Voting in Ontario Municipal and School Board Elections

Why Vote

Due to their lack of wide media coverage, municipal and school board elections are frequently overlooked, but it is still important to vote in them! Municipal governments are responsible for the formation and upkeep of local parks, local water systems, and roadways, as well as determining budgets for local police and community buildings like libraries, making them important influencers on the path for climate justice (1).

Voting Eligibility

In order to vote in municipal and school board elections in what is currently Ontario you must be a Canadian citizen and aged 18 or older, as well as qualifying to vote in that municipality (2). There are a few different ways in which someone is eligible to vote in a given municipality:

1. Resident Electors live in the municipality they are voting in - they own or rent property, live in shared accommodations, or live in that municipality without a fixed address (2).

* You can only be a resident elector in one municipality*

2. Non-resident Electors rent or own property in in a municipality, but it is not their main residence (2)

*You can be a non-resident elector in any municipality in which you

own or rent out property*

3. Spouses of non-resident electors are also eligible to vote in the municipality in which their spouse owns or rents property (2).

*ATTENTION STUDENTS - you are eligible to vote in the municipality you live in

during the school year, and the municipality you consider ‘home’ outside of the

school year (2)*

To determine your eligibility to vote for a specific school board check out: https://www.ontario.ca/document/2022-voters-guide-ontario-municipal-council-and-school-board-elections/eligibility-vote#section-6

Regardless of what kind of elector you are in the municipality, you will need to provide an ID proving your address when you vote (2). Check out this website for the list of acceptable identification: https://www.ontario.ca/document/2022-voters-guide-ontario-municipal-council-and-school-board-elections/acceptable

Voter Registration and Finding Your Local Candidates

*It is incredibly important to make sure that you’re on the voter’s list when voting in municipal and school board elections - there is currently no sharing between the voter’s lists from other levels of government with Ontario municipalities (2)*

To ensure you’re on the voter’s list and to find out the candidates for mayor, local government representatives, and school board trustees you can look on your municipality’s website. You can find your municipality’s website here:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/list-ontario-municipalities#section-3

Continue Learning with SUTE

SUTE has many other elections and politics resources available to support your continuous learning!

For information specific to elections, visit: https://www.shakeuptheestab.org/learn/categories/voting

For general information about politics, visit:

https://www.shakeuptheestab.org/politics

VOTE!!!

Municipal and School Board Election Day is October 24th, 2022!!!

Each of Ontario’s 444 municipalities will have different methodology for voting, whether that be in person, online, or by proxy. Be sure to check out your municipality’s website to figure when and how you can vote. #NotVotingFckingSucks

Resources:

1. Parliament of Canada. The Three Levels of Government [Internet]. What is currently Canada: Parliament of Canada; [cited 2022, Sep. 26]. Available from: https://lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/Education/ourcountryourparliament/html_booklet/three-levels-government-e.html

2. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. 2022 Voter’s Guide - Ontario municipal council and school board elections [Internet]. What is currently Ontario: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing; 2022 [cited 2022, Sep. 26]. Available from: https://www.ontario.ca/files/2022-03/mmah-2022-voters-guide-en-2022-03-31.pdf