Candidate for Toronto Catholic District School Board in Ward 1 who finished one vote behind the winner in 2022.
Robert Pella is on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Toronto Catholic District School Board in Ward 1, with a nomination filed on August 20, 2026. The City Clerk’s results for October 24, 2022 list him second in Ward 1 with 2,147 votes against 2,148 for Joseph Martino, and a court-ordered recount left the count unchanged. His campaign website lists stronger academics, safer and healthier schools and faith and family at the centre as commitments.
Researched by voche.me · Not a campaign-authored page
Robert Pella appears on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Toronto Catholic District School Board in Ward 1. A certified candidate is one whose nomination the City Clerk has accepted. The list shows the nomination date as August 20, 2026. Ward 1 covers City ward 1, Etobicoke North.
The City Clerk’s results for the Toronto Catholic District School Board list two candidates for Ward 1 on October 24, 2022: Joseph Martino, elected, with 2,148 votes and Robert Pella with 2,147. His campaign website says that in 2022 he came within one vote of being elected, and a Corriere Canadese article of November 28, 2022 names him as the Ward 1 candidate whose lawyer filed an application in the Ontario Superior Court for a recount. The City Clerk’s notice of April 20, 2023 says the Clerk carried out a partial manual recount under an order of Justice Dineen released on March 29, 2023 and that the count stayed unchanged at 2,148 and 2,147.
His campaign website says he has worked for more than 30 years as a realtor and small business owner and has led Catholic youth programs, including as provincial state director of the Ontario Columbian Squires, and that he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. Those are his own statements and voche.me has not checked them with the groups named. The City’s list gives no website for him. The site opened came from a search, and it names him as the candidate for Catholic school trustee in Ward 1.
Summarized from the campaign’s published profile. These are stated positions, not an assessment of results or a complete platform.
His website says he would advocate for smaller class sizes and extra in-school support for students who fall behind, push for stronger reading, writing and mathematics results, and let parents see how schools perform.
Robert Pella campaign website · HomeHis website says he would make student mental health and school safety a priority, push for timely access to social workers and shorter waits for assessments, and strengthen anti-bullying programs.
Robert Pella campaign website · HomeHis website says he would strengthen the connection between schools, families and parishes, give parents a stronger voice and promote Catholic identity and service in school life.
Robert Pella campaign website · HomeEvidence reviewed on October 4, 2026: the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates, the home page of his campaign website, his Know Your Vote T.O. page, the City Clerk’s 2022 declaration of results and recount notice of April 20, 2023, Corriere Canadese’s article of November 28, 2022, The Local’s Ward 1 page updated as of September 21, 2026 and The Local’s article of August 24, 2026 on trustee candidates. The 2022 result and the recount come from the City Clerk. His career, youth work and priorities come from his campaign website and are written as his own account.
The City Clerk’s 2022 results for the Toronto Catholic District School Board list Joseph Martino elected in Ward 1 with 2,148 votes and Robert Pella second with 2,147. The City Clerk’s recount notice of April 20, 2023 confirms those counts after a court-ordered partial recount. The Local’s Ward 1 page, updated as of September 21, 2026, says Martino has been the TCDSB trustee for Ward 1 since 1986 and is a candidate for councillor in City Ward 1. He is not among the three Ward 1 trustee candidates on the City’s list. The TCDSB’s trustee pages loaded only a browser check and its meeting site answered with an access error, so no board record was read. The Local reports that the province took over the TCDSB in June 2025 and that, while the board is under provincial supervision, the job of Catholic board trustees is limited to denominational matters. The 2022 entry belongs to him because his own website says he came within one vote in 2022, the Corriere Canadese article names Robert Pella as the Ward 1 candidate, and the City Clerk’s recount notice names Robert Pella beside Joseph Martino. voche.me found no board page that compares the 2022 and 2026 TCDSB ward boundaries, so the 2022 results belong to the ward numbered 1 in 2022.
Gaps. The City’s list shows no website for him, and the site opened was found by a search and names him and this race. His Know Your Vote T.O. page lists no website and marks all four questions “Awaiting submission”. His Instagram page showed a profile header and its posts could not be read. No recorded vote is cited. The questionnaire has not been sent.
The City Clerk’s declaration lists him with 2,147 votes against 2,148 for the elected candidate, Joseph Martino. After a court-ordered partial recount the City Clerk confirmed the counts on April 20, 2023.
City Clerk · Recount notice, TCDSB Ward 1, April 20, 2023His website says he has worked as a realtor and small business owner for more than 30 years and has led Catholic youth programs, including as provincial state director of the Ontario Columbian Squires. voche.me has not checked this with the groups named.
Robert Pella campaign website · HomeProposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
No questions and answers have been supplied.
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Facts voche.me can state about Robert Pella's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Robert Pella's own campaign.
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Robert Pella.
This profile lists 8 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Robert Pella in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
The 2026 Toronto municipal election, including the Toronto Catholic District School Board race, is decided on October 26, 2026.
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