Laura Dean laughing on a park bench in Toronto, warm evening light

Laura Dean for Mayor

For a better, easier, more beautiful Toronto.

I’m Laura Dean. For over a decade it was my job to know how City Hall works and how to get things built. Now I am running to be your mayor.

Donate Now Read the Platform

A Better, Easier, More Beautiful City.

Torontonians work hard for their money. Every one of these priorities is a promise about how City Hall will spend it.

A BETTER city takes care of its people.

Ending homelessness is an immediate priority
You and your family can afford to live here
Young people can find work
You feel safe on the street and on the TTC

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An EASIER city stops wasting your time and your money.

You can get around the city quickly and reliably
Needed housing is approved without delay
Small businesses can open and grow without red tape
You see the positive impact of your tax dollars

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A BEAUTIFUL city is one you’re proud to call home.

Parks and public spaces you actually want to spend time in
Champion local events over commercial festivals
Community centres that are open when you want them and used to their full potential
Arts and culture have spaces to thrive

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Why I’m running

I’m running for Mayor to build a city where everyone has a place to call home, transit works, small businesses thrive, and where the next generation can build a future.

Torontonians work hard. We’re busy. We expect results from City Hall, not political theatre and rage-baiting. We don’t have time for opportunistic politicians and unfunded promises.

Toronto needs a fresh voice and a leader who will respect your paycheck.

For over a decade, I worked as a municipal and land use planning lawyer at a well-known Bay Street law firm. It was my job to know how local governments operate and how to get things built.

As Mayor, I’ll cut the noise and focus on what you actually want: a better, easier, more beautiful Toronto. And I know how to get it done.

Who I am

Before deciding to run for mayor, I spent over a decade as a municipal and land use planning lawyer at a well-known Bay Street law firm. I live in the west end with my husband, a Crown prosecutor, and our two young kids. We love this city.

As a lawyer, I worked on development applications across Toronto, engaging with developer clients and City departments to move projects from concept to submission to construction. Councils, residents and private-sector clients across Ontario trusted me for practical legal advice on pressing local issues. I believe in civility, accountability and transparency in government, and I’ve put that belief into practice: I’ve served as an Integrity Commissioner and Closed Meeting Investigator for municipalities across the province.

Before law, I worked inside the Ontario government, first as a Policy Analyst in the Climate Change Secretariat at Cabinet Office, then as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Housing Policy Branch at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. I understand how the province makes decisions that affect Torontonians because I worked alongside the people making them.

Volunteering in the community is important to me. I sit on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Allan Gardens, a registered charity working with the City to enhance the park and its horticultural conservatories. I volunteered for years with Cycle Toronto, earning the Volunteer of the Year award in 2017 for my advocacy on the Bloor Street Bike Lane. As part of that, I spearheaded the “Tour de Bloor” passport which was popular with the Bloor-Annex BIA. Before that, I volunteered weekly with the Canadian Red Cross’s Street Relief program serving hot meals at Sherbourne and Wellesley, and coached a kids’ team with TP Baseball.

My hobbies include: improving my hockey skills at Bill Bolton Arena, growing vegetables in my tiny garden and occasionally playing drums in local cover bands. I am a lifelong Jays fan and love cheering on Toronto’s new women’s sports teams.

Laura Dean with her husband and two young children on a bench at the Toronto waterfront

Better

A BETTER city takes care of its people.

Homelessness

Homelessness has reached levels none of us can ignore. In every part of the city, there are people on sidewalks, in parks and on transit with no place to call home. We’re saddened by human suffering in plain sight, and frustrated that our tax dollars aren’t reaching the root causes.

Not dealing with homelessness is expensive. Emergency shelters, hospital stays and incarceration are far more costly to Torontonians than long-term solutions.

Homelessness is not inevitable. There are examples of cities that have drastically reduced homelessness using the housing-first approach. Toronto needs to treat homelessness like the social and medical emergency that it is, and partner with other levels of government, hospitals and service providers to meaningfully address this solvable problem.

As Mayor, I will:

Work with hospitals and other partners to build supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals
Maintain funding for emergency shelters and warming and cooling centres, with real connections to social services and supports
Push the federal government for sustainable funding for homeless refugees
Get the right supports in place so that streets, parks and transit do not need to serve as de facto shelters

Laura Dean in conversation with a resident on a Toronto sidewalk

Housing

Too many Torontonians can’t afford to stay in the city they call home. Investment in affordable housing by the City and other levels of government is critical to ensuring that hard-working Torontonians are not driven into precarious housing, or out of Toronto altogether, by prohibitive housing costs.

In my career as a lawyer, I have seen firsthand where housing starts get delayed throughout the City’s approvals process. Too often, good projects such as rental, affordable housing or family-sized units get tied up. The City must prioritize and reward the types of projects it wants to see.

As Mayor, I will:

Keep investing in affordable housing of all kinds, including co-op housing
Prioritize approvals for affordable, rental and family-sized units
Work with other levels of government to secure funding and hold the City accountable to its housing targets

Safety

Everywhere I go in this city, I hear the same thing. People don’t feel as safe as they used to. Here is what I’ve noticed myself.

It seems like every day, I encounter people on the sidewalk who are plainly in crisis and plainly not getting help. The heartbreaking reality of drug addiction is in full view across Toronto. What I feel isn’t fear. It’s the discomfort of watching another human suffer and feeling powerless to help.

That discomfort isn’t a policing problem. It’s what a city looks like when its health and housing systems have stopped reaching people. I want scarce public resources spent addressing those problems, not criminalizing them.

I believe police resources must be directed towards violent and intimate partner crime, reducing illegal guns and addressing organized crime throughout the City. These are the issues that pose the biggest threat to Torontonians.

As Mayor, I will:

Put police resources where they matter most: violent and intimate partner crime, seizing illegal guns, and breaking up organized crime networks
Fund prevention, not just response, through youth programming and youth employment

Opportunities for Young People

Young people are the heartbeat of a vibrant city. When given the opportunity to find purpose and lead, they drive our collective future. Conversely, youth disenfranchisement carries a heavy financial and social cost. Investing public resources into youth employment and leadership is not just a line item. It is a win-win strategy for a thriving city.

As Mayor, I will:

Work with the private sector and community partners to create more employment and leadership opportunities for young Torontonians
Use community centres and other City assets for youth programming, mentorship and job training

Easier

An EASIER city stops wasting your time and your money.

Transit

Too often, we feel disrespected when we take the TTC. Delays with no explanation. Shutdowns with no warning. No alternative but to wait and waste time.

Toronto needs to treat transit riders better.

As Mayor, I will:

Fix streetcar operations. Move streetcars through intersections faster. Reduce stops at peak hours on some routes. Speed up the doors. Take a hard look at left turns for cars on streetcar routes so a full streetcar never waits on one driver. And deliver real signal priority
Install platform screen doors on the subway, starting with major stations. The full system costs about $2.4 billion, and it would eliminate hundreds of hours of delay affecting hundreds of thousands of riders
Coordinate schedules on nearby parallel streets so buses run at alternating times, providing riders with reliable backup options
Reward riders for choosing the TTC with “tap to win” programs and other incentives

Streets

Our streets have to move more people as conveniently and safely as possible.

As Mayor, I will:

Keep traffic officers at busy intersections
Drastically raise the daily charge on developers who take a lane of traffic during construction
Evaluate whether road closures for major events are worth what they cost Torontonians
Support cycling infrastructure as a way to reduce traffic congestion, maximize road capacity and improve road safety

Housing Development

I spent my career inside the development approvals system, acting for cities and for developers. I’ve seen the logjams, the delays and the red tape that stand in the way of getting Toronto the housing we need.

As Mayor, I will:

Implement better ways for City departments to work together to speed up the development process, especially post-approval matters such as development agreements
Incentivize and prioritize rental, affordable and multi-unit building types that are compatible with neighbourhoods (also known as “missing middle” housing)
Support reductions to City-imposed development charges in order to lower the upfront cost of building new homes, increase housing supply and improve affordability

Businesses

Small and medium-sized businesses are the foundation of Toronto’s economy. However, Toronto is in a slump. Businesses are closing and exits are outpacing openings. The City needs to do more to ensure that entrepreneurs are rewarded, not driven out of business by red tape and high commercial rents.

As Mayor, I will:

Expand opportunities for small-scale commercial uses in neighbourhoods
Support commercial property tax relief for small storefronts and a vacant storefront tax, and push the province on commercial rent rules
Improve timelines for business licences
Review by-law enforcement practices to ensure small businesses are treated fairly and expectations are clear
Explore ways to connect retiring small business owners with potential buyers to preserve local employment, secure the owner’s retirement wealth, and prevent communities from losing vital, established businesses

Your Tax Dollars

As a taxpayer, I am frustrated that local politicians are spending more time fighting over the name of an unpopular public square than working out how to make our lives better.

When we pay taxes, we hope our leaders will spend our money on things that actually matter to us.

As Mayor, I will:

Require the organizers of major events to cover the full cost of any road closures and required policing
Require broad public consensus before the City hosts any future large-scale international events
Review current programs and funding commitments to ensure they are delivering value for money and reaching the intended populations

More Beautiful

A BEAUTIFUL city is one you’re proud to call home.

Public Spaces and Parks

Good public spaces are essential to a liveable city. They are part of our social infrastructure. They belong to all of us.

But these days we don’t always feel good about our public spaces. Some are used as de facto shelters. Others just don’t feel cared for.

This isn’t abstract for me. I sit on the board of directors of the Friends of Allan Gardens, a registered charity. In recent years, increased programming in the park and conservatories has brought more Torontonians into Allan Gardens and renewed a sense of community. I’ve seen firsthand that investing in public spaces leads to better outcomes.

As Mayor, I will:

Improve and maintain existing parks, and acquire new parkland with a focus on underserved areas
Coordinate with social services, using the housing-first approach, so people have real options beyond taking shelter in public places
Work with the Indigenous community to incorporate Indigenous history and placemaking in public spaces
Partner with community groups to scale up local food production and distribution networks including investments in expanded community gardens, greenhouses and vertical farming initiatives as well as community-run markets and co-ops
Champion more local neighbourhood events instead of large-scale commercial festivals
Get rid of the urine smell in transit stations. You’ve noticed it. So have I

Community Facilities and Arts Spaces

The same goes for culture. Toronto has some of the best live music, theatre and comedy anywhere, but artists struggle to find suitable and affordable spaces to practice and perform. A city where arts and culture flourish is a city you’re proud to call home.

As Mayor, I will:

Give residents and community organizations more access to community centres and City facilities
Embrace new models for working with community groups and non-profits to increase programming in City-owned facilities
Make City-owned venues easier and cheaper for local artists and small companies to book

Better. Easier. More Beautiful.

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