Municipal Election - Voter eligibility and how to vote

Voter Eligibility:

To vote in Toronto’s municipal election, you must be:

  • a Canadian citizen; and
  • at least 18 years old; and
  • a resident in the city of Toronto; or
  • a non-resident of Toronto, but you or your spouse own or rent property in Toronto; and
  • not prohibited from voting under any law.

You may only vote once in the city of Toronto municipal election regardless of how many properties you own or rent within the city.  You must vote in the ward where you live.

To vote in Toronto, you are required to show identification with your name and Toronto address.

Students living in Toronto for school

  • If you are a student living away from “home” to attend an educational institution in Toronto and consider your “home” to be the place where you live when you are not attending school, which means you plan on returning there, then you are eligible to vote in both your “home” municipality and in the municipality where you currently live to attend school.
  • If your home and school residence are both in Toronto, vote in the ward where your “home” is located not where your school residence is located.

Students living away from Toronto for school

  • If you are a Toronto resident, but are studying in another Ontario municipality you may be eligible to vote in both municipal elections.
  • In Toronto, vote in the ward where your “home” is located. Bring identification with your name and qualifying Toronto address to the voting place.
  • If you are unable to vote in the Toronto Municipal Election, you may appoint another elector as proxy to vote on your behalf.
  • Please check with the City Clerk of the municipality where you’re attending school to find out what your voting options are.

Who cannot vote:

You are prohibited from voting on voting day if you are:

  • Serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution
  • A corporation
  • Acting as executor or trustee or in another representative capacity, except as a voting proxy
  • Convicted of a corrupt practice described in section 90(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996

Acceptable Identification for Voters:

  • Voters do not require photo ID, only identification showing name and qualifying Toronto address.
  • The Acceptable ID Chart refers to Ontario Health cards as acceptable ID (with Photo ID in brackets.) If you want to use an Ontario Health card as ID, it must show your name and signature or your name and address. It is also meant to distinguish between the new Ontario Health Cards and the old red and white OHIP cards.
  • A Passport is not an acceptable form of ID.
  • Full list of acceptable identification

During advance voting, electors can vote at any of the available voting places in their ward. There will be a Voter Assist Terminal available at each advance voting place.

On election day, electors must vote in the ward they live in. If the Voter Assist Terminal is not located at your voting place on Election Day, please call Toronto Elections.

If you require assistance in another language:

  • Written instructions on how to vote will be available on our website, and in all voting places in Braille, English and additional languages.
  • Key election information is also available in English and additional languages on our website.
  • If you require assistance in a language that is not listed here, please call 311 for greater access to over-the-phone interpretation in more than 180 languages.
  • Although we do try to place voting place staff with second language skills in areas where they will be most helpful, we do not provide specific translation services on advance vote or election day. You may ask anyone who is not a candidate or a scrutineer to act as an interpreter for you. They must complete an oral declaration that they will faithfully translate any communication between you and the election officials. Interpreters may not go behind the voting screen with you or assist you in voting.

Electors With No Permanent Lodging:

If an elector has no permanent residence, the place they have returned most often to sleep or eat in the five weeks before they vote, is considered their address for the purpose of voting. This could be a shelter, a park, drop-in centre, food bank, an intersection or any other location in the city.

Your ward and designated voting place will be based on what you consider your temporary address for the purpose of voting. During an election, individuals can look up their voting place online at toronto.ca/elections/myvote.

If individuals consider this to be a foodbank, shelter or drop-in center, they can also check to see if those facilities have information about their voting place, as Toronto Elections has mailed election information to shelters, drop-in centres and foodbanks across Toronto. This includes posters and postcards that have labels on them that tell people their voting place based on the address of that facility.

The Electoral System for the Municipal Election:

The City of Toronto uses a "First-Past-The-Post" system. In this system, the candidate elected is the one who receives more votes than any other candidate.

What to Expect at the Voting Place:

  • All electors are required to be on the voters' list before casting their vote. For someone without a fixed address to be added to the voters' list, they will need to complete a Voters' List Amendment Application using their temporary address.
  • Electors are generally required to provide identification showing their name and qualifying address when they submit their Voters List Amendment Application; however, if the elector informs the voting place staff that they do not currently have a fixed address, they will not be required to provide identification. 
  • In this special circumstance, their signing of the declaration that is on the Voters' List Amendment Application is sufficient.

Voter Information Card:

The Voter Information Card (VIC) provides useful information on where and when you can vote during Toronto’s municipal election. It’s also a helpful tool to take to the voting location when you vote, because it confirms for election officials that you are on the voters’ list. VICs will be mailed out at the beginning of October.

Definitions:

  • Resident elector
    An elector who lives in the city of Toronto.
  • Non-resident elector
    An individual who owns or rents property in the city of Toronto, but lives outside the city.
  • As the spouse of a non-resident elector
    If your spouse qualifies as a non-resident elector in a municipality, then you can also vote in that municipality's election.
  • Students
    If you are a student and consider your "home" to be the place where you live when you are not attending school, which means you plan on returning there, then you are eligible to vote in both your "home" municipality and in the municipality where you currently live while attending school. If you are a student attending school in another city, please check with the City Clerk of that municipality to find out what your voting options are. As a student and a resident of the City of Toronto, if you are unable to vote in the municipal election, you may appoint another elector as Proxy to vote on your behalf.