Nomination period opens May 1 for 2026 Municipal Election

Thinking about running for office? The nomination period for the 2026 Municipal and School Board Election officially opens on May 1, 2026.

The 2026 Municipal Election and School Board Election will be held on October 26, 2026. Interested candidates may file their nomination starting May 1, 2026 until August 21, 2026 at 2 p.m. at their respective municipality or for Regional Council at the Region of Waterloo.

To be eligible as a candidate in this year’s Municipal and School Board Election, you must meet the following requirements:

• A Canadian citizen
• At least 18 years of age
• A resident of the municipality, a non-resident owner or tenant of land in the municipality or the spouse of such non-resident, owner or tenant
• Not legally prohibited from voting
• Not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office

Nominations will be received by the Clerk for the Offices of:

• Regional Chair
• Regional Councillor for Cambridge, Kitchener or Waterloo
• Mayor
• Ward Councillor
• Waterloo Region District School Board
• Waterloo Catholic District School Board
• French Language Public School Trustee (Conseil Scolaire Viamonde)
• French Language Separate School Trustee (Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir)

Nomination Procedure:

To run for the office of mayor, councillor or school board trustee, individuals must file a nomination paper and provide proof of qualifying address within each municipality or school board jurisdiction and the appropriate filing fee. Additionally, mayor and councillor nominees must provide at least 25 endorsements of nomination from eligible voters. The nomination paper and endorsement of nomination forms must have original signatures.

1. The prescribed Nomination Paper may be obtained and filed in the Office of the Clerk:
   1. On any day from May 1, 2026 to August 21, 2026 when the Clerk’s Office is open (contact for office hours);
   2. No later than Nomination Day, Friday, August 21, 2026 during the hours of 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
2. The Nomination Paper shall be accompanied by a filing fee in cash, debit (if available), certified cheque or money order payable to the municipality in the amount of:
   1. $200.00 for the office of the Regional Chair or Mayor,
   2. $100.00 for any other office

It's important to note that, until a nomination paper is filed, a person cannot raise or spend any money on their campaign. Each municipality may have unique procedures for how to file a nomination, those interested in filing a nomination should confirm with the municipality prior to making arrangements to file.

While the municipal election is still months away, eligible voters can now complete the first step in preparing to vote this fall. Visit RegistertoVote to check if you are on the voter list. You can add or verify your details, update your address or contact information, and add new eligible voters of your household.

For more information on this year’s election in each municipality, including running for council, candidate session dates, filing fees, additional resources and details on third party advertising, please refer to the respective municipality contact information and website: 

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Media contacts:

City of Cambridge: corpcomm@cambridge.ca

City of Kitchener: media@kitchener.ca

Township of North Dumfries: agood@northdumfries.ca

Region of Waterloo: media@regionofwaterloo.ca

City of Waterloo: stacey.abbott@waterloo.ca

Township of Wellesley: ssernoski@wellesley.ca

Township of Wilmot: brett.oreilly@wilmot.ca

Township of Woolwich: rbauman@woolwich.ca