Mark Grimes is a Canadian politician and businessman who served on Toronto City Council from 2003 to 2022. Grimes represented Etobicoke—Lakeshore when it was Ward 6 until 2018 and Ward 3 onwards. He served five consecutive terms on council, representing the Etobicoke—Lakeshore area for almost 20 years.
Background
Grimes was born in Orillia and grew up in New Toronto, a neighbourhood of Toronto where he was a paperboy. Prior to politics, he worked as a trader on the Toronto Stock Exchange before starting his own transportation logistics company, MGA International Logistics. He and his wife Anne raised their five children in Mimico and later moved to Alderwood, where they reside.
Political Career
In 2003, Grimes ran as a municipal councillor in Ward 6 Etobicoke-Lakeshore to replace Irene Jones who left the seat to run in the provincial election. He was one of nine candidates to run for the seat. During the campaign, he and his closest rival Berardo Mascioli, accused each other of dirty tricks during the election campaign. On election night phone lines to both campaign offices were cut. Grimes won the election by 1,352 votes.
In 2005, Grimes was appointed to the Toronto Transit Commission board but he resigned in 2006 due to a conflict with board chair Howard Moscoe. Grimes seconded a motion of non-confidence in Moscoe over his handling of negotiations with the TTC union. When the vote lost, Grimes immediately resigned. He said continuing to serve on the board would be a waste of time. he said, "Obviously my voice isn't going to be heard."
Although Grimes was generally opposed to initiatives supported by Mayor David Miller, he became a key player in getting the land transfer tax passed in 2007. Grimes proposed a compromise that would see rebates for first-time buyers. He said, "I'm not there for the mayor or to play the left wing against the right wing ... Nobody likes new taxes, but I don't want to see libraries and ice rinks and community centres closing."
In 2010, Grimes intervened to prevent a woman from jumping off a bridge in Toronto. He was later awarded a civilian citation by the Toronto Police Service for his actions.
After the 2010 election he was named chair of the Etobicoke-York Community Council. On February 10, 2020, Grimes was cleared of the non-criminal charge under the Municipal Elections Act.
Grimes was narrowly defeated in the 2022 Toronto municipal election by Amber Morley, four years after she lost to Grimes in the 2018 Toronto municipal election. Grimes had been endorsed by Mayor John Tory both times.
Grimes served as Commissioner of the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League from 2021 to 2025.
In 2025, Grimes was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of his contributions to Ontario and Canada.
Election results
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Colspan="3" align="center"|2018 Toronto election, Ward 3
|-
! width="150px" | Candidate
! | Votes
! | %
|-
|valign="top"|(x)Mark Grimes
|valign="top" align="right"|16,527
|valign="top" align="right"|40.90%
|-
|valign="top"|Amber Morley
|valign="top" align="right"|10,985
|valign="top" align="right"|27.19%
|-
|valign="top"|Pamela Gough
|valign="top" align="right"|7,301
|valign="top" align="right"|18.07%
|-
|valign="top"|Iain Davis
|valign="top" align="right"|2,722
|valign="top" align="right"|6.74%
|-
|valign="top"|Svitlana Burlakova
|valign="top" align="right"|1,218
|valign="top" align="right"|3.01%
|-
|valign="top"|Peggy Moulder
|valign="top" align="right"|575
|valign="top" align="right"|1.42%
|-
|valign="top"|Patrizia Nigro
|valign="top" align="right"|394
|valign="top" align="right"|0.98%
|-
|valign="top"|Michael Julihen
|valign="top" align="right"|320
|valign="top" align="right"|0.79%
|-
|valign="top"|Michael Loomans
|valign="top" align="right"|199
|valign="top" align="right"|0.49%
|-
|valign="top"|Robert Gunnyon
|valign="top" align="right"|167
|valign="top" align="right"|0.41%
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Colspan="3" align="center"|2014 Toronto election, Ward 6
|-
! width="150px" | Candidate
! | Votes
! | %
|-
| Mark Grimes||11337||43.96
|-
| Russ Ford||8791||34.08
|-
| Tony Vella||2718||10.54
|-
| Miroslaw Jankielewicz||1114||4.32
|-
| Sean O'Callaghan||501||1.94
|-
| Peggy Moulder||398||1.54
|-
| Michael Laxer||305||1.18
|-
| Everett Sheppard||221||0.86
|-
| Ruthmary James||169||0.66
|-
| Robert Sysak||90||0.35
|-
| John Letonja||84||0.33
|-
| Dave Searle||64||0.25
|-
! Total|| 25,792 ||100.00
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Colspan="3" align="center"|2010 Toronto election, Ward 6
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="150px" | Candidate
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Votes
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | %
|-
|Mark Grimes ||align=right| 12,228 ||align=right| 60.4
|-
|Jem Cain ||align=right| 5,847 ||align=right| 28.9
|-
|Michael Laxer ||align=right| 717 ||align=right| 3.5
|-
|Wendell Brereton ||align=right| 605 ||align=right| 3.0
|-
|Cecilia Luu ||align=right| 466 ||align=right| 2.3
|-
|David Searle ||align=right| 375 ||align=right| 1.9
|-
!Total||align=right| 20,238 ||align=right| 100%
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Colspan="3" align="center"|2006 Toronto election, Ward 6
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="150px" | Candidate
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Votes
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | %
|-
|Mark Grimes ||align=right| 6,472||align=right|42.6
|-
|Jem Cain ||align=right| 3,758||align=right|24.7
|-
|Matthew Day ||align=right| 2,327||align=right|15.3
|-
|Gregory Wowchuk ||align=right| 931||align=right|6.1
|-
|Danuta Markiewicz ||align=right| 531||align=right|3.5
|-
|Rosalie Chalmers ||align=right| 424||align=right|2.8
|-
|Walter Melnyk ||align=right| 309||align=right|2.0
|-
|Tony Del Grande ||align=right| 303||align=right|2.0
|-
|George Kash ||align=right| 131||align=right|0.9
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Colspan="3" align="center"|2003 Toronto election, Ward 6
|-
! style="background:#ddf; width:150px;"| Candidate
! style="background:#ddf;"| Votes
! style="background:#ddf;"| %
|-
|Mark Grimes ||5,334||align=right|32.4
|-
|Berardo Mascioli ||3,982||align=right|24.2
|-
|Jerry Smith ||3,437||align=right|20.9
|-
|Diane Cleary ||1,180||align=right|7.2
|-
|Mark Selkirk ||1,079||align=right|6.6
|-
|Gregory Wowchuk ||893||align=right|5.4
|-
|George Kash ||208||align=right|1.3
|-
|Frederick Azman ||174||align=right|1.1
|-
|David Searle ||94||align=right|0.6
|-
|Robin Vinden ||83||align=right|0.5
|}