AI disclosure statement: AI was used in the transcription of interviews that contributed to this article.
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Toronto Mayoral candidates, including current Mayor Olivia Chow, Coun. Brad Bradford and Chris Alexander, do not currently have their climate policies outlined on their public websites. According to a Sept. 9 report by Liaison Strategies, Chow, Bradford and Alexander are leading the long list of 53 mayoral candidates.
Few candidates have addressed climate change policy specifically. Of the 53 candidates with websites, only four have climate-related policies listed clearly on their online platforms, including Jamie Atkinson, Roberto Curto, Michael Lamoureux and Amy Rosen.
“A lot of the things that Torontonians experience day to day are actually managed at the city level,” said How-Sen Chong, a climate campaigner for Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA). Local policy is as important to climate change action as bigger-scale work, he said.
At the city level, Toronto city manager Paul Johnson described the Sept. 2 major rainfall that hit the city as a once in 100-year storm in a press conference. In previous reporting, Chong has attributed the storm to climate change.
“There will be a trend towards more frequent and more extreme climate anomalies, which means that 50-year floods might start happening every 10 (or) every five years,” said Keng-Lou James Hung, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who holds a doctorate in biology. “And so the frequency will increase and things like heat waves, severity of storms, the severity of these events will also likely increase.”
At a local policy level, lessening flood impacts could consist of making the city more absorbent. Chong said allowing water to be absorbed will keep basements and subways from overflowing. “That means converting concrete surfaces into things like green spaces and impermeable paved spaces as well, so that the water has an ability to be absorbed into the ground.”
The Government of Canada released the 2026 Canada’s Changing Climate Report in early Sept. outlining changes the country is likely to see. Headline nine described how atmospheric rivers and “extreme rainfall will lead to more frequent and intense flash flooding.”
“One idea I want to kind of feature prominently in future discussions is this idea that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Hung.
Climate Voting Records Toronto provides grades to city council members based on their climate change-related voting history. ClimateFast, a community-based climate action group founded the website. They have only provided grades for Chow (A) and Bradford (D), as Alexander is not a current city councillor.
In an email from the official campaign office, Chow’s representatives said they will have more to say on climate policy as the campaign continues.
Alexander’s campaign office has said issues highlighted in his campaign policy are his focus. This includes Toronto’s economy, transportation, housing and neighbourhood infrastructure.
Bradford’s campaign office has not yet responded to comment on his climate policies heading into the mayoral race.
“I think we are rapidly finding out that mitigating climate change is going to be very, very costly,” Hung said. “And anything we do now to enhance our infrastructure or to reduce the rate in which the climate’s going to shift,” is necessary for looking forward to the climate change discussion he said.
Reporter, OTR, F2026.
