Municipal elections were held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1939. Incumbent

Ralph Day Ralph Carrette Day (November 24, 1898 – May 21, 1976) was mayor of Toronto, Ontario from 1938 to 1940. He was also an accomplished funeral director, owning his own funeral home. He also served as chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission in ...

was re-elected mayor over former lawyer

Lewis Duncan James Lewis Duncan (1892 – 8 April 1960) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. Early life Duncan was the son of a physician and grandson of a Presbyterian minister. He studied at the University of Toronto and in Paris and won a silver medal a ...

Toronto mayor

Day was expected to be acclaimed, but in December lawyer and Liberal

entered the race. Day but won by a significant margin in a high turnout race. ;Results :

- 93,060 :

- 53,364

Board of Control

All four Board of Control incumbents were reelected despite a group of high-profile challengers. Closest to winning a seat was Alderman William Croft in fifth place. In sixth place was communist

Tim Buck Timothy Buck (January 6, 1891 – March 11, 1973) was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada (known as the Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 to 1959) from 1929 until 1962. Together with Ernst Thälmann of Germany, Maurice Tho ...

and in seventh Alderman

Robert Hood Saunders Robert Hood Saunders, CBE, QC (May 30, 1903 – January 16, 1955) was mayor of Toronto from 1945 to 1948, President of the Canadian National Exhibition, chairman of the Ontario Hydro (formally named the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario ...

. Finishing surprisingly far back in eighth was former mayor

William D. Robbins William Dullam Robbins (May 7, 1874 – March 25, 1952) was the 45th Mayor of Toronto from 1936 to 1937. He was appointed mayor after the death of incumbent Sam McBride and remained in office until defeated by Ralph Day in the 1937 elections. Robb ...

. Neither were successful as all four incumbents were reelected. ;Results :

Frederick J. Conboy Frederick Joseph Conboy (January 1, 1883 – March 29, 1949) was a Canadians, Canadian politician, who served as List of mayors of Toronto, mayor of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario from 1941 to 1944. He was also a member of the Orange Order in C ...

(incumbent) - 80,720 : Douglas McNish (incumbent) - 73,252 : Fred Hamilton (incumbent) - 54,516 :

William J. Wadsworth William J. Wadsworth (died March 20, 1949) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He was a long serving municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario. He was born in Flesherton, Ontario and migrated to Toronto when his family moved to the West Toron ...

(incumbent) - 49,446 :William Croft - 48,798 :

- 43,112 :

- 40,973 :

- 24,745 :Harry Bradley - 3,489

City council

;Ward 1 ( Riverdale) :

Gordon Millen Gordon James Millen (September 8, 1899 – April 10, 1948) was a politician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served several years on city council before being elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament. Background Millen was a dentist b ...

(incumbent) - 9,583 : Frank M. Johnston (incumbent) - 8,464 :Charles Minett - 4,374 :Fred Kantel - 3,063 :John Francis Hughes - 1,414 :Samuel Kirk - 735 ;Ward 2 ( Cabbagetown and Rosedale) : Adelaide Plumptre (incumbent) - 6,563 :

Louis Shannon J. Louis Shannon (died February 16, 1954) was a municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada who served for multiple years on Toronto City Council and the Toronto Board of Control. Shannon was raised in Vankleek Hill where his father was the e ...

(incumbent) - 5,829 :

George A. Wilson George Allison Wilson (April 1, 1884 – September 8, 1953) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a United States Senate, United States Senator and List of Governors of Iowa, 28th Governor of Iowa. Personal background Born on a farm near ...

- 4,184 :D.J. Shannon - 1,434 :Matthew C. Wilson - 615 :Bob King - 541 :Alfred Gagne - 536 :Aaron Newton - 367 ;Ward 3 (

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

) : John S. Simmons (incumbent) - 5,325 :

Percy Quinn John Purcell Quinn (January 9, 1876 – October 28, 1944) was a Canadian athlete, businessman, sports executive and politician. He was an owner and president of the Toronto Blueshirts, winners of the Stanley Cup in 1914. He was a member of the wor ...

(incumbent) - 5,202 :Jean Laing - 1,604 ;Ward 4 (

The Annex The Annex is a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road. The City of Toronto recognizes ...

Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canad ...

and Garment District) : Nathan Phillips (incumbent) - 7,230 :

David A. Balfour David Avoca Balfour (1889–1956) was a municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was active in civic politics from 1939 until 1955. This included twelve years on the Board of Control, a longer service than anyone prior. Balfour was bor ...

- 6,339 :

J.B. Salsberg Joseph Baruch (J.B.) Salsberg (November 5, 1902 – February 8, 1998) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Labor-Progressive Party, Labor-Progressive member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1943 to 1955 who represented the ridi ...

(incumbent) - 5,830 :Joseph Stewart - 1,216 ;Ward 5 (

Trinity-Bellwoods Trinity-Bellwoods is an inner city neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the east by Bathurst Street, on the north by College Street, on the south by Queen Street West, and by Dovercourt Road on the west. It has a large Por ...

Ernest Bogart Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

(incumbent) - 10,506 : Stewart Smith (incumbent) - 8,121 :Charles Ward - 6,519 :Pat V. Roach - 2,943 :Jacob Romer - 1,384 :Frederick Cottrell - 697 ;Ward 6 ( Davenport and Parkdale) : William V. Muir - 11,163 : D.C. MacGregor (incumbent) - 10,319 : George Grannell (incumbent) - 8,922 :Neil Cameron - 7,878 :Richard Jones - 1,384 :William Logie - 1,166 :Joseph King - 544 ;Ward 7 (

West Toronto Junction West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

) :

Charles Rowntree Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

(incumbent) - 8,901 : H.M. Davy - 7,140 :Harold Clarke - 1,858 :John Whetton - 1,548 ;Ward 8 (

The Beaches The Beaches (also known as "The Beach") is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is so named because of its four beaches situated on Lake Ontario. It is located east of downtown within the "Old" City of Toronto. The approximate boundar ...

) : Ernest Bray (incumbent) - 13,175 :

Walter Howell Walter Neville Howell OAM (born 17 December 1929) is an Australian former representative and Olympic medal winning rower. He competed at two Olympic Games, racing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in the men's eight and at the 1960 Rome O ...

(incumbent) - 10,094 :Ernest Woollon - 7,104 :Gifford Baker - 2,309 ;Ward 9 (

North Toronto North Toronto is a former town and informal district located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Currently occupying a geographically central location within the city of Toronto, the Town of North Toronto w ...

) :

Donald Fleming Donald Methuen Fleming, (May 23, 1905 – December 31, 1986) was a Canadian parliamentarian, International Monetary Fund official and lawyer, born in Exeter, Ontario, Canada. Life and career Fleming was first elected to the House of Co ...

- 11,340 : John Innes - 10,134 : William D. Ellis (incumbent) - 7,982 :Basil Donnelly - 3,195 Results taken from the January 3, 1939 ''Globe and Mail'' and might not exactly match final tallies.

References

*Election Coverage. ''Globe and Mail''. January 3, 1939 {{Toronto elections 1939 elections in Canada

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

1939 in Ontario