Toronto Life | Could Chris Alexander, former minister of citizenship and immigration, be Toronto’s next mayor?

He says he’s “seriously” considering a mayoral run

By Carly Lewis | July 10, 2026

Canada’s former minister of citizenship and immigration, Chris Alexander—who you may remember as a proponent of the “barbaric cultural practices” tip line—says he’s “seriously” considering a run for mayor in Toronto’s upcoming municipal election this October.

“A number of people and organizations in this city for which I have enormous respect have asked me to, and I don’t take that lightly,” he wrote in an email to CTV News.

Alexander, who is Conservative, was a cabinet minister from 2013 to 2015. He also served as MP for Ajax—Pickering.

In 2017, he unsuccessfully ran to lead the Conservative Party of Canada. Though he did not divulge to CTV who has been encouraging his possible candidacy, he told the outlet that the city needs a mayor who is “willing to be honest about what’s not working and serious about fixing it.”

As of this week, the front-running mayoral candidates are still Mayor Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford, the current city councillor for Beaches–East York. A recent poll conducted by Liaison Strategies found that according to 1,000 survey respondents, Chow would earn 49 per cent of the decided vote if the election were held today, and Bradford would take 40 per cent.