A settlement counsellor who became Toronto's mayor 38 years after arriving as a teenager
Olivia Chow
Chow immigrated to Toronto at 13, was elected to the school board at 28, and spent decades in municipal and federal politics before winning the mayoralty in a 2023 by-election with housing as her central promise.
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Olivia Chow was born in Hong Kong in 1957 and immigrated to Toronto with her family at age 13, settling in the St. James Town neighbourhood. She studied at OCAD University and worked as a sculptor, college instructor and settlement counsellor before entering politics, elected to the Toronto Board of Education in 1985 and then as a Metropolitan Toronto councillor in 1991, serving 14 years before winning a federal seat as a New Democratic Party MP in 2006.
Winning the mayoralty
Chow ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2014, then won the June 26, 2023 mayoral by-election, triggered by John Tory's resignation, with 37.2% of the vote in a large, fragmented field. She has stated housing as her central priority, including a plan to build 25,000 rent-controlled homes on city-owned land over eight years, alongside reversing prior TTC service cuts.
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