Toronto's mayoral candidates, Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford, are presenting divergent strategies to address the city's urgent housing shortage ahead of the October 26 election. While the race centers on meeting a 2031 target of 285,000 new homes,the contenders disagree on whether the solution lies in public development or private market incentives.
Olivia Chow’s target of 100,000 rent-controlled homes
Toronto is currently racing to meet a massive policy pledge made in 2022 to construct 285,000 new homes by the year 2031. This goal comes at a time when average rents across the Greater Toronto Area are rising rapidly, placing immense pressure on the city's social fabric. To meet this demand, incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow is championing a "public-builder" model that positions the city as a direct producer of residential units.
According to the report, Mayor Chow has already overseen the start of 5,271 city-owned housing units over the last year, with 1,680 of those designated as affordable. Chow has set an ambitious goal to expand her existing stock of 65,000 rent-controlled homes to 100,000 units by 2030. to support this, she is advocating for a reduction in development charges, aided by a $1.5 billion tri-governmental deal that could cut those rates by 40% to 60%.
Brad Bradford’s push for 25% to 50% lower development charges
Former City Councillor Brad Bradford is proposing a strategy centered on strategic partnerships with private market builders to accelerate construction. Rather than the city leading the bulldozing of land, Bradford’s Housing Action Plan focuses on legitimizing "gently higher density," such as as-of-right multiplexes and cluster-style micro-apartments. He argues that this market-led approach can deliver homes faster and at a lower cost to the taxpayer.
As the source notes, Bradford is calling for a projected 25% to 50% reduction in development charges to incentivize private developers to build more quickly. His plan also includes awarding land leases to non-profit rental builders, a move intended to bridge the gap between purely private speculation and the city-led model favored by Chow.. Bradford remains wary of high taxation, arguing that maintaining a reasonable return on investment for builders is essential to keeping Toronto accessible for first-time owners.
The $2.15 million RentSafeTO task force and tenant protections
Both Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford have introduced specific measures intended to protect current renters from exploitation and rising costs. One major pillar of this protection is the enhanced enforcement of existing by-laws that prevent illegal vacancy rent hikes. To increase transparency, both candidates support the creation of a public dashboard to track rental licenses and ongoing investigations.
In addition to regulatory oversight, the candidates have proposed physical improvements to the rental experience . This includes a mandate that all new housing developments include a cooling system at no additional cost to the tenant. Furthermore, Mayor Chow has announced a $2.15 million task force under the RentSafeTO program, which will deploy enforcement officers to identify negligent landlords and address building violations across the city.
The missing profile of the unnamed third contender
While the political landscape is currently dominated by the rivalry between Chow and Bradford,a third candidate remains a significant unknown in the race. The source mentions an unnamed third contender who is also part of the debate regarding the city's 285,000-unit housing target, yet their specific platform and policy priorities have not been disclosed. This lack of information leaves several questions unanswered: What is this candidate's stance on development charges, and will they lean toward the public or private sector to solve the affordability crisis? Without knowing this third party's position, voters are left to weigh only the two primary, competing ideologies currently on the table.
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