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Voters have had their say, and in many ways the city council that’s sworn in to lead Ottawa through the next four years will look very much like the last one — including Mark Sutcliffe in the mayor’s seat.
That may come as a disappointment to those who wanted the city to move in new directions, but there were some important shifts in the unofficial results.
Plus ça change
With the sole exception of Allan Hubley in Kanata South, every single one of the 22 incumbent councillors who ran for re-election is heading back to city hall. Two of those were acclaimed.
With Mayor Mark Sutcliffe holding the mayor’s chair, that means there will be just three new faces around the council table next term: Erin Coffin, who beat Hubley, Joanne Chianello, who took mayoral contender Jeff Leiper’s vacant seat in Kitchissippi, and Chelsea Walton, winner of the seat vacated by Glen Gower in Stittsville.
Considering how frequently both candidates and voters talked about change this election, there was remarkably little of it once all the votes were counted.
WATCH | Some of the highlights from Sutcliffe’s speech:
‘Our message resonated with voters’: Mark Sutcliffe speaks to supporters
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe thanked his opponents and says his plan for the next four years is to build “an even better city for our children and grandchildren.”Gender breakdown
Ottawa’s next city council will have more women than men by a count of 13 to 12. That hasn’t happened since amalgamation.
Sixteen men were chosen in 2022. One left for provincial politics, two did not run again and one was defeated.
A woman replaced all four men; one was Isabelle Skalski, who won a byelection in 2025. The other three were elected on Monday.
In municipal elections between 2006 and 2022, between four and nine women were voted to council. When Skalski won last year, she became the tenth woman.
“I think it’s really awesome,” said Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr, who was re-elected Monday night.
“[The women on council] have been a little bit overworked,” Carr said, because female councillors have to be on more committees than their male counterparts to ensure that committees have gender equity.
WATCH | A returning councillor on this part of the results:
‘I’m pretty excited about this’: Ottawa’s next council to have more women than men
For the first time since amalgamation, Ottawa’s next city council will have more women than men. Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr says it’s a great moment for the city.Turnout
Preliminary results on Monday suggest voter turnout was quite low.
36.2 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot for mayor; the lowest turnout since 2003.
It’s down from 43.8 per cent in the last election.
In terms of total vote, about 314,400 people cast ballots this time. That’s only about 2,000 fewer votes than in 2022, but there were about 145,000 more eligible voters this time.
People vote on municipal election day in Ottawa. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
Survey says…
While candidates and other media outlets released their own polling numbers during the campaign, CBC reported on an opinion survey by Quorus Consulting Group last week that showed Sutcliffe with a single-digit lead over Jeff Leiper, the three-term councillor who stepped down to challenge him.
A breakdown of the survey results from all voters, including those who expressed no preference, placed Sutcliffe at 28 per cent, Leiper at 24 per cent, Neil Saravanamuttoo at seven per cent and Alex Lawson at four per cent.
Monday’s unofficial results showed those four candidates finishing in the same order.