Municipal Election 2026


On October 26, 2027, municipalities across Ontario will be holding municipal elections to determine mayors, city councilors, regional councilors (where applicable), and school board trustees.

Choose Your Municipality

Cambridge
Kitchener
Waterloo
North Dumfries
Wellesley
Wilmot
Woolwich

Cambridge

City of Cambridge Election Page

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

Cambridge Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

We visited the website or, if no website was available, the core social media account of each certified mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal election. We reviewed their platform, vision, and/or strategy and considered whether their strategy addressed any of the following topics that will impact low-income residents in Waterloo Region. We will continue updating this listing to the best of our ability as candidate websites get updated.

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Bolender, Ryan

Chaves, Tony

Hamilton, Scott

Liggett, Jan

Affordable Housing

Yes – Prioritizing affordable, accessible, and safe housing for those who have previously fallen through the cracks,

Yes – Wants to  explore a 50% property-tax reduction for eligible first-time homebuyers for their first two years.

Yes – Diversified housing supply (including tiny homes, additional residential units), using city-owned land as part of the solution, collaborating with builders and non-profits.

Yes – Believes in fostering affordable and attainable housing.

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

Yes – Plans to work with public health and first responders to help vulnerable residents find treatment and move out of precarious living situations

n/a

Somewhat – Plans to work with orgs working in the field to address drug poisoning crisis, which is a component of homelessness.

Somewhat – Contributed to the “Solve the Crisis – Reaction to Recovery” campaign with Ontario’s Big City Mayors to declare a state of emergency on the addictions, mental health, and homelessness crisis to unlock provincial and federal supports.

Food Security

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Basic Income Advocacy

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Bolender, Ryan

Chaves, Tony

Hamilton, Scott

Liggett, Jan

Protecting the Environment

n/a

n/a

Yes – Wants to work with RARE Charitable Research Reserve and local property owners to expand our trail system.

Yes – Believes in protecting the environment.

Managing Land Use/Growth

n/a

n/a

Somewhat – Plans to work with orgs working in the field to address drug poisoning crisis, which is a component of homelessness.

Somewhat – Contributed to the “Solve the Crisis – Reaction to Recovery” campaign with Ontario’s Big City Mayors to declare a state of emergency on the addictions, mental health, and homelessness crisis to unlock provincial and federal supports.

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Bolender, Ryan

Chaves, Tony

Hamilton, Scott

Liggett, Jan

Investing in Transportation

Yes – Prioritizing fixing roads and sidewalks, as well as snow removal

Yes – Prioritizing snow clearing on sidewalks

Yes – Supports Ion expansion to Cambridge; wants establish a dedicated Roads Czar to oversee road concerns.

Yes – Believes in protecting the environment.

Investing in Infrastructure

Yes – Plans to rigorously evaluate how services are delivered and eliminating redundancy and inefficiency

n/a

Yes – Plans to minimize unnecessary increases to utility costs; full stop on new data centres until it’s determined what they add to the community.

Yes – Plans to increase the visibility of police and enforcement where residents need it most.

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Bolender, Ryan

Chaves, Tony

Hamilton, Scott

Liggett, Jan

Protecting Local Democracy

Yes – Plans to ensure the community is kept informed on council motions, votes, initiatives, and budget data in an accessible format. Plans to offer frequent updates via social media and in-person meetings.

n/a

Yes – Promoting budget transparency, wants to ensure  spending choices are backed by evidence, long-term planning, and clear public accountability.

n/a

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

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Kitchener

City of Kitchener Election – Where to Vote

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

Kitchener Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

We visited the website or, if no website was available, the core social media account of each certified mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal election. We reviewed their platform, vision, and/or strategy and considered whether their strategy addressed any of the following topics that will impact low-income residents in Waterloo Region. We will continue updating this listing to the best of our ability as candidate websites get updated.

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Alton, David

Frogh, Wazhma

Nair, Manikantan

Trihenea, George

Ward, Cindy

Affordable Housing

Yes – Believes housing is a human right.

Yes – Believes there should be more housing choices, density with good planning, faster and more predictable approvals on new builds.

Yes – Wants to build the homes Kitchener needs while protecting green space, farmland, and neighborhood character.

Yes – Wants to quicken the approval process for affordable housing options (townhomes, multiplexes), make secondary suites easier to build, promote more truly affordable units in new builds.

Yes – Plans to take decisive action on housing insecurity, unfair renovictions.

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

Yes – Hopes to set up a Hub for People Returning from Incarceration. Also wants to advocate to resume local Safe Consumption Sites.

Yes – Wants to see eviction prevention, wraparound services, consistent measurement. Empathy for people with homelessness, but also recognizing housed citizens’ rights to safety.

n/a

Yes – Wants to see stronger protections against renovictions.

n/a

Food Security

Yes – ​Food, water, and hygiene included in their Right to Belong platform.

n/a

n/a

n/a

Yes – Plans to explore opportunities for community gardens near encampments and other vulnerable communities.

Basic Income Advocacy

Yes – Pilot Basic Income Initiatives

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Alton, David

Frogh, Wazhma

Nair, Manikantan

Trihenea, George

Ward, Cindy

Protecting the Environment

Yes – Plans to prioritize land justice, green spaces, and conservation.

Yes – Plans to treat water as a scarce public resource, make major industrial users conserve water, make enviro sustainability a factor in business investment.

Yes – Protecting green space while promoting home-building in the area.

Yes – Wants to quicken the approval process for affordable housing options (townhomes, multiplexes), make secondary suites easier to build, promote more truly affordable units in new builds.

Yes – Advocating for research-driven water planning, strong accountability, and responsible land use and development that protects our environment.

Managing Land Use/Growth

Yes – Plans to prioritize land justice, green spaces, and conservation.

Yes – Plans to protect the countryside line, treat water as a scarce public resource; opposes Wilmot Land Assembly.

Yes – Grow the commercial and industrial tax base by attracting
investment, developing underused City-owned land,

n/a

Yes – Advocating for research-driven water planning, strong accountability, and ensure responsible land use and development that protects our environment; believe that healthy tree canopies, parks, gardens, and green spaces are essential to the well-being of a city

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Alton, David

Frogh, Wazhma

Nair, Manikantan

Trihenea, George

Ward, Cindy

Investing in Transportation

Yes – Plans to invest in accessible transportation, both financially and logistically, and expanding the Ion. Plans to conduct sidewalks audit, and also address bike lanes and the road clearing budget.

Yes – Plans to make transit more affordable and promote stage 2 of the Ion.

Yes – Plans to fix high-risk intersections, improve crossings and lighting, protect pedestrians and cyclists, and address dangerous speeding. Also wants to publicly report progress on improvements

Yes – Plans to improve highway safety and invest in ways to prevent congestion.

Yes – Advocating for research-driven water planning, strong accountability, and responsible land use and development that protects our environment.

Investing in Infrastructure

Yes – Plans to ensure access the whole city year round, and improve access to transit.

Yes – Plans to invest in libraries, parks, community centres; invest in transit accessibility

n/a

Yes – Plans to look to local startups for innovation to streamline municipal services; prioritize snow removal and fixing potholes; take a proactive approach.

Yes – Plans to invest in trails, parks, trees, and accessible outdoor spaces

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Alton, David

Frogh, Wazhma

Nair, Manikantan

Trihenea, George

Ward, Cindy

Protecting Local Democracy

Yes – Plans to prioritize municipal sovereignty.

Yes – Hopes to use local libraries as municipal hubs; proposes measures to promote democratic accountability in instances like the Wilmot Land Assembly.

n/a

Yes – Minimizing use of closed session meetings to only what is necessary, 

n/a

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

Yes – Proposes a two-year term for municipally elected officials.

n/a

n/a

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Waterloo


City of Waterloo Election Page

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

Waterloo Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

We visited the website or, if no website was available, the core social media account of each certified mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal election. We reviewed their platform, vision, and/or strategy and considered whether their strategy addressed any of the following topics that will impact low-income residents in Waterloo Region. We will continue updating this listing to the best of our ability as candidate websites get updated.

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Balaskanthan, Jeyas

Hari, Jamie

Jiang, Jerry

McCabe, Dorothy

Weber, Shannon

Affordable Housing

Somewhat – Expresses interest in “Investing in the enterprising instinct this city was built on so opportunity reaches every neighbourhood and not just the ones already thriving.”

Yes – Proposes a rent/ownership registry for landlords, mandatory “affordable for singles” and “affordable for families” units in new builds, creating municipally owned non-market housing.

Yes – Plans to build more housing and keep taxes responsible.

Somewhat – Interested in improving affordability for young people, families, and seniors.

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Food Security

n/a

Yes – He has a short-term interest in supporting food banks and a long-term interest in a city-owned non-profit grocery store and disincentivizing larger grocery chains’ efforts to shut down competitors.

n/a

n/a

n/a

Basic Income Advocacy

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Balaskanthan, Jeyas

Hari, Jamie

Jiang, Jerry

McCabe, Dorothy

Weber, Shannon

Protecting the Environment

n/a

Yes – Proposes a polluter registry and licensing bylaw, enforcing provincial and federal emissions standards.

n/a

n/a

n/a

Managing Land Use/Growth

n/a

Yes – Short-term plans to prohibit privatization of local water sources and improve transparency of commercial water usage; create long-term plans for water infrastructure maintenance and repair

n/a

n/a

n/a

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Balaskanthan, Jeyas

Hari, Jamie

Jiang, Jerry

McCabe, Dorothy

Weber, Shannon

Investing in Transportation

n/a

Yes – Plans to fully subsidize senior/student transit passes with the goal of eventually making them free for all. Also interested in enhanced snow removal using electric vehicles wherever possible.

Yes – Interested in bike infrastructure.

n/a

n/a

Investing in Infrastructure

Somewhat – Approach includes “Less waiting, less red tape, fewer broken promises”

Yes – Focused on repairing water infrastructure.

Somewhat – Interested in collaborating with tech innovators to address problems and make the process more transparent to the public.

Somewhat – Interested in  improving city services, streamlining approvals.

Somewhat – Interested in reliable city services and accountability to taxpayers.

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Balaskanthan, Jeyas

Hari, Jamie

Jiang, Jerry

McCabe, Dorothy

Weber, Shannon

Protecting Local Democracy

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Somewhat – Interested in promoting access to municipal leadership.

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

Yes – Advocate for removing the first-past-the-post system with a ranked voting system or other option.

n/a

n/a

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North Dumfries


Township of North Dumfries Election Page

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

North Dumfries Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

We visited the website or, if no website was available, the core social media account of each certified mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal election. We reviewed their platform, vision, and/or strategy and considered whether their strategy addressed any of the following topics that will impact low-income residents in Waterloo Region. We will continue updating this listing to the best of our ability as candidate websites get updated.

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Rolleman, Rodney

Sandhu, Prabhjap

Affordable Housing

Yes – Wants to streamline the process for adding additional units to homeowners’ properties; wants to introduce Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) to make  planning processes more efficient.

n/a

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

n/a

n/a

Food Security

n/a

n/a

Basic Income Advocacy

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Rolleman, Rodney

Sandhu, Prabhjap

Protecting the Environment

Yes – Believes that natural greenspaces, wetlands and heritage districts and cultural heritage landscapes need to be properly identified and included in planning for protection; pushing for commitment to protecting the environment and sensitive environmental features.

n/a

Managing Land Use/Growth

Yes – Plans to protect farmland from housing development, encouraging proper close-out of existing gravel pits before creating new ones. Hopes rehabilitated gravel pits can be rezoned as industrial or residential rather than agricultural to protect historical farmland.

Yes – Wants to ensure growth is planned responsibly.

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Rolleman, Rodney

Sandhu, Prabhjap

Investing in Transportation

Somewhat – Hopes that North Dumfries can gain greater local control of its roads.

Yes – Plans to prioritize safer roads, smarter traffic solutions, and action on railway crossing delays.

Investing in Infrastructure

n/a

n/a

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Rolleman, Rodney

Sandhu, Prabhjap

Protecting Local Democracy

Yes – Wants to renegotiate arrangements with the Region of Waterloo and Conservation Authority to improve local governance of roads and retail space.

n/a

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

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Wellesley


Township of Wellesley Election Page

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

Wellesley Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

We visited the website or, if no website was available, the core social media account of each certified mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal election. We reviewed their platform, vision, and/or strategy and considered whether their strategy addressed any of the following topics that will impact low-income residents in Waterloo Region. We will continue updating this listing to the best of our ability as candidate websites get updated.

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Nowak, Joe

Martin, Chris

Affordable Housing

n/a

n/a

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

n/a

n/a

Food Security

n/a

n/a

Basic Income Advocacy

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Nowak, Joe

Martin, Chris

Protecting the Environment

n/a

n/a

Managing Land Use/Growth

n/a

n/a

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Nowak, Joe

Martin, Chris

Investing in Transportation

n/a

n/a

Investing in Infrastructure

n/a

n/a

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Nowak, Joe

Martin, Chris

Protecting Local Democracy

n/a

n/a

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

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Wilmot


Township of Wilmot Election Page

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

Wilmot Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

We visited the website or, if no website was available, the core social media account of each certified mayoral candidate in the 2026 municipal election. We reviewed their platform, vision, and/or strategy and considered whether their strategy addressed any of the following topics that will impact low-income residents in Waterloo Region. We will continue updating this listing to the best of our ability as candidate websites get updated.

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Goertz, Stephanie

Salonen, Natasha

Wilkinson, Krisopher

Woolner, Clive

Affordable Housing

Yes – Plans to use township-owned land for affordable housing, use the Community Improvement Plan to create housing in existing  communities, and make it easier to add a second or third unit to existing homes.

Somewhat – Says affordability is a priority.

n/a

n/a

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Food Security

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Basic Income Advocacy

Yes – Has endorsed the Basic Income Waterloo Region platform commitments, including building more truly affordable housing and defending public health care so it’s available when people need it.

n/a

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Goertz, Stephanie

Salonen, Natasha

Wilkinson, Krisopher

Woolner, Clive

Protecting the Environment

Yes – Wants to bring information about farmland, groundwater, wetlands, waterways and natural areas together so Council can see how decisions affect the larger system. Also wants to help farmers, landowners, businesses and community organizations connect with funding, volunteers and expertise for local restoration projects. Has taken the Climate Candidate pledge, which includes commitments to increase action to reach our emissions reductions target and advocate to senior levels of government about climate issues.

Somewhat – Says affordability is a priority.

n/a

n/a

Managing Land Use/Growth

Yes – Wants to strengthen how farmland, drainage, fill, development and major land-use changes are considered.

Yes – Plans to continue using various avenues (policy, negotiation, and relationships) to guide development to improve Wilmot.

Yes – Plans to advocate for protecting Wilmot’s water resources and ensuring Regional decisions reflect the long-term interests of our community.

n/a

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Goertz, Stephanie

Salonen, Natasha

Wilkinson, Krisopher

Woolner, Clive

Investing in Transportation

n/a

n/a

n/a

Yes – Wants to improve access to parking in downtown areas to improve access to local businesses.

Investing in Infrastructure

Yes – Wants to look for lower-cost infrastructure solutions.

Yes – Plans to take a sustainability approach that has the infrastructure’s entire lifecycle in mind when developing plans.

Yes – Plans to maintain infrastructure so it doesn’t fall into disrepair and get more expensive to fix.

n/a

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Goertz, Stephanie

Salonen, Natasha

Wilkinson, Krisopher

Woolner, Clive

Protecting Local Democracy

Yes – Wants to offer clear information about spending, revenue, taxes, reserves and long-term financial commitments.

Yes – Recognizes that many decisions are made at the Regional or Provincial level, but aims to bring a strong Wilmot voice to discussions at these levels.

Yes – Believes the best decisions are made through open debate, collaboration, and respect for the democratic process.

Yes – Plans to improve transparency of local municipal decision making. Has concerns about Wilmot not having yet released its 2024 and 2025 financial statements, and not all bylaws are published online.

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

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Woolwich


Township of Woolwich Election Page

Comparison of Mayoral Candidate Platforms

Woolwich Mayoral Candidates (Last Name, First Name)

Criteria for Evaluating Mayoral Platforms

For alternative candidate overviews, see The Community Edition, Waterloo Region ACORN’s Municipal Report Card, or the profiles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, Food Security, and Basic Income

Does Their Platform Address …

Burgess, Evan

Schwindt, Eric

Affordable Housing

n/a

n/a

Preventing/Ending Homelessness

n/a

n/a

Food Security

n/a

n/a

Basic Income Advocacy

n/a

n/a

Protecting the Environment and Managing Land Use/Growth

Does Their Platform Address …

Burgess, Evan

Schwindt, Eric

Protecting the Environment

Yes – Plans to continue working with TWEEC (Township of Woolwich Environmental Engagement Committee) on environmentally focused initiatives

n/a

Managing Land Use/Growth

Yes – Plans to protect Woolwich farmland; expand notices for development.

Yes – Plans for responsible growth that directs development where it belongs, protects farmland, respects rural roads and villages, and ensures new growth pays its fair share for required infrastructure.

Investing in Transportation and Infrastructure

Does Their Platform Address …

Burgess, Evan

Schwindt, Eric

Investing in Transportation

Yes – Plans for more road repairs throughout Woolwich; using road maintenance software for better management of roadway life cycles and planning for repairs needed in the future.

Yes – Plans to improve road conditions.

Investing in Infrastructure

Yes – Plans for better financial allocation for infrastructure through long-term financial forecasting.

Yes – Plans for infrastructure investment focused on maintaining and improving Woolwich roads and the municipal facilities residents depend on every day.

Protecting Local Democracy and Promoting Electoral Reform

Does Their Platform Address …

Burgess, Evan

Schwindt, Eric

Protecting Local Democracy

Yes – Prioritizes transparent governance. Hopes for more open Townhall meetings and touchpoints with community groups and stakeholders.

Yes – Prioritizes strong advocacy at the regional level, recognizing that Woolwich needs differ from urban requirements.

Promoting Electoral Reform

n/a

n/a

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