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Council will vote this week to determine the future of Ward 25 after its previous representative Jennifer McKelvie resigned earlier this month. McKelvie left for her new job on Parliament Hill as a Liberal MP. She held a seat on council since 2018. 

The winner of a byelection would represent the ward until the next municipal election in October 2026. 

Council may decide instead to appoint an interim councillor for the ward, as it did in 2022 when Joe Cressy, Kristyn Wong-Tam and Michael Ford vacated their seats. At the time, the next civic election was only about four months away.

Interim councillors are chosen from a pool of applicants and granted the same powers as their elected peers. The only caveat is they have to promise not to run again in the wards they are appointed to, as they might be seen as having an unfair advantage over other candidates as unelected incumbents.  

At a press conference earlier this month, Chow said she wouldn’t weigh in on what should happen to Ward 25 until she had spoken with members of council.

“I do have a preference but I am consulting with councillors,” she said at the time. “It’s not my decision alone. It’s important that council come together and make a collective decision.”

After council declares the Ward 25 seat vacant at its meeting this week, the city will have 60 days to call a byelection or name an interim councillor. Candidates will then have up to 60 days to register. Voting day will be another 45 days after that, meaning Ward 25 should have a new councillor no later than Nov. 2.

The most recent byelection concluded in November in Ward 15, Don Valley West with former TDSB chair Rachel Chernos Lin’s victory.

The campaign lasted 105 days from nominations opening to voting day and had .