Record number of voters turn out for advance polls in upcoming Toronto municipal election
More than 220,000 eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots across six days of advance voting last week ahead of Toronto’s upcoming 2026 municipal election – a new record for the city.
Between Tuesday, Oct. 6, and Sunday, Oct. 11, 222,550 voters headed to advance polling stations to cast their votes for mayor, city councillor, and a school trustee.
Advance voting numbers saw a steady stream of voters when polls opened on Oct. 6 with a 36,743-vote count on that day. The next day, Oct. 7, saw and 31,018 votes cast at advance polls.
The closing days (Saturday and Sunday) of advance voting saw the highest voter turnout, with 39,181 voters on Oct. 10, and a whopping 53,363 voters on Oct 11.
This year’s advance voting saw nearly double the number of voters showing up compared to the most recent 2022 Toronto municipal election, where 115,911 advance votes were cast.
Advance poll voting has fluctuated in recent years for the City of Toronto, with 124,299 advance votes cast in the 2018 municipal election, 161,147 in the 2014 election, and just 77,365 votes cast in 2010.
Election Day for this month’s municipal election is Monday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
There are 53 candidates running for mayor in this year’s Toronto municipal election.
In Beaches-East York there are 13 candidates running for the councillor position. They are Syeda Jaana Ali, James Dann, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Fatima Ibrahimi, Natalie Johnson, Kevin Morrison, Karsten Riedel, Mohammad Shabani, Adam Smith, Austin Vieira, Jeff Wahl, Devin Wilkins, and Jennie Worden.
In Scarborough Southwest there are eight candidates on the ballot for the councillor position. They are Laikul Choudhury, Naser Kaid, Parthi Kandavel, Ariel-Rachel Karokis, Luigi Lisciandro, Sharmina Nasrin, Mohammad Ali Reza, and Kevin Rupasinghe.
In Toronto-Danforth there are 18 candidates on the ballot for the councillor position. They are Maqsood Ahmad, Susan Chapelle, Michael Connor, Dennis Corcoran, Robb Dagenais, Peter De Marco, Sara Ehrhardt, George Fawcett, Mary Fragedakis, John Kladitis, Michael Mitchell, Caryma Sa’d, Dianne Saxe, Devyn Stackhouse, Jason Stevens, Christiane Tetreault, Maria Voutsinas and Denise Walcott.
School trustees are also being elected for the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Conseil scolaire Viamonde (French public school board0: and the Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (French Catholic school board). Voters select their trustee depending on which school board they are supporters of and eligible to vote for.
Voters are reminded by the city to cast their ballots at their assigned voting place indicated on their Voter Information Card (VIC) or at the Toronto Elections webpage at https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/elections/voter-information/
For more facts about the city’s 2026 municipal election, please head to the city’s media room webpage at https://www.toronto.ca/news/fact-sheet-2026-toronto-municipal-election/
