Bahira Abdulsalam

Biography

Bahira Abdulsalam
PhD, P.Eng.
Dr. Bahira Abdulsalam
Bahira Abdulsalam
Personal details
Other namesBahira Abdul Rahman (earlier publications)
NationalityEgyptian-Canadian
ResidenceToronto, Ontario
LanguagesEnglish, Arabic, French
Education
Alma materCairo University (B.Eng.; M.Sc., structural engineering, 2001)
Université de Sherbrooke (PhD)
ThesisBehaviour of Shear Critical FRP Reinforced Concrete One-Way Slabs (2014)
Doctoral advisorBrahim Benmokrane
Scientific career
FieldsStructural engineering; fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement of concrete
InstitutionsWestern University (postdoctoral fellow, 2015–2016)
Ontario colleges (professor)
Political career
Political partyIndependent
MovementBe The Change Movement (founder)
Websitebahira.ca

Bahira Abdulsalam, PhD, P.Eng., is a Canadian structural engineer, researcher, former college professor and community advocate based in Toronto, Ontario. Her research specializes in fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement for concrete structures, a field in which she has published around 30 papers (see her Google Scholar and ResearchGate profiles). She founded the Be The Change Movement and was a co-founder, national spokesperson and one of the main organizers of the 1 Million March 4 Children.

Abdulsalam has stood as an independent candidate in four elections at all three levels of government. She ran for Mayor of Toronto in the 2023 by-election, finishing 14th of 102 candidates.[1] In 2025 she contested Don Valley West in both the Ontario general election and the Canadian federal election.[3][4] She is a candidate in the 2026 Toronto mayoral election. Her campaign uses the slogan “Toronto needs an engineer,” and her platform is organized around seven commitments.[8]

Education

Abdulsalam is Egyptian-Canadian. She earned her Bachelor of Engineering and, in 2001, a Master’s degree in structural engineering at Cairo University. Her early graduate research, completed in 2001 and 2005, examined the out-of-plane strengthening of stone masonry walls with glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP).

She completed her PhD in structural engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec (2007–2014). She was supervised by Brahim Benmokrane, holder of the NSERC Research Chair in FRP reinforcement for concrete infrastructure. Her doctoral thesis, Behaviour of Shear Critical FRP Reinforced Concrete One-Way Slabs, reported an experimental programme in which 21 FRP-reinforced concrete slabs and one steel-reinforced control slab were tested to failure under two-point loading. She then held a postdoctoral fellowship in civil engineering at Western University in London, Ontario (2015–2016).

Her earlier publications appeared under the name Bahira Abdul Rahman.

Engineering and research career

Research

Abdulsalam’s research centres on FRP and GFRP reinforcement and strengthening of concrete structures, including the shear behaviour and tension stiffening of FRP-reinforced members. She has also published on sustainable concrete and recycled aggregates. Between 2001 and 2022 she published around 30 papers in journals and conference proceedings.

In 2020 she served as guest editor of a special collection on strengthening, retrofitting and rehabilitation for the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction.

Professional service

Abdulsalam is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario. She is a member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and of ACI Committee 440, Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement, which develops North American design guidance for FRP in concrete. Since November 2022 she has been a voting member of the committee’s research and development subcommittee. She is also a member of Task Group 1 of the International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC).

Her editorial and peer-review roles include:

  • Technical reviewer for an ACI periodical (since 2016)
  • Technical reviewer for ASTM International’s Advances in Civil Engineering Materials (since 2018)
  • Technical reviewer for the Journal of the Institute of Conservation (since 2020)
  • Review editor, Sustainable Design and Construction section, Frontiers in Built Environment (since 2022)

Industry

In 2018 Abdulsalam founded CIISolutions (Composite Infrastructure Innovation Solutions), a research and development company focused on composite materials for infrastructure.

Teaching and mentoring

Abdulsalam taught construction project management as a professor at Ontario colleges, working with both domestic and international students. Since 2023 she has been a mentor with Black Engineers of Canada and a judge for the “How to Change the World” programme.

Community advocacy

Abdulsalam founded the Be The Change Movement, a civic organization that serves as the banner for her political campaigns. She was a co-founder, national spokesperson and one of the main organizers of the 1 Million March 4 Children, a countrywide movement for educational reform and child protection. The movement was endorsed by many parental rights organizations across the country, including Police On Guard For Thee and the Mama Bears Project.[22] She was the main organizer of the Toronto protest on September 20, 2023,[21] where she advocated for:

  • Education that is clean, healthy and age-appropriate
  • Curriculum grounded in established science and academic excellence
  • Transparency and parental involvement in decisions affecting children
  • Clear boundaries between education and political or ideological advocacy
  • Accountability from policymakers, school boards and institutions responsible for children’s education

During 2023 she was also listed as the Greater Toronto Area spokesperson of the Hands Off Our Kids coalition.

She has served as a parent representative for French-language schools on the Toronto District School Board’s Parent Involvement Advisory Committee. She has also advocated for Palestinian rights and freedom of expression,[3] and founded Canadian Love 4 Palestine. She later founded the Canadian Coalition of Virtue, a cross-faith alliance open to Muslim, Jewish, Christian and secular members.

Political career

2023 Toronto mayoral by-election

When John Tory resigned as mayor in February 2023, Abdulsalam entered the race to replace him. She registered on April 3, 2023, the day nominations opened, and was listed as a professional engineer.[2][5] Professional Engineers Ontario’s Government Liaison Program bulletin, GLP Weekly Times, reported her candidacy on April 21, 2023.[16] In the by-election on June 26, 2023, a record field of 102 candidates contested the office. She received 913 votes and placed 14th; Olivia Chow was elected mayor.[1]

2025 Ontario general election

In the Ontario general election of February 27, 2025, Abdulsalam stood as an independent candidate for Member of Provincial Parliament in Don Valley West. She campaigned on local job creation, community empowerment and independent representation, free from party influence.[3] She received 247 votes (0.77%); the seat was won by Liberal Stephanie Bowman.[6]

2025 Canadian federal election

Two months later, Abdulsalam stood as an independent in Don Valley West in the federal election of April 28, 2025, in a five-candidate race.[4] Her platform focused on affordable child care, lower food costs and accessible transit. She received 442 votes (0.8%); Liberal Rob Oliphant was re-elected.[7]

2026 mayoral campaign

Abdulsalam registered as a candidate in the 2026 Toronto mayoral election on May 14, 2026, running as an independent.[9] Her campaign presents her professional background as central to her candidacy, using the slogan “Toronto needs an engineer,” and describes her as answerable to residents rather than a party.[8][17]

Her platform is organized around seven commitments.[8] On infrastructure, she has proposed prioritizing repair of existing city assets, citing an estimated $18 billion state-of-good-repair gap, and keeping the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway under city control. On housing, she has proposed keeping public land in public ownership and building ownership housing on it, alongside a Housing First approach to homelessness and a rental registry.[10] She has proposed a fare-free TTC, to be phased in.[11]

On fiscal policy, she has proposed a one-year freeze on residential property taxes, funded in part by a commercial parking levy and higher taxes on luxury homes, together with independent audits, a public dashboard of capital projects, and a public accounting of city spending on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[12] On community safety, she has proposed freezing the police budget and redirecting funds to prevention, with priority on illegal guns, human trafficking and child exploitation.[13] Other commitments include phased-in free child care, support for local and small businesses, and municipal action on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.[8]

She has signed pledges on accessible transit (CNIB), accessibility under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and anti-Palestinian racism.[14] She has also been an advocate on Palestinian issues.[15]

During the campaign, Abdulsalam was the subject of a proceeding before the Discipline Committee of Professional Engineers Ontario concerning her social-media commentary on the Israel–Hamas war and domestic social issues.[15] She has described the proceeding as a restriction on her freedom of expression.[15]

Electoral record

Elections contested by Bahira Abdulsalam
YearElectionOffice / ridingPartyVotes%Result
2023Toronto mayoral by-election (June 26)Mayor of TorontoIndependent9130.1314th of 102; not elected[1]
2025Ontario general election (February 27)MPP, Don Valley WestIndependent2470.77Not elected[6]
2025Canadian federal election (April 28)MP, Don Valley WestIndependent4420.8Not elected[7]
2026Toronto municipal election (October 26)Mayor of TorontoIndependentPending

Awards and recognition

  • Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award (2023), for community service, presented by Rob Oliphant, MP for Don Valley West, at his New Year’s Levee on January 15, 2023.
  • Winner, Infrastructure Vision 2050 Challenge, “Dream” phase (2016), awarded by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and HeroX, for “InfinitPipe®: A Breakthrough for the Pipeline Industry”, a method to manufacture joint-less composite pipes onsite, submitted with Mo Ehsani of QuakeWrap, Inc. AEM named five winners from 30 submissions in seven countries.[18][19]
  • Mitacs Accelerate Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015), Western University, for research on rehabilitating concrete pipes using a honeycomb-FRP composite sandwich pipe.
  • Medal of Merit Leonardo da Vinci (Médaille du mérite Léonard de Vinci) (2013), Faculty of Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, the faculty’s highest honour for students.
  • ACI Sponsors Scholarship (2009), ACI Quebec and Eastern Ontario Chapter, for the best research topic related to the concrete industry by a graduate student in the chapter.[20]
  • Bourse des ingénieures-professeures et ingénieurs-professeurs de l’Université de Sherbrooke (2009), Faculty of Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke.

Selected works

  • Abdulsalam, B. (2014). Behaviour of Shear Critical FRP Reinforced Concrete One-Way Slabs (Doctoral thesis). Université de Sherbrooke.
  • Mahfouz, I. and Abdulsalam, B. (2019). “Field Application of FRP Structural Strengthening Subjected to Excessive Heat and Fire.” Conference paper.

References

  1. ^ a b c “Declaration of Results: 2023 By-Election for Mayor.” City of Toronto, City Clerk’s Office. June 28, 2023.
  2. ^ “Who is running in June’s election to become mayor of Toronto?” Global News. 2023.
  3. ^ a b c “Bahira Abdulsalam: Independent candidate for Don Valley West.” VoteMate, 2025 Ontario general election.
  4. ^ a b “Canada election 2025 results: Don Valley West.” Global News. April 2025.
  5. ^ “2023 Toronto mayoral by-election.” Wikipedia.
  6. ^ a b “Don Valley West (provincial electoral district).” Wikipedia. Results from Elections Ontario.
  7. ^ a b “Don Valley West (federal electoral district).” Wikipedia. Results from Elections Canada.
  8. ^ a b c d Bahira Abdulsalam: official campaign website.
  9. ^ “2026 Municipal Election List of Certified Candidates & Third Party Advertisers.” City of Toronto, City Clerk’s Office. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  10. ^ “Housing.” Bahira Abdulsalam campaign website. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  11. ^ “Transit & Streets.” Bahira Abdulsalam campaign website. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  12. ^ “Money & Taxes.” Bahira Abdulsalam campaign website. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  13. ^ “Community Safety.” Bahira Abdulsalam campaign website. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  14. ^ “Pledges.” Bahira Abdulsalam campaign website. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  15. ^ a b c “Toronto candidate faces hearing over posts comparing Zionism to Nazism.” The Jerusalem Post. August 4, 2026.
  16. ^ “Engineer to run for Toronto Mayor.” GLP Weekly Times, Professional Engineers Ontario Government Liaison Program, Volume 26, Issue 11, p. 4. April 21, 2023.
  17. ^ Abdulsalam, Bahira. “Why an Engineer Is Running for Mayor.” LinkedIn. August 5, 2026.
  18. ^ “AEM Announces ‘Dream Phase’ Winners in Infrastructure Competition Seeking New Ideas and Solutions.” Association of Equipment Manufacturers. July 6, 2016.
  19. ^ Infrastructure Vision 2050 Challenge, Dream phase winning submissions (PDF). Association of Equipment Manufacturers and HeroX. 2016.
  20. ^ “Student Scholarships Winners.” ACI Quebec and Eastern Ontario Chapter. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  21. ^ Carter, Adam. “Thousands gather in GTA for protests over gender, sexual identity in school curriculum, 1 arrested.” CBC News. September 20, 2023.
  22. ^ “1 Million March 4 Children.” Police On Guard For Thee. September 24, 2023.

This biography is published by the Bahira Abdulsalam campaign.

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