emily hillstrom toronto mayor

Women who share name with John Tory's alleged mistress bombarded on social media

Multiple young woman who do not live in Canada and have (almost certainly) never met Toronto's outgoing mayor are dealing with oodles of online harassment this week for sharing the name "Emily Hillstrom" with a former City Hall staffer who is believed to have had an affair with John Tory.

Hillstrom, who at this point has been identified widely as the 68-year-old soon-to-be-ex mayor's girlfriend of roughly three years, was first outed (at least publicly) by Sue-Anne Levy on Twitter early Saturday.

"The secret trip to London story that got me mocked on radio by John Tory. It seems his advisor. Emily Hillstrom, joined him. She accompanied him on a mission to Europe months earlier," wrote Levy. 

"Emily is now happily ensconced in a well-paying job at MLSE and that is how the Old Boys network works."

blogTO can verify that Tory was seen at a club opening in December with the same 31-year-old woman whose photos are now being resurfaced everywhere in connection with the affair.

A Sault Ste. Marie-based publication reported on Sunday that the other party in Tory's sex scandal, which he formally resigned over today, was a "respected community leader's daughter."

"Hillstrom was Tory's tour advisor for his EU mission in 2019," reads the Sault Online piece, which notes that she "is now working as Associate Director, Campaign and Special Projects, for MLSE — Scarborough Health Network Foundation & Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

"Hillstrom traveled with Tory as a part of his staff on an EU mission from October 5 to 14 in 2019 to London, England and Copenhagen, Denmark."

Tory himself said last Friday, when announcing his eventual resignation after the Toronto Star broke news of the cheating scandal, that his relationship with a former staffer had developed during the pandemic and that it  "ended by mutual consent earlier this year."

Hillstrom served as Miss Sault. Ste. Marie in 2012, according to local news articles from the time, and went on to compete in the Miss Northern Ontario pageant. A Tumblr page promoting the more than 10-year-old campaign is still live.

Hillstrom has stayed out of the public eye since news of the affair surfaced, deleting or making private all of her social media accounts and LinkedIn profile.

And yet, people are still searching for the 31-year-old online, leading them to the profiles of people who share the name "Emily Hillstrom" but who are not, in fact, the mayor's former mistress.

Linkedin profile photos of two young women, one a business student at Marquette University in Illinois and one an apparent social worker from Washington, D.C., are being shared by some websites with headlines identifying them as the former Miss Sault Ste. Marie.

Another woman, also young and blonde, has been subject to relentless harassment on Twitter.

"Hey Emily. Sorry too [sic] bother you was wondering if you would like too have an affair with me this Valentine's Day okay call me thanks bye," reads one Feb. 11 tweet addressed to the account of a Washington-based Emily Hillstrom.

"LOLLLLL don't want notoriety? Don't f*ck the mayor," reads another.

The Washington Hillstrom appears to be taking the melee in stride, sharing a screenshot from one local reporter who'd requested an interview via Instagram, remarking on how polite Canadians are.

"Apparently *another* Emily Hillstrom had an affair with the Mayor of Toronto and it resulted in his resignation this morning," reads the tweet with the screenshot, sent on Saturday morning.

"Thus random Canadian reporters are finding my Instagram and message requesting me thinking I am her and the funniest thing about it is how polite they are."

Many are showing support for the American Hillstrom on Twitter, even going so far as to apologize on behalf of our entire country.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into our garbage up North," wrote one Twitter user in reply to the U.S. Emily's screenshot post. "The other Emily was a city staffer who had an affair with her boss that yielded her another job at a company his family trust owns 37 per cent to. She isn't gonna get treated very polite soon."

Lead photo by

Reddit/Torontology


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