2022 Ontario municipal election candidates can begin registering to run

Residents who want to run as city council or school board trustee candidates in municipal elections across Ontario in this fall are now eligible to file their paperwork.

The nomination period technically opened up on Sunday, May 1 but many municipal clerks’ offices began accepting nominations as of Monday, May 2. 

Prospective candidates have until August 19 to submit the required documentation to get onto local ballots or to remove their names if they already registered.

The 2022 election date for Ontario’s nearly 450 municipalities is October 24 for the next term of office, which runs between Nov. 15, 2022, and Nov. 14, 2026.

Advanced voting days vary by municipality, but Ontario law requires at least one day ahead of the general election date.

For those who want to check to see if they’re on the local voters list, who want to add an elector to the voters list or who want to change school board support, they can do so by going to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s website.

Residents of Ottawa will also have an opportunity to vote for a new mayor for the first time in nearly a decade.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has decided not to run for re-election. However city councillors Catherine McKenney, Diane Deans and former mayor Bob Chiarelli have all said they will be running for mayor.