A total of 372 candidates were certified by Toronto City Clerk John Elvidge after the deadline for nominations closed at 2 p.m. Friday.
There are 31 certified candidates for mayor, 164 candidates for city councilors and 177 candidates for school board superintendent.
The full list of candidates can be seen on the city’s website.
There are three school board wards where only one candidate ran.
That’s an improvement from this time a week ago, when 13 school commissioner races and two board races had just one candidate.
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Under Ontario municipal election rules, if there is only one qualified candidate running in a race by 4 p.m. on August 22, then that candidate will be officially elected by acclamation.
“On polling day, the ballot will indicate ‘Official’ for that office and a voter will only be able to mark their ballot for the other offices for which there is more than one candidate (eg Mayor and Councilman),” city staff said in a press release Saturday.
Mayor John Tory is seeking re-election, seeking a third term.
Ward 1 – Etobicoke North has the most qualified candidates (16) of all council races.
Earlier this week, Rose Milchin was appointed by the city council to fill the Ward 1 seat until the current term ends on November 14.
The seat was left vacant after former councilor Michael Ford stepped down to run and eventually won a seat for the same area in June’s provincial election.
There are significantly fewer candidates in this municipal election overall compared to the last election in 2018, when 501 candidates entered the race (35 for mayor, 242 for alderman and 224 for school board trustee).
The last election was also the first with a reduced model of 25 seats, from 47 seats previously.
Among the candidates who filed at the eleventh hour is prominent broadcaster Ann Rohmer, who entered the councilor race in Ward 11 (University-Rosedale) yesterday hours before the deadline.
The former CP24 anchor said she considered a career in politics for a while and decided to commit after hearing the news about the lack of people in this year’s election.
“I thought that’s a sign right there. That’s our democratic right to vote. It’s our democratic right to run for office, and I want to exercise that,” Romer told reporters Friday at City Hall.
Voters are set to head to the polls on October 24.
