valley North		Maggie Chi	Liberal			2025
	Eglinton—Lawrence		Vince Gasparro	Liberal		2025
	Etobicoke Centre		Yvan Baker	Liberal	Management Consultant	Schulich School of Business (BBA) Tuck School of Business (MBA)	2019	1977
	Etobicoke—Lakeshore		James Maloney	Liberal	Lawyer	Bishop's University (BA) University of Windsor (LL.B.) University of Wales (BCL)	2015
	Etobicoke North		John Zerucelli	Liberal			2025
	Humber River—Black Creek		Judy Sgro	Liberal	North York City Council Toronto City Council Toronto Police Services Board	University of Toronto (BA, JD)	1999	1944
	Scarborough—Agincourt		Jean Yip	Liberal			2017
	Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East		Salma Zahid	Liberal		University of London (Masters of Educational Management and Administration) Quaid-i-Azam University (MBA)	2011	1966
	Scarborough North		Shaun Chen	Liberal			2015	1980
	Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park		Gary Anandasangaree	Liberal	Real Estate Broker and Lawyer	Carleton University (BA) and Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.B.)	2015
	Scarborough Southwest		Doly Begum	Liberal	Deputy leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party	University of Toronto	2026	1989
	Scarborough—Woburn		Michael Coteau	Liberal	Educator & Businessman	Carleton University	2021	1972
	Spadina—Harbourfront		Chi Nguyen	Liberal			2025
	Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park		Karim Bardeesy	Liberal			2025
	Toronto Centre		Evan Solomon	Liberal	Media Personality		2025
	Toronto—Danforth		Julie Dabrusin	Liberal	Lawyer		2015	1971
	Toronto—St. Paul's		Leslie Church	Liberal			2025
	University—Rosedale		Danielle Martin	Liberal	Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.	McGill University (BA) University of Toronto (MPP) University of Western Ontario (MD)	2026	1975
	Willowdale		Ali Ehsassi	Liberal	Lawyer, International Law Executive of the Ontario Bar Association	University of Toronto (BA) London School of Economics (M.Sc) Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.B) Georgetown University (LL.M)	2015	1970
	York Centre		Roman Baber	Conservative			2025
	York South—Weston—Etobicoke		Ahmed Hussen	Liberal	National President of the Canadian Somali Congress	York University University of Ottawa	2015	1976

Members of Provincial Parliament

Toronto is represented by 25 MPPs.

Members by riding

	Riding		Name	Party	Prior Experience	Education	Assumed Office	Born In
	Beaches—East York		Mary-Margaret McMahon	Liberal	Community Animator Toronto City Councillor for Ward 32 Beaches-East York	Carleton University (BA)	2025	1966
	Davenport		Marit Stiles	NDP	Non-profit director Trustee for the Toronto District School Board President of the federal New Democratic Party		2018	1969
	Don Valley East		Adil Shamji	Liberal	Emergency Physician	University of Western Ontario (BMSc) University of Toronto (MD) University of Oxford (MPP)	2022
	Don Valley West		Stephanie Bowman	Liberal	Accountant Bank executive Member of the board of the Bank of Canada Senior executive at Scotiabank Partner at Ernst & Young	University of Western Ontario (BA)	2022
	Don Valley North		Jonathan Tsao	Liberal	Senior political advisor in the Government of Ontario Director of the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care Toronto City Councillor for Ward 33 Don Valley East Member of the board of management for the Toronto Zoo	University of Toronto (MS) London School of Economics (MSc)	2025	1987
	Eglinton—Lawrence		Michelle Cooper	Progressive Conservative	Executive director of the PC Ontario Fund	York University (BA) (MA)	2025
	Etobicoke Centre		Kinga Surma	Progressive Conservative	Toronto City Council		2018
	Etobicoke—Lakeshore		Lee Fairclough	Liberal	President of St. Mary's General Hospital, Kitchener Senior vice-president of clinical care at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health	University of Toronto	2025	1973
	Etobicoke North		Doug Ford	Progressive Conservative	Toronto City Council		2018	1964
	Humber River—Black Creek		Tom Rakocevic	NDP	Executive Assistant to Anthony Perruzza		2018
	Parkdale—High Park		Alexa Gilmour	NDP	Minister at Windermere United Church	University of Toronto	2025
	Scarborough—Agincourt		Aris Babikian	Progressive Conservative	Citizenship Judge		2018
	Scarborough Centre		David Smith	Progressive Conservative	Toronto Public School Trustee for Ward 19/17 Scarborough Centre		2022
	Scarborough—Guildwood		Andrea Hazell	Liberal	Founder of Winspire National Women’s Network Foundation President and chair of the Scarborough Business Association Chair of the Caribbean Philanthropic Council	Seneca Polytechnic	2023
	Scarborough North		Raymond Cho	Progressive Conservative	Social Worker Toronto City Council Chairman of the Toronto Zoo	University of Toronto (MSW, PhD)	2016	1936
	Scarborough—Rouge Park		Vijay Thanigasalam	Progressive Conservative	Financial Advisor		2018	1989
	Scarborough Southwest		Doly Begum	NDP	Co-Chair of the Scarborough Health Coalition Vice-Chair of Warden Woods Community Centre Research Analyst	University of Toronto (BA) University College London (Master of Development, Administration & Planning)	2018	1989
	Spadina—Fort York		Chris Glover	NDP	Adjunct Professor at York University		2018	1961
	Toronto Centre		Kristyn Wong-Tam	NDP	Toronto City Councillor for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale Toronto City Councillor for Ward 13 Toronto Centre		2022	1971
	Toronto—Danforth		Peter Tabuns	NDP	Toronto City Council	York University (BA)	2006	1951
	Toronto—St. Paul's		Stephanie Smyth	Liberal	Broadcast journalist Communications consultant		2025	1964
	University—Rosedale		Jessica Bell	NDP	Community Organizer Lecturer at Ryerson University Director of the California Food & Justice Coalition Activist Executive Director of TTCriders		2018
	Willowdale		Stan Cho	Progressive Conservative	Real Estate broker Auditor		2018
	York Centre		Michael Kerzner	Progressive Conservative	Bioscience and technology entrepreneur	York University (BA)	2022
	York South—Weston		Mohamed Firin	Progressive Conservative	Community opportunities advocate Special Advisor to the Premier of Ontario		2025

See also

• Bill 103
• Metro Toronto