Opinion
Bahira Abdulsalam, Mayoral Candidate, City of Toronto 2026: You Did Everything Right
To everyone who did it right
This is for you. You studied. You worked. You started the business, took the risk, put in the hours. When it fell, you picked it up and built it again. You went back for more training to earn more. You did everything you were told would lead somewhere.
And you got almost nothing back.
This week a young Torontonian wrote to me and to every candidate for mayor. He started a business while still employed, then left his job to run it full-time. When it struggled, he rebuilt it to real monthly revenue. When revenue fell again, there was no support that could carry him through, so he went back to work and borrowed to keep the business alive. Then he tried to upgrade his skills, and found that the student assistance on offer did not come close to covering his housing costs.
His story is not unusual. I hear it in every part of this city: from founders, from newcomers whose credentials go unused, from workers retraining at night, from graduates carrying debt into jobs that don’t pay the rent. The problem is not your commitment. The problem is a support system designed for people who already have savings, good credit or private investors. If you have those, the door opens. If you don’t, you are told to try harder.
That is a rule. Rules can be changed. That is exactly what I mean when I say I will change the rules of the game.
That is a rule. Rules can be changed.
I will not promise what a mayor cannot deliver. Here is what I will do at City Hall, and what I will fight for at Queen’s Park and in Ottawa.
What I will deliver as mayor
- The City as your first customer. I will set up a paid pilot program that lets small Toronto technology businesses test their products with City divisions. You earn early revenue and a reference customer, the City gets solutions built here, and the money stays in Toronto.
- Neighbourhood incubators in every part of the city. I will turn vacant City-owned buildings and empty storefronts into low-cost space for local founders, newcomers and young entrepreneurs, in Scarborough, Etobicoke and North York as well as downtown. We will partner with colleges, universities and existing hubs, not compete with them. Cheaper space means less of your money goes to rent and more goes to building.
- City contracts small businesses can actually win. Smaller contract lots, lower bonding and insurance barriers, open competition and prompt payment. Local firms first, where trade rules allow.
- Straight answers from City programs. Every City-delivered program will give written eligibility decisions with reasons, a real referral when it is not the right fit, and a plain-language summary of what it covers and what it does not. No more being sent in circles.
- Learning that fits working people. Toronto Public Library is this city’s great equalizer. I will protect it, extend its hours, and work with colleges to bring evening, weekend and hybrid learning into library branches and incubator spaces, so you don’t have to quit your job to upgrade your skills.
What I will fight for with Ontario and Ottawa
Much of the support you need is funded by other governments. A mayor of Canada’s largest city has a voice they cannot ignore, and I will use it.
- Founder support that matches reality. Ontario’s small-business grants ask founders to commit full-time and give up other work, then offer a one-time amount that cannot cover months of building and living. I will press the province for staged funding tied to milestones, support for essential living costs for founders who make that commitment, fair treatment for viable businesses rebuilding after a setback, and an end to shutting out technology just because it is not yet market-ready.
- Student assistance you can live on. I will press Queen’s Park to restore the OSAP grants that were cut and to assess students against what housing in Toronto actually costs. I will push colleges to offer required courses in evening, weekend and hybrid formats, so working adults are not forced to choose between their income and their education.
- Early-stage capital without gatekeepers. I will advocate federally for startup funding that does not require a founder to find private co-investors first. Talent should not need connections to get a start.
How it is paid for, and when
No blank cheques. The incubators use buildings the City already owns, so the cost is fit-out and partnership operation, not new construction. The pilot program redirects part of what the City already spends on technology toward local firms. Both would be set up in my first year and funded in my first budget. The standard for straight answers from City programs is a directive to staff in my first 100 days.
The provincial and federal changes I will raise directly in my first months in office. I will be honest with you: I cannot promise how quickly another government will act. I can promise they will hear it from me, loudly and often.
You were not the problem
You were told that if you worked hard, learned more and took the risk, the system would meet you halfway. It didn’t. That is not your failure. It is a broken promise, and broken promises can be repaired.
Toronto will no longer throw its people away. It will be the place that takes care of its people, and I will change the rules of the game.
If this is your story, I want to hear it. Call me at 647-785-3729 or reach the campaign at bahira.ca.
Dr. Bahira Abdulsalam, PhD, P.Eng.
Candidate for Mayor of Toronto
Toronto needs an engineer
