Ausma Malik is back as city councillor for Ward 10 Spadina Fort-York, and her priorities include expanding affordable housing, parks and public spaces, as well as improving neighbourhood safety.

Coun. Malik won the councillor seat in the 2026 Toronto municipal election with 47.3% of the votes, beating challenger Ian Cunningham who only had 28.8% of the votes. She was first elected as councillor in 2022 and acted as deputy mayor this last term.

The Green Line reached out to Malik to learn more about her priorities for the next four years, but got no response. Here are some of the promises Malik made in her campaign:

• Building homes:  Malik says she’s working on expanding housing affordability and growing the kinds of units that exist in the city. She says she aims to fast-track delivery of new affordable and rental housing units on City land in Ossington, CityPlace, East Waterfront, Queen West and Stanley Park. She also plans on establishing an enforcement team that will deal with problem landlords and buildings. 

• Improving commutes: Malik says she’ll break ground on a new Waterfront East transit line, prioritize pedestrian and cyclist safety, expand BikeShare and improve access to Toronto Island.

• Creating jobs: Malik promises to expand job opportunities through community benefits agreements and social procurement. This will include youth and residents living in Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs). 

• Investing in culture: Malik wants to invest in arts and culture more, while also hosting more engaging city events given the vibrancy and success of FIFA and Taylor Swift’s Toronto visit.

Here’s how Malik responded to election pledges shared by local organizations and advocacy groups:

• Malik fully signed on to the Community-led Planning Pledge to fund community-led planning and centre community voices. 
• She signed the TTC Riders’ pledge to push for more reliable, affordable, accessible, frequent, fast, and safe public transit.
• She fully agreed to Cycle Toronto’s pledge to improve cycling infrastructure in the city.
• She fully committed to the demands raised by Toronto ACORN to give RentSafeTO teeth, stand up to Ontario and tackle heat and affordability. You can check the details here.
• She signed the Toronto Environmental Alliance’s pledge to commit to voting for a maximum temperature bylaw, plant trees in hot neighbourhoods, cut single-use trash at big events, pause approvals for big AI data centres and cut emissions.

Curious to see what else Malik promises? You can check out her re-election campaign here. Or, you can see what she said in an all-candidates meeting with the Chinatown Advocacy Network. 

Going to miss our election coverage? Well, municipal politics don’t stop when the polls close. Stay tuned to THEGREENLINE.TO for Documenters meetings, and send us a message of what municipal process or policy you want to see broken down.