Toronto Renters Win Big in 2026 Municipal Election

Two days ago, low- and moderate-income residents across Toronto delivered a decisive message at the ballot box: our communities demand housing justice, affordability measures, and strong tenant protections.

This election resulted in the most progressive City Council in Toronto’s history. From Etobicoke to Scarborough, renters and working-class Torontonians turned out to shape the future of our city. This outcome proves what is possible when working-class people get organized, build collective power, and wield it together.

Toronto ACORN extends our warmest congratulations to all newly elected and re-elected representatives. In particular, we’d like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to those candidates who were officially endorsed by local ACORN Political Action Committees: Mayor Olivia Chow, Councillor Alejandra Bravo (Davenport) Councillor-Elect Chiara Padovani (York South-Weston) and Councillor-Elect Sara Ehrhardt (Toronto-Danforth).

To those representatives who completed the ACORN survey and committed to our platform, we look forward to working closely together with you over the next four years. Together, we have a clear mandate to:

• Give RentSafeTO Teeth through in-unit inspections and tougher enforcement of property standards in apartments.
• Beat the Heat with an enforceable 26°C maximum indoor temperature bylaw and expanded free AC program.
• Make Toronto Affordable through city-run grocery stores, expanded MURA funding, and a municipal broadband network.
• Stand Up to the Province to fight for full rent control, a ban on AGIs, increased social assistance rates, and LTB reform.

Most of all, a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the thousands of ACORN members, supporters, volunteers, and ordinary Torontonians who made this victory possible. Over the last two months, ACORN members have spent countless hours phonebanking, doorknocking, flyering, tabling, posting on social media, and mobilizing their friends, family, and neighbours to get out and vote. This victory belongs to you.

The election is over, but the work is never done. Electing champions for working-class Torontonians is only the first step. Now we must organize to hold our new Mayor and City Council accountable to the communities that elected them, and work together to keep transforming our city for the better.

Let’s get to work!