Vancouver election: Where to vote near me, ballot info

Find out where to vote and what will be on the ballot.

Voting day is upon us!

The provincial election is about a week away, but Vancouver’s civic election takes place Saturday (Oct. 17). You will select a mayor, 10 city councillors, seven park board commissioners and nine school board trustees

Voters will also answer several questions on their ballots. 

Vancouver Municipal election: Where to vote near me?

To vote, as of Oct. 17, you must be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, have lived in B.C. for at least six months immediately before registration day and live on a Vancouver property or have one registered in your name at least 30 days before the election.

You should have already received your voter information card and should bring it to vote for faster processing. If you aren’t registered, you must bring two pieces of ID, with an address on at least one and a signature on at least one.

Acceptable ID examples are available in the online voters guide.

You can also check online with the city to see if you are registered to vote.

If you don’t receive a voting package in the mail, you can search for a location online. All the voting stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

What am I voting for in the Vancouver civic election?

You are selecting one mayor out of eight candidates: Pete Fry (Green Party), Colleen Hardwick (TEAM), Rebecca Bligh (Vote Vancouver), Muhammed Ahmad (Bright Future Vancouver), Ken Sim (ABC Vancouver), Amauri Caliman (independent), Kareem Allam (Vancouver Liberals) and Scott Gilber (independent).

You are also selecting from lists of potential city councillors, park board commissioners and school board trustees.

Voters will also answer three capital plan borrowing questions. These are “yes” or “no” questions on whether the city should borrow $790 million to help pay for projects in the plan. 

The city is also asking voters to vote “yes” or “no” on two plebiscite questions on a second ballot.

The city has seen “unprecedented levels of street disorder, open-air hard drug use, and disruption to community safety and individual health,” reads the ballot. 

Voters are asked if they’d like to see Vancouver strengthen laws forbidding public hard drug use, and if portions of old St. Paul’s Hospital should be converted into a secure medical facility for people who pose a risk to others because of severe substance use or mental health disorders. 

Voters can use Vancouver’s online guide to choose candidates, answer capital plan borrowing and plebiscite questions and find voting locations with times.