Christopher Peloso, the husband of Ontario’s former deputy premier George Smitherman, has been found alive "and is going to be OK," Toronto police said Wednesday.

Peloso was located shortly before 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning. He had been missing since Monday afternoon.

He was found by a police K-9 unit, curled up and lying near a fence that runs along the railway tracks near Lansdowne and Dupont Avenues.

"He moved slowly when the dog started barking," said Toronto police Sgt. Scott Fowlds of the Toronto police K-9 unit. "He seemed groggy."

Peloso was taken to Toronto Western Hospital by paramedics, but police didn't have any information about his medical condition or how he came to be at the spot where he was found.

"We had investigative leads and information that led us to that location," said Det.-Sgt. Savas Kyriacou. "He’s under good care and is going to be OK."

'Path forward isn't firmly clear'

Smitherman held a brief news conference outside of the hospital, telling reporters "the path forward isn't firmly clear, except that we know it's long and it will be hard.

"We're going to do all of the work that we need to do to make sure that together, and with our kids, we have long and rich and vital lives," he said, thanking police and media for their help in the search.

Toronto police dog Ranger, a six-year-old German shepherd, helped the K-9 unit locate Christopher Peloso on Wednesday. (Ivy Cuervo/CBC)

Peloso, 39, had last been seen in the Davenport Road and Bathurst Street area, before he was found.

Peloso and Smitherman married six years ago.

Smitherman served as a Toronto MPP in the Ontario legislature for more than a decade. He held several senior cabinet positions, including deputy premier and health minister.

Smitherman left provincial politics and ran for mayor of Toronto in the 2010 election.

In a message posted on Twitter shortly after noon, Smitherman thanked police and his family and said Peloso is "alive+ safely in the hands of TO Western Hospital."