---
title: "United Way Greater Toronto launches program to help residents with barriers to voting before Oct. 26"
description: "United Way Greater Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University have hired 15 emerging leaders and distributed 14,000 resources to help residents in communities with low voter turnout cast a ballot on Oct. 26."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/news/united-way-voice-the-vote-toronto-october-21"
last_updated: "2026-10-21T13:54:12.112Z"
---

United Way Greater Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University's Democratic Engagement Exchange launched a program to help residents with barriers to voting cast a ballot in the Oct. 26, 2026 Toronto municipal election. NOW Toronto reported on the program, called Voice the Vote, on Oct. 21, 2026.

The program hired 15 emerging leaders from communities with historically low voter turnout, awarded 47 microgrants to community organizations, supported 60 community events with 30 more scheduled for October, and distributed 14,000 tools and resources to agencies across the city, according to NOW Toronto.

Lori Galway, director of public policy at United Way Greater Toronto, told NOW Toronto: "Meaningful participation, it doesn't begin at the ballot box. It begins much earlier."

NOW Toronto reported that fewer than one in three eligible voters cast ballots in the last Toronto municipal election. That figure covers the mayor's race and all 25 ward councillor races.

The program focuses on affordability, housing, homelessness, and youth employment as the top concerns raised by residents at Voice the Vote events. These are also the main issues in both the mayoral race, where incumbent Olivia Chow faces challenger Brad Bradford, and in many ward races across the city.

Voice the Vote provides multilingual voting resources and runs simulated voting exercises to help residents unfamiliar with the process become comfortable before election day. The program reaches people through trusted community organizations rather than through direct outreach.

The 15 community leaders hired by the program come from the same communities they are working in. Each of the 47 microgrant recipients is a community organization that the program determined could reach residents who might otherwise not vote. The 14,000 tools and resources distributed include printed materials, guides on how to find a voting place, and information on what appears on the Toronto ballot.

Toronto voters choose a mayor, one ward councillor, and, depending on their school district, school board trustees on Oct. 26. Voting day is Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. Polls are open from 10 am to 8 pm. You can find your assigned voting place at toronto.ca and see all candidates at the [Toronto 2026 election guide](/on/toronto-2026/candidates).

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/toronto-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.