More than 44,000 people in Mississauga cast their ballots early at advance voting stations over the past week in the leadup to the 2026 municipal election, the city says.

The 44,049 advance votes cast during the six days of early voting between Oct. 6-11 set a new mark for the city and represents a 57 per cent increase compared to advance voting in the 2022 municipal election, the City of Mississauga said on Tuesday.

Voters in Canada’s seventh-largest city cast 28,052 early ballots four years ago and 19,188 in the weeks prior to the 2018 municipal election, according to numbers provided by the City of Mississauga.

During the 2024 mayoral byelection in Mississauga, 24,731 people went to the polls early.

The number of 2026 early ballots cast by day, the city noted, were as follows:

Oct. 6: 1,139
Oct. 7: 948
Oct. 8: 11,022
Oct. 9: 9,147
Oct. 10: 9,458
Oct. 11: 12,335

“The strong participation during advance voting is encouraging,” Diana Rusnov, City of Mississauga clerk and director of legislative services, said. “Every ballot represents an eligible voter having a say in who will make decisions affecting Mississauga’s neighbourhoods, services and future.”

Election day is Oct. 26

With advance voting over, the next and final chance for eligible residents to cast their ballots is election day, Oct. 26. People can vote between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.

On election day, residents can vote at any voting location within their ward. They’ll be casting ballots for mayor of Mississauga (14 candidates), city councillors (11 wards) and school board trustees.

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All Time: 1,572,226 Votes

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The four main mayoral candidates are incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish, former mayor Bonnie Crombie and city councillors Alvin Tedjo and Dipika Damerla.

City officials urge residents to make a voting plan before election day by confirming where they can vote, reviewing the certified list of candidates and making sure they have acceptable identification.

All the necessary information is available online at the city’s voting information website.

Advance voting also on the rise in Toronto

Advance voting numbers were also significantly up in Toronto last week.

During the 2022 municipal election, overall voter turnout in Mississauga was among the lowest in Ontario, the numbers show.

Voter engagement was 21.8 per cent in the 2022 municipal election, down from 26.5 per cent in 2018. The 2022 voter turnout amounted to 107,310 ballots being cast, City of Mississauga figures show.

Mississauga’s 2024 mayoral byelection, by comparison, drew 25.7 per cent (140,243 voters) to the polls.

Among 15 other municipalities chosen by the City of Mississauga for comparison of 2022 voter engagement (see chart below), only Kitchener at 20.3 per cent had a lower voter turnout than Mississauga four years ago.

Peel’s other municipalities had greater voter turnout

Brampton, Mississauga’s partner in Peel, registered a 24.6 per cent turnout in 2022 while Caledon, the other member of Peel, had 31.7 per cent of registered voters participate.

Elsewhere, Toronto was at 29 per cent, Oakville 28.3 per cent, Hamilton 35.4 per cent and Ottawa 43.8 per cent.

(Source: City of Mississauga Municipal Election Information corporate report, September 2023)


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