Switching over to a ward system in Surrey might have to go to a referendum
Published 4:16 pm Thursday, October 22, 2026
During the civic election campaign Doug McCallum committed to restoring a ward electoral system in this city. That was on October 2.
But it won’t be like flipping a switch.
A ward system divvies up the city into neighbourhoods with a council member representing one of these electoral regions, much like an MLA or MP represents their particular riding.
Such a system was used in these parts from before 1879 up until 1957, when the provincial government put an end to it in favour of the “at-large” voting system we have today in which voters elect a mayor, councillors and school trustees city-wide. Mayors are still typically voted in city-wide under a ward system.
McCallum said during the election campaign that a city with a population of 730,000 deserves a council that neighbourhoods elect. The plan is to have an independent commission draw up eight neighbourhood wards of similar population size so each community elects its own councillor with the result being that residents knows exactly who answers to them.
“That is how every big city in this country works, and it is how Surrey worked for 76 years before Victoria took it away,” McCallum said during the campaign, pointing out that Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Winnipeg use the ward system, McCallum points out, and notes that Surrey’s six town centres are each the size “of a city on its own, with different needs and different priorities.
In September 2020, when he was last mayor, council had asked city staff to prepare a report considering a transition toward a ward system after council approved a related motion from Safe Surrey Coalition Councillor Doug Elford.
Elford lamented at that time that the current first-past-the-post system has led to slate politics.
“Surrey is ripe for wards,” he argued. “We’re a city of distinct neighbourhoods separated geographically. I believe a ward system will enable community leaders a better opportunity to get elected to council. A majority of large cities across Canada have a ward system in place for a reason.”
But, Elford told the Now-Leader this past week, the issue was overshadowed by city’s the transition to the Surrey Police Service from the Surrey RCMP, which consumed so much staff time.
“It was kind of put in abeyance. I was hoping that we could address it in the next session but of course Brenda (Locke, former mayor) got elected and she was opposed to it, so I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere and I didn’t want to beat that drum. But mayor-elect McCallum has indicated we would consider a ward system. This election, with all those 66 names on the ballot, it was a very confusing ballot.”
The newly elected council’s inaugural meeting will be on November 2, with the SSC occupying eight of nine seats.
“Certainly I will be lobbying for us to address it sooner rather than later, that’s for sure,” Elford said. “It’ll probably have to come to the people – the public – for a vote because that’s what the Province will probably want, right.
Could it be ready for the next civic election, four years down the road?
“We’ll probably have to hold a referendum so you can speculate. It might be eight years down the road – it’s not a short term thing. We have to look at the legislation and see if we can turn it around quick or not, then there’s a lot of work for staff too.”