Toronto mayoral byelection to be held on June 26

A byelection to replace former mayor John Tory has been tentatively set for June 26.

Toronto City Clerk John D. Elvidge announced the date in a news release issued on Thursday afternoon.

The byelection date is still subject to city council declaring the office vacant and passing a bylaw requiring a byelection at its next meeting on March 29.

In the release, city officials acknowledged the clerk “would not ordinarily fix or announce dates” in advance of council meeting to pass a bylaw.

But they said the clerk considered it to “be in the best interests of the city, candidates and electors to announce the applicable by-election dates as early as possible.”

Tory stepped down on Feb. 17, one week after disclosing he had been involved in a relationship with a staff member.

“Making the dates public now also allows the city clerk to start making preparations including hiring election staff and booking voting locations,” the release notes.

There had been some speculation that a special meeting could have been convened to move up the vote but Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said earlier this week that while she wanted an election "done as soon as possible,” city staff need “time and preparation” to prepare for what will likely be the biggest byelection in Canadian history.

The estimated budget for the mayoral byelection is roughly $13 million, the city said.

October’s municipal election carried a $14.5 million cost as a point of comparison.

“I don’t think we can underestimate the work the city clerk has to put into this,” McKelvie told CP24.

Elvidge said that nominations would open on April 3 at 8:30 a.m. and close on May 12 at 2 p.m.

Advance voting is expected to take place from June 8 to June 13.

At this point in remains unclear who will run in the byelection, though city councillors Josh Matlow and Brad Bradford have both said they are exploring a potential run, as has Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter and former police chief Mark Saunders. Gil Penalosa, who finished a distant second to Tory in October's election, has also said that he intends to run again.

Tory's former deputy mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong had floated the possibility of a run but said earlier on Thursday that he had decided against it.