On Election Night We Made History!

Monday October 24 we made history. With your help, we showed that sustained organizing works as we elected five new progressive city councillors from Etobicoke to Scarborough. Together, these new voices are tilting the balance of power on city council.

We are very excited for City Councillors Amber Morley, Alejandra Bravo, Ausma Malik, Chris Moise, and Jamaal Myers to start their new terms!

Please take a moment today to feel hope for our city. Yes, these are exceptionally hard times and it can feel like our city is slipping away — but the election of these new, progressive and diverse voices represents a shift in power at a critical time. They represent hope for the future of our city.

Importantly, we came so very close in two other city council races. In York South—Weston and University—Rosedale the progressive champions we supported were just 94 votes and 123 votes shy of being elected. They were less than 0.5% away from winning. And in Scarborough Southwest the Mayor's Budget Chief was narrowly re-elected with only 35% support and a 5% lead. These were very tight races.

We also elected 6 incredible new TDSB Trustees who are committed to inclusive schools and investments in public education. Your new TDSB Trustees are Debbie King, Matias de Dovitiis, Alexis Dawson, Deborah Williams, Sara Ehrhardt, and Neethan Shan.

We were able to elect 11 of our 17 progressive champions—this is no small feat and is a testament to the work we did this election and the work we did alongside you the last four years. From training thousands of people, to petition campaigns, supporting hundreds of people to speak at government committees, knocking on tens of thousands of doors, and phoning people across the city, we know that organizing works and it’s clear that people want action on the many crises communities are facing.

Over the last four years, Progress Toronto has been organizing every day to build progressive power across Toronto. During this election, we put our power to work and hundreds of volunteers knocked on doors, delivered campaign flyers, and made calls in support of progressive champions.

Now, thanks to your support and hard work Toronto will have the most diverse, representative Council we have ever had. Thank you for all of your contributions!

I’m incredibly proud of our work and the work of the amazing candidates we supported in this election. We were up against powerful forces. Mayor John Tory used his $1.5+ million campaign budget to prop up some of city council’s most conservative city councillors and to work to get his friends elected in open races.

With just $25,000 to spend on our third party advertising campaign city-wide, we made strategic choices and were able to defeat a number of conservative-backed candidates, and now city council has increased the number of progressive voices fighting for better. This is a huge and meaningful change for our city.

We proved what sustained organizing can lead to and over the next few years we will continue so we can win on the issues that matter most like housing affordability, transit, the climate crisis, and more.

That's why it's important that I ask now if you are able to support our ongoing work. As we plan the work ahead, your support will help us win on big issues over the next four years and build towards the election in 2026 when we can elect even more progressive voices across our city.

We are powered by small donations from people like you. And we stretch every dollar because we are so honoured that people are willing to share some of their hard-earned income to support our work.

If you are able, please chip in to support our work so we can keep building power and winning. The most meaningful and impactful donation you can give is a small monthly contribution. A big thank you to our monthly donors who sustain our work. If you aren't already a monthly donor, please consider starting a monthly gift today.

With these new city councillors and public school board trustees, the balance of power has shifted. We now have more progressives on city council than we did before and we are in a good position to win investments on issues like housing, transit, child care, services, and more. Conservatives have less power and will feel the pressure to deliver for their communities in order to get re-elected. This is the power of the accountability work we have done together.

These victories give our team, volunteers, and residents across the city a renewed sense of hope for the future of Toronto.

These councillors and trustees are renters and/or transit riders like many of us. They bring a renewed sense of urgency on the issues that matter most and we're excited to work on what comes next.

It’s been an inspiring campaign that hundreds of people across the city worked very hard on. It’s heartening to know that this organization was only founded in 2018, and while we have accomplished a lot there is still much more to do.

Thank you for organizing with us. Thank you for voting progressive, for signing petitions, speaking out to advocate for change, for donating, and for volunteering your time.

Thank you for your commitment to our city,

Michal Hay
Executive Director
Progress Toronto