Work on council Bradford was elected to
Toronto City Council in the
2018 municipal election, representing
Ward 19 Beaches—East York. He was re-elected in the
2022 municipal election, and placed eighth in the
2023 by-election for mayor, which was won by
Olivia Chow.
Planning and housing committee Following the
2022 election, Bradford was appointed as the chair of the planning and housing committee. Following the election of Mayor Chow, Bradford was named vice-chair. On December 16, 2024, the mayor shuffled her committee appointments, and Bradford was replaced as vice-chair by
Frances Nunziata. Despite the shuffle, Chow stated that "Councillor Bradford is an important voice in housing at the City and will continue his work on the Planning and Housing Committee". Bradford described the move as "politics at its worst." In an article on his website explaining his vote, Bradford wrote that while he is "not interested in the politics of alienating police", he is "equally uninterested in maintaining the status quo of policies and funding models perpetuating racism and leaving communities under-resourced." During the 2023 budget debate, the proposed TPS budget included a $48.3 million increase. Councillor
Alejandra Bravo moved a motion to transfer $900,000 from the proposed increase to operating more warming spaces. Bradford questioned if the motion was meant to "defund the police".
Renaming Dundas Bradford voted to rename
Dundas Street, as well as related city properties including
Yonge-Dundas Square, a public library branch and two subway stations when it was first proposed in July 2021. The proposal was also endorsed by Mayor John Tory and was estimated to cost the city $6 million to implement. In his remarks on the item, Bradford questioned if it "makes sense to name streets and plazas and transit stations after someone with a disputed, controversial and problematic past", stating that he viewed the answer as "pretty clearly no", adding that he did not feel a need to delay, and that the renaming would be a step towards confronting
systemic racism. As estimated costs for the original initiative grew to $13 million, the city adopted a new plan in December 2023 endorsed by Mayor Chow, to defer renaming the street and only move ahead with the square, two subway stations and a library branch at a cost of $2.7 million. In June 2024, Bradford indicated that he was concerned about the rising costs of the initiative and believed the project should be paused, stating in an interview with CBC News that "the city is broke and this is something the vast majority of Torontonians weren't asking for." He later introduced an unsuccessful motion aimed at blocking the renaming of the square by redirecting the funding towards accessibility and safety improvements.
Campaigns 2018 election During the 2018 municipal election campaign, Bradford received endorsements from Mayor
John Tory, Deputy Mayor
Ana Bailão, former Liberal
member of Provincial Parliament (MPP)
Arthur Potts, Councillor
Mary-Margaret McMahon (the previous incumbent of ward 32, which made up a part of the current ward boundaries), and former Toronto chief planner and mayoral candidate
Jennifer Keesmaat. Bradford defeated candidate
Matthew Kellway, who represented
Beaches—East York federally from 2011 to 2015 as the
New Democratic MP.
2022 election Bradford campaigned on the need for affordable housing, to improve parks, improving transportation, and reducing crime in the 2022 election. He ran against five other candidates and was endorsed by Mayor John Tory.
2023 mayoral by-election Following the resignation of Mayor Tory in February 2023, Bradford formed an advisory committee to explore a run for
mayor of Toronto. He was advised by
Liberals Khokon Abbas, a consultant, former candidate Andrea Barrack and campaign strategist Bob Lopinski, as well as
Progressive Conservatives Dennis Matthews and
Kory Teneycke, who worked on Premier
Doug Ford's campaign team. Bradford hired Matt Hiraishi, who previously worked as chief of staff and former campaign manager to
Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce, as his campaign manager. One of the first platform items he released was a plan to increase public safety on the
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). He proposed establishing a new agency to respond to mental health crises, expanding cell phone service throughout the
subway system, hire an additional 40 special constables and 50 police officers to patrol the TTC and, and retrofit subway stations to include
platform doors. Bradford proposed redeploying 200 parking enforcement officers at 50 intersections during
rush hour, and create a new office to coordinate construction and maintenance projects. Shortly after he indicated he was considering a run for mayor, a postering campaign describing him as "two-faced Brad" began to circulate in his ward. He lost the election to
Olivia Chow, coming in eighth place with 9,254 votes (1.28%).
Integrity commissioner investigation In July 2024, Integrity Commissioner Jonathan Batty found that Bradford improperly used constituents' personal information obtained from his city hall office for campaign purposes during the 2023 by-election for mayor, violating city council's code of conduct. In April and May 2023, Bradford's campaign sent out mass emails announcing the opening of a campaign office and criticizing
Olivia Chow. Four constituents subsequently submitted complaints to the integrity commissioner; while they had previously contacted Bradford in his capacity as councillor, they did not sign up to receive campaign communications. In the lead-up to the election, Bradford has held "campaign-style" events outside of his ward to criticize incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow. On October 1, 2025, Bradford confirmed his intention to run for mayor the following year, registering as a candidate on May 1, 2026. Prior to formally registering as a candidate, developer Nick Ainis hosted an event in
Concord, Ontario, titled "An Evening With Brad Bradford", selling tickets for $250. Candidates are prohibited from raising or spending money to campaign until registering, and a complaint was filed by Progress Toronto who called for an investigation by the integrity commissioner.The complaint described the event a "cash-for-access" arrangement, noting the potential for there to be a violation of the city's code of conduct. The group did not provide evidence of wrongdoing and Bradford dismissed the complaint as a "smear". The developer told the
Toronto Star that revenue would be used to pay for the event and fund his podcast. == Personal life ==