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Among the potential candidates to succeed her in Ward 25 are the current chair of the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøDistrict School Board, and a tenured York University professor who also serves as school trustee, the Star has learned. The latter is also married to a current council member.

Although McKelvie is headed to Parliament Hill, she has not yet resigned her council position, which she has held since 2018. She’s expected to step down shortly before being sworn in as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government in the coming weeks. 

Once she does resign, council will have to declare her ward vacant at its following council meeting. It will then have 60 days to either appoint someone or call a byelection to represent her ward for the remainder of the 2022-2026 term.

It’s not yet clear which route it will take. The next regular municipal election is scheduled for October 2026. 

In a statement, Mayor Olivia Chow wouldn’t reveal which option she prefers, but thanked McKelvie for “her exceptional service to Torontonians.”

McKelvie also wouldn’t weigh in on the process to replace her, telling the Star on Tuesday that she was still sorting out the timing of her resignation. She said she would have more to say in the coming days but in the meantime, “my office remains open and I remain available until my swearing in.” 

Over almost two terms, McKelvie — an environmental geoscientist whose politics fell near the centre of the spectrum at city hall — played key roles in successive mayoralties. She served as former right-leaning mayor John Tory’s official deputy but has also been an important figure under Chow, acting as a liaison between the progressive mayor and council’s more conservative members. 

Whoever replaces her could change the political makeup of council, where there are no official parties and members have to seek out support for their initiatives on an issue-by-issue basis. A competitive byelection could also attract the involvement of third-party advocacy groups, like the left-leaning Progress Toronto and the more conservative ABC Toronto, who could back opposing candidates.

Former repeat Ontario NDP candidate and current TDSB chair Neethan Shan told the Star that no matter how council decides to replace McKelvie, he plans to seek the Scarborough—Rouge Park seat. He won a previous byelection in Scarborough in 2017, becoming the first Tamil-Canadian to serve on council. But he failed to keep the job in 2018 after Premier Doug Ford cut the size of council. Shan lost the newly expanded Scarborough—Rouge Park ward to McKelvie by just 154 votes.

“I’m preparing to put my name forward,” Shan confirmed in an interview Tuesday, saying he wanted to “make sure the needs of Scarborough are not ignored.” 

He could have competition from fellow school board member Anu Sriskandarajah, who is the trustee for Scarborough—Rouge Park and an assistant professor in the child and youth program at York University. She is married to Coun. Parthi Kandavel (Ward 20, Scarborough Southwest); the pair previously sat on the TDSB together.

She said she is “strongly considering” vying to replace McKelvie, but likely only if council calls a byelection.

That’s because when council opts to fill a vacancy with an appointment, members generally ask the appointee to pledge not to run in the subsequent general election, and Sriskandarajah said she’s interested in representing the ward long term.

Sriskandarajah said she would be “a strong voice for Scarborough,” and that while she considers herself an independent progressive, her time on the school board has shown she can work with colleagues of all political stripes. 

Another rumoured Ward 25 candidate is Shawn Allen, the former president of the Scarborough Business Association. He didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.