Thanksgiving—October/November 2026
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Sustainable Simcoe North

The 2026 Municipal Election

— by Madeleine Fournier of Green Orillia 

The municipal election for all municipalities in Ontario is Monday, October 26, 2026. Eligible voters will cast ballots for a Mayor, City Councillors, and school board trustees for either English or French school boards. Elections are held every four years, with the elected officials serving a four-year term. Voting will take place in person at designated polling locations on Election Day and during Advance Voting Days.

WHY VOTE / WHY CARE?

Municipal government is often referred to as the “lowest” tier of government, and municipal elections have traditionally had relatively low voter turnout. Yet municipal government is the level of government that affects our daily lives most directly. Many of the public services we rely on every day are legislated, funded, regulated, or delivered at the municipal level, including land use and planning, property taxes, fire services, garbage collection, public transit, road maintenance, snow removal, parks, and recreation. 

It is also important to care because Premier Doug Ford’s government has launched a major assault on local democracy in Ontario. His expansion of Strong Mayor Powers fundamentally changes how municipalities are governed, by concentrating powers traditionally held collectively by elected councils in the hands of mayors. For generations, municipal government has operated on the basic democratic principle that elected councils make decisions collectively and that the majority determines the outcome. Strong Mayor Powers weaken that principle by giving mayors greater authority over council decisions, budgets, and municipal priorities. 

There is another reason to pay attention: in smaller and rural municipalities like ours, even getting people to run for office can be a challenge. In this election, two mayors in our region have been acclaimed because no other candidates stepped forward. When there is little competition for elected office, it becomes even more important for residents to pay attention to who is running, understand the issues, ask questions, attend debates and meetings, and participate in the democratic process. 

THE GREEN ORILLIA QUESTIONNAIRE:
A TOOL FOR DEMOCRACY

Green Orillia has launched its 2026 Municipal Election Questionnaire, the only long-form, multi-issue municipal election questionnaire in Orillia, bringing together questions from 12 local community organizations and ideas crowdsourced from residents across Orillia. The questionnaire is intended to give voters a clearer picture of where candidates stand on issues that will shape the community over the next four years and beyond. This questionnaire is about transparency and informed participation in our local democracy. Residents deserve to know where the people seeking to represent them stand on the issues that will come before Council during the next term. 

All municipal election candidates were given one month — from August 26 to September 26, 2026 — to review and respond to the questionnaire. The response period has now closed, and all submitted responses have been published unedited and in their entirety on the Green Orillia website, social media platforms and email newsletter, which reaches over 1,000 engaged local subscribers. Read the responses here! This process is designed to give Orillia residents approximately one month to review candidates’ responses before Election Day on October 26, 2026. 

This is the second municipal election questionnaire produced by Green Orillia. During the 2022 Municipal Election, 15 of the 30 candidates completed the questionnaire, including 7 of the 9 candidates who were ultimately elected. 

The 2026 questionnaire covers a range of topics, many of which are already ongoing Council matters and are likely to arise during the next term. Green Orillia acknowledges that 32 questions is a substantial questionnaire. However, we know that being a city Mayor or Councillor is a substantial responsibility. Council members are expected to regularly review and comprehend weekly meeting agendas that routinely run into the hundreds of pages, often covering complex issues with significant implications for the community. The questionnaire is intended to reflect, in part, the level of engagement and consideration that the role of Mayor/Councillor requires. 

The questionnaire is intended as a resource for voters rather than an endorsement or assessment of individual candidates. Green Orillia will not edit, grade, judge or provide commentary on individual candidate responses. Candidates’ responses will speak for themselves. The goal is simply to ensure that constituents have an opportunity to understand where the people seeking to become Orillia’s next Mayor and Councillors stand on important community issues before they cast their ballots.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Wherever you live, make sure to do your research on the local candidates to make an informed vote on October 26. Registered candidates can be found on your municipalities’ website: 

OrilliaMatters and MidlandToday are also profiling many of the candidates in these municipalities. Read their articles to learn more about the people seeking office in your community. Many municipalities also hold Mayoral and All-Candidates debates. Try to attend a local one, ask questions, and hear directly from the people asking for your vote. 

Municipal politics is not small politics. The decisions made by mayors and councillors shape our communities every day, from the housing we build and the taxes we pay to the roads we drive on, the services we rely on, and the future we want for our communities. Remember, democracy only works if we do!