Olivia Chow

Place of Birth: British Hong Kong (now Hong Kong)

Date of Birth: March 24, 1957

Ethnicity: Chinese

Olivia Chow is a Canadian politician and artist. She has been Mayor of Toronto, since July 12, 2023. She was previously a Toronto City Councillor, from January 1, 1992 to November 28, 2005, and, with the New Democratic Party (NDP), a Member of the Canadian Parliament for Trinity—Spadina (ON), from January 23, 2006 to March 12, 2014. She has also been a Ryerson University distinguished visiting professor. She is Toronto’s first non-white mayor.

Olivia is the daughter of Ho Sze and Wilson Wai Sun Chow. Her family initially lived in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. They moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, when she was thirteen, in 1970. In Hong Kong, her father was a school superintendent and her mother was a schoolteacher. In Toronto, her father drove a taxi and delivered Chinese food, and her mother was a seamstress and maid. She was raised Baptist.

Olivia was married to politician Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), until his death.