In 19 days, the entire Greater Toronto Area goes to the polls. Not Ottawa. Not Queen’s Park. Your street, your ward, your mayor. Municipal elections are the ones Caribbean people skip the most and feel the most, because city hall decides the things that touch your actual life: how much property tax you pay, whether the bus comes on time, who polices your neighbourhood, and whether your kid’s rec centre stays open.
Voting day is Monday, October 26, and advance polls are already open in some cities. Here is what is on the ballot across the GTA, city by city.
Toronto: the two-horse race
The big one. Olivia Chow is running for re-election after taking the mayor’s chair in the 2023 byelection, and she is in a genuine fight. City councillor Brad Bradford is her main challenger, and the latest Liaison Strategies poll from October 6 puts Chow at 48 percent and Bradford at 40 percent among decided and leaning voters. Former federal cabinet minister Chris Alexander was in the race too, but he has since dropped out, which is why this is now a two-person contest.
Advance polls in Toronto opened on October 6. Twenty-five councillors are also on the ballot, and this is where the diaspora should pay attention. Scarborough elected two fresh faces in recent byelections, Parthi Kandavel in Ward 20 and Neethan Shan in Ward 25, and several Scarborough wards have deep Caribbean roots. Your councillor is the person who answers when the landlord issue, the flooding basement, or the disappearing bus route lands on your street.
Mississauga: the rematch nobody asked for, everybody is watching
Mississauga has the messiest and most entertaining mayor’s race in the region. Incumbent Carolyn Parrish, who won the 2024 byelection after Bonnie Crombie left to lead the Ontario Liberals, is now fighting Crombie herself for the job back. Ward councillors Alvin Tedjo and Dipika Damerla are also in the mix, and the polls cannot agree on who is winning. Liaison’s October 5 tracker has Crombie at 30, Parrish at 29, and Tedjo surging to 26. Pallas Data had Parrish ahead 34 to 25 just days earlier.
Translation: nobody knows, and your vote genuinely counts here.
Eleven city councillors are on the ballot too. Mississauga’s advance voting runs October 6 to 11 in select areas, so Sauga voters can get it done this week and skip the lines.
Brampton: Brown goes for three
We covered this one in depth already: Patrick Brown is chasing a third term as mayor of Brampton in a city that is restless about growth, traffic, and housing. If you missed it, read Brampton Votes 2026: Brown’s Third-Term Bid Meets a Restless City for the full breakdown. Brampton has one of the largest Caribbean populations in the country, and this council will decide what the city’s breakneck growth actually looks like for the people already living there.
York Region: the Liberal-leader reunion tour
Vaughan’s mayor is Steven Del Duca, the former Ontario Liberal leader, and he is running for re-election against challenger Shelly-Ann Starlette Cerrelli. Next door in Markham, Frank Scarpitti has been mayor for 20 years and is running again, challenged by Martin Ross and Stephen Edgell. In Richmond Hill, incumbent David West faces Holo Devnani.
York Region matters more than people think. It is where a huge share of the Caribbean middle class has moved in the last decade, chasing space and slightly saner prices, and regional council controls transit expansion and the growth plans that decide whether your commute gets better or worse. Fun fact: Newmarket’s mayor John Taylor was acclaimed, so at least one GTA mayor gets to nap through October.
Durham: an open seat in Oshawa
Oshawa is the GTA’s most wide-open mayor’s race because Dan Carter is not running for re-election. Four candidates want the job: councillors Tito-Dante Marimpietri, Jim Lee, and Derek Giberson, plus businessperson Henry Onwuachu. Durham’s Caribbean community keeps growing in Ajax and Pickering, and an open mayor’s seat means the next council gets shaped from scratch.
Why this election is the one that runs your life
Federal elections get the drama, but municipal government writes the rules of your daily routine. Property taxes, garbage pickup, snow clearing, park maintenance, public transit, policing budgets, shelter locations, and zoning for everything from basement apartments to the jerk chicken spot on the corner. When people say “nothing ever changes,” it is usually because 70 percent of eligible voters stayed home for the municipal election and let 30 percent decide.
The Caribbean community in the GTA is big enough to swing ward races and even mayoral contests. We just have to actually show up.
How to vote without the headache
First, make sure you are on the voters list. Every municipality has a “am I on the voters list” lookup on its website, and it takes two minutes. Bring ID with your name and address on election day. Ontario polls are open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on October 26.
Second, vote early. Toronto’s advance polls are already open, and Mississauga’s run October 6 to 11. Every city posts its advance poll dates and locations on its elections page, so check yours tonight and get it out of the way.
Third, look past the mayor. The councillor and school trustee races are on the same ballot, and those are the people who decide what happens on your block. Google your ward’s candidates, read one debate recap, and pick the person whose priorities sound like your life.
October 26 is 19 days away. The advance polls are open. Go handle your business.
Sources: Liaison Strategies Toronto Pulse survey (Oct 6, 2026) and Mississauga Tracker (Oct 5, 2026); Pallas Data Mississauga poll (Oct 3, 2026); City of Toronto, City of Mississauga, and City of Markham election pages; Wikipedia’s 2026 Toronto, Mississauga, York Region, and Durham Region municipal election pages; Strong Richmond Hill candidate coverage; CityNews Toronto advance poll reporting.
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