In October, Leger surveyed residents across the Greater Toronto Area to gauge their views on Mayor Olivia Chow’s performance and key municipal housing issues.
The results paint a picture of a divided public, with notable support for specific housing policies, particularly among the mayor’s supporters.
Key highlights include...
Public opinion on Mayor Chow: Evenly split, but stronger disapproval growing
Residents across the Greater Toronto Area are evenly divided on Olivia Chow’s performance as mayor: 43% approve of the job she’s doing, while 43% disapprove.
However, the proportion that strongly disapprove is up 10-points, now sitting at 27%, triple the share who strongly approve (9%).
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- Those aged 35+ are more likely to disapprove Mayor Chow’s performance, while young adults 18-34 are more likely to have soft approval.
Broad support for housing-related municipal policies
Looking at housing at the municipal level, seven-in-ten GTA residents (71%) support freezing rent increases for one year in municipalities where rents rise more than 5% annually, even if it slows new housing construction.
Two-thirds (68%) agree municipalities should only clear homeless encampments when alternative shelter or housing is available for everyone displaced.
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- Those who agree with these policies were also more likely to approve of Mayor Chow’s performance.
Methodology
The results for this wave of research are based on online research conducted from October 10 to October 13 and from October 17 to October 20, 2025, with a representative sample of 1,052 Canadian adults 18 years of age and older from Leger’s LEO panel.
Results were weighted according to age, gender, region, and education to ensure a representative sample of the Ontario population.
A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey, but for comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1,052 would have a margin of error of +/- 3.0%, 19 times out of 20.
