# Ward 18 Willowdale

Ward 18 Willowdale is a municipal electoral division in Toronto, Ontario, that has been represented in the Toronto City Council since the 2018 municipal election. It was last contested in 2018, with John Filion elected as the councillor for the 2018–2022 term.

## History

The ward was created in 2018 when the provincial government aligned Toronto's then-44 municipal wards with the 25 corresponding provincial and federal ridings. The current ward is made up of the former Ward 23 Willowdale, part of the former Ward 24 Willowdale, and a small portion of the former Ward 10 York Centre.

### 2018 municipal election

Ward 18 was first contested during the 2018 municipal election. Prior to the provincial government realignment, Ward 23 councillor John Filion announced plans to retire, and endorsed candidates in both of the new wards covering the previous district under the city's planned 47-ward system: Filion's executive assistant Markus O'Brien Fehr, and community organizer Lily Cheng.
Following the realignment, Filion rescinded his retirement plans and entered the race for the new ward 18, citing fears of voter confusion with the restructured wards; O'Brien Fehr dropped out while Cheng remained in the race for the larger ward alongside a number of other challengers. Filion was ultimately elected with 31.06 per cent of the vote.

## Geography

Ward 18 is part of the North York community council.
Willowdale's boundaries mirror its federal and provincial counterparts, being bounded by Steeles Avenue (the city limit) to the north, Bayview Avenue to the east, Highway 401 to the south until it crosses the Don River, the Don River west branch to the southwest (from Highway 401 to Bathurst Street), and Bathurst Street to the west otherwise.

## Councillors

| Council term | Member | Member |
| Ward 9 North York Centre ||
| 1997–2000 | John Filion, Norman Gardner | John Filion, Norman Gardner |
| | Ward 23 Willowdale | Ward 24 Willowdale |
| 2000–2003 | John Filion | David Shiner |
| 2003–2006 | John Filion | David Shiner |
| 2006–2010 | John Filion | David Shiner |
| 2010–2014 | John Filion | David Shiner |
| 2014–2018 | John Filion | David Shiner |
| | Ward 18 Willowdale | Ward 18 Willowdale |
| 2018–2022 | John Filion | John Filion |
| 2022–2026 | Lily Cheng | Lily Cheng |

## Election results

2022 Toronto municipal election, Ward 18 Willowdale :
| Candidate | Vote | Vote share |
| Lily Cheng | 8,337 | 41.72 |
| Markus O'Brien Fehr | 6,709 | 33.58 |
| Daniel Lee | 4,617 | 23.11 |
| Elhan Shahban | 318 | 1.59 |
2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 18 Willowdale :
| Candidate | Votes | Vote share |
| John Filion | 8,104 | 31.06% |
| Lily Cheng | 5,149 | 19.74% |
| Sonny Cho | 3,130 | 12.00% |
| David Mousavi | 1,596 | 6.12% |
| Danny DeSantis | 1,486 | 5.70% |
| Norman Gardner | 1,476 | 5.67% |
| Sam Moini | 1,289 | 4.94% |
| Saman Tabasi Nejad | 1,189 | 4.56% |
| Winston Park | 593 | 2.27% |
| Gerald Mak | 545 | 2.09% |
| David Epstein | 538 | 2.96% |
| Albert Kim | 291 | 1.12% |
| Farah Aslani | 187 | 0.72% |
| Andrew Herbst | 162 | 0.62% |
| Hamid Shakeri | 122 | 0.47% |
| Chung Jin Park | 101 | 0.39% |
| Sam Mathi | 66 | 0.25% |
| Marvin Honickman | 61 | 0.23% |
| Total | 26,085 | 100% |
| Source: City of Toronto |||