Stephen Holyday
Deputy Speaker of Toronto City Council
In office
November 23, 2022 – August 8, 2023
Preceded byShelley Carroll
Succeeded byPaula Fletcher
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre
Assumed office
December 1, 2018
Preceded byWard created
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre
In office
December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byPeter Leon
Succeeded byWard abolished
Personal details
Born1975 or 1976 (age 49–50)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
SpouseMargaret Holyday
Children3
Parent

Stephen Holyday is a Canadian politician who has served on Toronto City Council since 2014 and currently represents Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre.[1][2] He was first elected in the old Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre during the 2014 municipal election.

Background

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Holyday was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is the son of Doug Holyday, who was the previous ward councilor, Mayor of Etobicoke,[3] and briefly a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP).[4][5] He and his wife Margaret have three children.[6]

He graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Science.[7] From 1999 to 2014, he was a manager at the provincial Ministry of Energy.[7][8]

Politics

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Holyday is a fiscal conservative.[9] He describes himself as taking "a tough stance against congestion causing initiatives", including the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the King Street Transit Priority Corridor.[2] He opposes building new bike lanes and new multi-unit housing in neighbourhoods that consist of single-family homes.[9]

Alex Bozikovic, The Globe and Mail's architecture critic, called Holyday "furiously anti-development".[10] He has also been described as one of "three Toronto councillors hopelessly exacerbating the housing crisis" by More Neighbours Toronto.[11]

Holyday is often an outlier among city councillors, and has been the only dissenting vote on dozens of council votes.[12]

He endorsed Mark Saunders in the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election.[13]

Election results

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2022 Toronto election, Ward 2
Stephen Holyday (X) 18,559 72.28
Thomas Yanuziello 2,653 10.33
Catherine Habus 2,218 9.03
Maryam Hashimi 1,591 6.20
Sam Raufi 557 2.17

Both Holyday and John Campbell were incumbents in the 2018 Toronto election because Ward 2 and Ward 3 were merged into a single ward.

2018 Toronto election, Ward 2[citation needed]
Candidate Votes %
Stephen Holyday 14,627 38.58%
John Campbell 13,441 35.45%
Angelo Carnevale 5,735 15.13%
Erica Kelly 3,854 10.16%
Bill Boersma 258 .68%
Total 22,119 100%
2014 Toronto election, Ward 3[14]
Candidate Votes %
Stephen Holyday 8,086 36.557%
Annette Hutcheon 5,135 23.215%
John Moskalyk 2,701 12.211%
George Bauk 1,611 7.283%
Dean French 1,399 6.325%
Greg Comeau 1,100 4.973%
Peter Fenech 1,025 4.634%
Roberto Alvarez 552 2.496%
Paola Bauer 313 1.415%
Frank D'Urzo 197 0.891%
Total 22,119 100%

References

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  1. ^ "City of Toronto ushers in the 2022-2026 Council term". City of Toronto. 2022-11-23. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  2. ^ a b "Stephen Holyday defeats fellow incumbent John Campbell in Ward 2, Etobicoke Centre". Toronto Star. 22 October 2018. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Doug Holyday's son Stephen enters race for Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre". Inside Toronto. September 3, 2014. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  4. ^ "Holyday officially sworn in as MPP - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  5. ^ "Douglas C. Holyday | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  6. ^ "Holyday Scion wins Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre". Toronto Star. October 27, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Councillor Stephen Holyday". City of Toronto. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  8. ^ "The no-politics councillor questionnaire: John Campbell vs. Stephen Holyday". Toronto Life. 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  9. ^ a b Chief, David Rider City Hall Bureau (2023-03-08). "Councillor Stephen Holyday considering run for mayor to improve Toronto's 'deteriorating conditions'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  10. ^ Bozikovic, Alex (2022-08-26). "Toronto Mayor John Tory's housing plan could bring real change. But is he ready for a fight?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  11. ^ "Three Toronto councillors hopelessly exacerbating the housing crisis". www.moreneighbours.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  12. ^ Rider, David; Hasham, Alyshah; Spurr, Ben (2024-04-14). "Stephen Holyday: The dissenter". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  13. ^ Spurr, Ben (2023-04-27). "Mark Saunders gets backing of city councillor Stephen Holyday, vows to cancel Bloor bike lanes". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  14. ^ "City of Toronto elections page". Archived from the original on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.