With just 10 days to go before Toronto’s mayoral election, Brad Bradford is promising to get more jobs for young people while Olivia Chow vows to get an East-York police station back up and running.
At a campaign announcement Friday morning, Bradford unveiled his plan to create 15,000 permanent, full-time youth jobs by the end of his term if elected, with 5,000 jobs in the first year alone.
In making the announcement, Bradford underscored Toronto’s roughly 17 per cent youth unemployment rate and a recent study from Toronto Metropolitan University which suggested that 77,000 people left the city in 2025.
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“The best thing that we could do is try and grow our own talent here in this city. Make sure that the best and brightest see a pathway to prosperity and opportunity right here in this city, so that they don’t have to leave,” Bradford aid.
The pitch, which he’s dubbing the Toronto Youth Employment Challenge, will see Bradford personally recruit 10 to 15 CEOs to take part and fund the jobs. The city will bankroll coordination of the initiative at a pricetag of less than $750,000 annually, according to Bradford’s team.
Every pledge by participating CEOs will be published to a quarterly leaderboard, so the public can view the challenge’s uptake. At least 30 per cent of the 15,000 jobs will be reserved for what Bradford’s team described as those facing “the steepest barriers.”
He said Boston, where Bradford previously worked in the private sector, delivered more than 10,500 youth jobs in 2025 through a similar program.
Bradford’s announcement comes a day after Chow promised to create 15,000 new youth jobs across Toronto and prioritize local hiring for the Scarborough East LRT if re-elected.
The return of 54 Division
At a campaign stop in East York, Chow announced that the Toronto Police Service’s 54 Division will reopen in 2030.
Shuttered in 2018, the police station near Eglinton Avenue East and Victoria Park Avenue merged with 55 Division, which is located at Coxwell Avenue and Dundas Street about six kilometres away.
Residents who spoke alongside Chow on Friday said the closure left them feeling vulnerable, as they highlighted personal experiences of crime and sometimes long wait times for a police response.
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“They want officers who know their neighbourhoods, who understand the community, who are close by when trouble happens,” Chow said. “They felt neglected, like no one cared enough to listen. And thanks to my budget, 54 Division is coming back: a bigger, modern police station with the facilities officers need and space for the people of this ward.”
The reopening was approved as part of the 2025 budget, which included $120.2 million to de-amalgamate 54 and 55 divisions and fund a new standalone 54 Division.
In a post on social media, the Toronto Police Association welcomed Chow’s announcement, pointing out that the union’s president, Clayton Campbell worked at 55 Division when it was “misguidedly amalgamated.”
“A decision made simply to save money during the years of austerity, resulting in poorer community service and forcing our members to work in dilapidated conditions. They and the Beaches-East York residents deserve better. Glad to see this investment in policing and public safety!”
Asked why she didn’t pursue the reopening earlier during her time as mayor, Chow said she hadn’t heard from the councillors in and around the area about the concern. Brad Bradford is the councillor for Beaches-East York.
“My way to usually deal with local issues is I ask them to talk to the local councillor first, and if the councillors believe in something and come to me or go to the police service board and need my help, I will look at the situation and back them up and help in getting through to the finish line. I did not hear from the local councillors,” she said, without mentioning Bradford by name. Nate Erskine-Smith, the former MP who is running to take Bradford’s council seat at the end of his term, was also present at the announcement.
In a statement following Chow’s announcement, Bradford’s team said the incumbent’s remarks amount to telling Torontonians that public safety in their neighbourhood isn’t her job ”unless someone asked her first."
“She is continuing to demonstrate that her campaign is out of ideas and out of gas. Today, she is trying to take credit for the Toronto Police’s existing 10-year capital plan that was put in place under previous Mayor John Tory.”
Election day is Oct. 26.
