Candidates for Mayor and three wards containing major post-secondary institutes where students live, work, and study were sent 5 questions on issues that matter to students. Their responses were graded anonymously by a panel of students from across Toronto. The candidates’ responses and the grade given to them by your fellow students are found below. 

Disclaimer

  • This Report Card is not an endorsement of any candidate. It exists to give students a clear record of where candidates stand, and a sense of how a panel of fellow students evaluated those positions. 

  • The grades reflect the panelists' own views, not an official position of the Students' Unions involved.

  • We encourage you to read each candidate's full response for yourself and weigh it against your own values, rather than relying on the grade alone.

  • It is okay for you to disagree with a grade. That means you have engaged meaningfully with a candidate's response and compared it to what matters to you. This is the intended goal of the Report Cards.     

Councillors

Grades will be released on shortly. If you want to be reminded about grade release, commit to vote in the upcoming municipal elections in the Get Out to Vote Pledge. Only candidates in Ward 11, 13, and 25 will be contacted.  

The Questions

Question 1: Student-Inclusive Fare-Capping

Beginning this September, the TTC is implementing fare capping to replace monthly passes for most riders. Post-secondary students in Toronto rely on the TTC for their daily commute to campus, placements, and co-op or work-study positions off campus. A survey of over 2,500 UofT students found 82.5% of students use public transit as their primary mode of transportation (Source). Yet the fare-capping system was designed without considering post-secondary students, so this September, students remain the only ridership group still forced to make a large up-front monthly payment just to access transit.

Will you support the creation of a lower single-ride fare for post-secondary students, integrated into the fare-capping program the same way seniors, youth, and Fair Pass users already are? If not, please explain your alternative approach to making the TTC more affordable for students. (Yes/No, up to 150 words)

Question 2: Tenant Rights and Student Housing 

A survey of UofT students found that more than half of students report housing insecurity with building conditions being a major concern (Source). RentSafeTO enforces building standards and holds landlords accountable through inspections, ordered repairs, and fines to the landlord for violations. In 2026, the City began rolling out a new building rating system to give prospective tenants a colour-coded score for a building's maintenance history. 

Will you commit to increasing the City's funding for RentSafeTO enforcement, including for the new building rating system, to protect safe rental housing?  If not, please explain your alternative approach for ensuring that rental properties are safe for tenants. (Yes/No, up to 150 words)

Question 3: Food Security and Community Food Access

1 in 2 UofT students report skipping or reducing meals to save money (Source). In December 2024, City Council formally declared a food insecurity emergency. The City funds community food programs directly, including grants to food banks, Community Markets program, and a city run grocery store pilot program.

Will you commit to increasing City funding for food security initiatives? If yes, please indicate which initiatives. If not, please explain your alternative approach to addressing the food insecurity emergency.  (Yes/No, up to 150 words)

Question 4: Youth Employment and Economic Opportunity

Young people across Toronto are facing the toughest job market in over a decade. Youth in Ontario face an unemployment rate of 15.7% during the first quarter of 2026 (Source). Many post-secondary students rely on jobs to afford to study in Toronto. The City funds direct youth employment programs like the Toronto Youth Job Corps, and could require local hiring or paid co-ops on major City contracts.

Will you commit to adding requirements for paid co-op, internship, or apprenticeship opportunities for youth to the Social Procurement Policy, to provide youth an opportunity to gain experience in a difficult job market? If not, please explain your alternative approach to addressing youth unemployment in the city.  (Yes/No, up to 150 words)

Question 5: Safer Public Spaces

Graduate students rely on the TTC to get home safely. On the TTC, the City's Community Crisis Service has responded to more than 29,000 calls in their first year of operation (Source), a model that transit riders' groups like TTCriders point to as safer and more effective than expanded enforcement alone (Source).

Will you commit to expanding non-police Community Crisis Service teams, rather than expanded fare or police enforcement, to improve safety on the TTC and in other public spaces? If not, please explain your alternative approach for improving safety in public spaces.  (Yes/No, up to 150 words)