Chow's approval rating drops after new Toronto budget: poll

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's approval rating soared after the release of the city's 2024 budget, according to a new poll.

A Communications Strategies poll released Monday showed Chow's approval rating has now fallen to 55 percent.

“Olivia Chow's honeymoon is over,” David Valentine, director of Liaison Strategies, said in a written statement.

“In previous months, we've found it as high as 75 percent and as high as 71 percent approval.”

According to Valentine, the 2024 budget is partly to blame for the drop in support.

According to the poll, only about 47 percent of Torontonians approve of the proposed budget, which would see homeowners pay an additional 9.5 percent in taxes this year.

Chow received high marks for Toronto's relationship with other levels of government (65 per cent) as well as its affordable housing movement (64 per cent). But only 48 percent of respondents said they approved of his work on crime, Valentine said.

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“Support for cutting funding from the Toronto Police Service to fund social services dropped from 39 per cent to 31 per cent, with 44 per cent now against the measure,” Valentine said.

“This is despite only 17 percent saying crime is the most important problem facing the city.”

About 36 percent of respondents identified affordable housing as a top issue, and about 21 percent of people rated transit as the top issue facing the city.

When asked before Chow took office whether Toronto was going in the right or wrong direction, most respondents to a poll during the election said it was going in the wrong direction.

“Now that has changed significantly and 49 percent believe the city is moving in the right direction,” Valentine said.

“The numbers tell us that Torontonians largely approve of the way things are now. Approval in the 70 per cent range is always going to be a challenge for any politician — especially when there are tough conversations about the budget and tax rates. That's the focus.”

The poll, which polled 875 Toronto residents between Feb. 5 and Feb. 6, is believed to be accurate plus or minus 3.31 percent, 19 times out of 20.