Olivia Chow will keep property taxes “at or around” the inflation rate if she is re-elected as Toronto mayor, her campaign office has confirmed. In a statement to CP24 on Friday, campaign spokesperson Shirven Rezvany said Chow is making the pledge now that the city is in a “more sustainable financial position” after fixing the budget over the last three years. Rezvany pointed out that when Chow took office in 2023, Toronto faced a budget hole of nearly $2 billion. During her first term, property owners saw their tax bill go up, including a 9.5 per cent hike – the largest increase the city had seen since amalgamation. In 2025, Chow’s budget included a 6.9 per cent tax bump. “Torontonians helped get the city’s finances back on track, and after three years of work fixing the city budget, the city is now in a more sustainable financial position. Mayor Chow’s plan is to hold the line at or around inflation,” Rezvany with Chow’s campaign said in a statement on Thursday. This year, Chow’s budget included a tax increase of 2.2 per cent, which was slightly below the inflation. Rezvany said Chow’s work has resulted in the city being back on the path to stable and sustainable finances. “Olivia Chow didn’t create Toronto’s financial crisis but took responsibility to fix it,” she said. Bradford responds Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford has previously slammed Chow’s tax increases, saying she has made life “very expensive” for Toronto residents. In a statement to CP24 on Thursday, a spokesperson for Bradford’s campaign said Chow didn’t keep her last election promise of “modest” tax increases. “Voters have every reason not to take her word for it this time either,” the spokesperson said, noting that Bradford will announce his plan “in due course.” Alexander pledges zero tax hike in 1st year Mayoral candidate Chris Alexander called Chow’s tax policy a “flimsy campaign promise.” He then announced that, if elected, there will be no tax increases during his first year in office. In his second year, Alexander promised property taxes would rise at a rate lower than inflation. “Property taxes have been sky-rocketing, while new housing goes unbuilt and services continue to disappoint. We haven’t yet heard how either the current mayor or council will actually fix this fiscal failure,” he said in a statement.
