How to run for municipal council in Ontario

Every 4 years on the fourth Monday of October, voters across Ontario decide who will represent their interests and lead their communities by electing the members of their municipal councils and school boards.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible to hold office for a position as councillor or mayor, you must be:

• Eligible to vote in that municipality,
• A Canadian citizen,
• Age 18 or older, and
• Qualify as a resident or non-resident elector,

as of the day you file your nomination.

You can run in any ward – you do not have to live in a particular ward in order to be its councillor. However, if you run in a ward where you do not live, you will not be able to vote for yourself.

Who is not eligible?

The following people are disqualified from being elected to municipal office:

• any person who is not eligible to vote in the municipality
• an employee of a municipality who has not taken an unpaid leave of absence and resigned (see above)
• a judge of any court
• an MP, an MPP or a senator
• an inmate serving a sentence in a penal or correctional institution

What is a municipal councillor’s job?

See: Municipal councillor job description

Where to learn about being a member of council

Here are a few starting points to learn what it takes to serve as a member of council:

• Your municipality’s Procedure By-Law – Outlines how council and committee meetings are conducted. Here is the City of Guelph’s Procedure Bylaw as an example.
• Municipal governance laws – Municipal Act, 2001 outlines the requirements, powers and procedures of how a municipality must govern. Applies to every municipality in Ontario except for Toronto, which has its own City of Toronto Act, 2006.
• Conflicts of interest laws – Municipal Conflict of Interest Act sets out ethical rules for municipal council and local board members if they have certain financial interests in a matter presented before their council or local board meeting.
• Council meetings – Attend, watch or listen to Ottawa City Council’s YouTube channel, City of Brampton’s YouTube channel or other broadcasted local council meetings.
• Engaging with the provincial government – Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) is a non-profit organization that represents most of Ontario’s 444 municipalities and engages with the provincial government on behalf of municipalities. The Province engages with the municipalities according to the terms set in the AMO memorandum of understanding (MOU). Subscribe to their WatchFile Newsletter to learn about trends and issues municipalities are facing and how they work in partnership with the provincial government. The AMO also distributes funding to municipalities through the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF).
• Engaging with the federal government – Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is an association of 2,000 member municipalities representing over 90% of Canadians that negotiates with the federal government on behalf of municipalities. They offer a number of conferences, webinars and workshops and online resources to municipal officials. They also distribute funding to municipalities through the Green Municipal Fund.

Courses

The AMO offers a number of paid online courses:

• Asset Management
• Land Use Planning
• Investments 101 – The Foundation for a Municipal Investment Strategy
• Creating Compelling Video Content That Fits Your Plan

Studies

• Municipal Councillor Profile – Rural Ontario Institute
• Municipal Council Compensation in Ontario

How to run for municipal council

Here are some comprehensive guides on what it takes to run for municipal council:

• The Ontario municipal councillor’s guide – Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
• 2018 Voters’ Guide for Ontario municipal council and school board elections – Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
• A Guide for Women Candidates – Federation of Canadian Municipalities (still very applicable to those who don’t identify as women)
• Lead Where You Live: A guide on running for municipal council – AMO ($55)

Initial to do list

• Collect 25 signatures – Candidates for municipal council in municipalities with more than 4000 electors must collect 25 signatures endorsing their nominations.
• Pay nomination filing fee – $200 to run for head of council and $100 for all other positions
• Open a campaign bank account – Before incurring any expenses or accepting any contributions of money (including a contribution from yourself or your spouse). You do not have to open a bank account if you do not spend any money or accept any contributions
• Keep a record of all campaign financial activities – Form 4 shows what details must be reported and therefore tracked
  • Receipts issued every contribution including date of contribution date you issued the receipt (issue receipts to yourself for any contributions)
  • Value of every contribution, form (money, goods or services), and the contributor’s name and address
  • Receipts and amounts of all expenses
  • Terms of any loan received

Contact the municipal clerk

Every municipality has a municipal clerk who is in charge of running the election. Contact your municipal clerk, municipal services office or town hall if you have questions about the election, such as:

• interested in becoming a candidate
• spending limits
• filing deadlines
• where signs can be placed
• filing forms and statements
• rules relating to third party advertising

How much does a campaign cost?

Unless you’re Hazel “Hurricane Hazel” McCallion whose name recognition from her 36 years as Mayor of Mississauga meant she didn’t have to fundraise, money will be an important piece of the puzzle to get your name and message out to the public by paying for:

• Signs
• Advertisements (Google/Facebook/Instagram, billboards, newspaper, radio, robo-calls)
• Campaign literature (brochures/flyers)

As well as:

• Office expenses
• Campaign software
• Salaries and benefits
• Professional fees (accounting, lawyers)
• Office rent
• Bank charges

Mayor

For example, mayoral candidates in the City of Belleville (pop. 55,000) spent the following, with the successful candidate spending $39,883.03, just under the spending limit of $40,239.16.

Continuing the example, it was spent across the following categories:

For comparison, the mayor of Hamilton (pop. 579,200) spent $114,534:

On a different order of magnitude, Mayor John Tory’s spent $2,622,694.63 on his 2018 City of Toronto campaign.

Councillor

Those running for councillor positions in Belleville spent considerably less:

As you can see, money doesn’t necessarily correspond with votes, but having more money at your disposal certainly doesn’t hurt.

For comparison, a sample of councillors in Hamilton:

Spending limits

The general spending limit is calculated as:

• Head of council: Lesser of $7,500 + $0.20 per elector or $25,000
• Councillor: Lesser of $5,000 + $0.20 per elector or $25,000

There is a separate spending limit for parties and other expressions of appreciation after the polls close which is 10% of the general spending limit.

If your contributions, expenses or both exceed $10,000, you must have an auditor review your financial statement and provide a report.

How much does a position on council pay?

As of 2017, the majority of councillors and heads of council in Ontario were paid less than $40,000 per year.

How much council members are paid and for what work varies by municipality. Larger municipalities are more likely to pay their councils a salary, and smaller municipalities are more likely to pay an honorarium or stipend.

The average council salary in small communities sits between $12,000 and $15,000 a year. In Belleville (2016 pop. 50,720) councillors made $30,851 in 2019 (part time) while the mayor made $82,964 (full time).

Compare that to Hamilton, ON (2017 pop. 579,200), where councillors made $97,357.26 and the mayor made $184,662.66 (full time) the same year. In 2020, they made $100,486.40 and $190,594.61 respectively.

No longer a tax-free portion

At the beginning of 2019, the federal government removed a perk for elected officials that had been around for 70 years: that 1/3 of their salary be tax-free. Members of council’s salaries were made to be fully taxable – effectively resulting in an immediate pay cut initiated by the federal government.

Many councils responded by voting to give themselves a raise – typically in accordance with how much their pay was cut, which depended on what tax bracket they were in.

Continuing the example, Belleville members of council raised their pay enough to keep their take-home pay the same. Councillors in Hamilton had already removed the perk back in 2015, voting in favour (8-5) of making their pay full taxable and increasing their salaries accordingly.

This change made by the federal government effectively took money from municipalities (increased salary expenses) and gave it to the provincial and federal government (through taxed owed on the salaries)

• Increased the municipalities annual expenses by eg. $37,398 (Belleville), $434,245 (Hamilton) per year
• The federal and municipal governments collects the added income tax revenue created by the increased salaries
• Increases councillors’ pensions which are based on pensionable income to the tune of $1,453 per councillor and $3,074 for the mayor (Hamilton) for each year of service on council. For long-serving members, that’s pretty significant.

Reimbursed expenses

Belleville pays the mayor an additional $400 monthly as an estimate for travel expenses within the municipality. Members of council are reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred while acting in their official capacity and an allowance of $0.52 per kilometer for use of their personal vehicle on municipal business.

Hamilton reimburses members of council’s expenses for business events, travel, hospitality, seminars, conferences and other business expenses incurred during the conduct of approved City of Hamilton business. This includes event tickets (fundraisers, galas, dances), business lunch meetings, $75 per diem for travel within Canada and $100 USD per diem for travel outside Canada. In 2020, the Mayor of Hamilton was reimbursed $3,574.10 for a flight to a mayors’ event, business meetings and fuel charges.

Benefits and pensions

Larger municipalities are more likely than smaller ones to provide optional benefits such as life and dental insurance, cell phone reimbursement or a pension contribution.

The majority of municipalities provide mileage reimbursement, travel expenses, and dedicated funding for attending conferences, training
and professional development. Reimbursement or an allowance for cell phones are offered by 40% of municipalities, while group benefits are offered by 33%.

Approximately 16% of municipalities provide a pension contribution, while 14% provide a car allowance, and 8% provide a budget for printing newsletters and other materials.

As of 2019, Belleville pays for 100% of the premium for Life, AD&D, Extended Health, Travel, Semi-Private and Dental Insurance of the members of council.

Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS)

In addition to hearing, vision, and dental benefits and travel, life, and disability insurance, Hamilton council members participate in the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) alongside permanent full-time City of Hamilton employees (for whom enrolment is mandatory).

They contribute a percentage of their earnings from every paycheque and receive a lifetime pension protected against inflation starting as early as age 55 (early retirement) up to 65.

In 2022, the contribution rates were 9% of earnings up to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) earnings limit also referred to as the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE) – and 14.6% of earnings over that limit. These contributions are tax deductible under the Income Tax Act, which means that when they are deducted from your gross income, they reduce the amount of taxable income you will owe for that tax year (similar to contributing to an RRSP). Member contributions are matched 100% by the City of Hamilton.

The payout amount is based upon the average annual income during the five consecutive years during which you had the highest earnings and years of service and is calculated as follows:

1.325% x credited service years (up to a maximum of 35) x “best five” average earnings

For example, if a Hamilton Councillor served for 12 years (3 terms) on council and retired in 2022 at the age of 65, their annual OMERS pension would be roughly:

1.325% x 12 x $100,000 = $15,900

How much work does it involve?

In most municipalities, serving on council is a part-time gig. As of 2017, only 14% of municipalities have a full-time head of council, while only 6% of municipalities have full-time councillors.

• Heads of council: 91% of municipalities with a population over 100,000, and 50% of municipalities with a population over 50,000 have full-time heads of council.
• Councillors: 83% of municipalities with a population over 250,000 and 27% of municipalities with a population over 100,000 have full-time councillors.

A study of Guelph councillors found that they spend an average of about 20 hours per week on Council business. This is less than typical full-time employment, but it uses up so much time that it is difficult to see how a councillor could seek other fulltime employment or even pursue a regular, fixed-schedule part-time job.

• Regular council and committee meetings
• Represent council at meetings of local boards and agencies
• Attending local events promoting the municipality

Should you run for municipal office?

Ask yourself the following questions to see if running for council is the right decision:

Are my family and friends on board? Public life can hard on loved ones as it means less privacy, less family time and greater expectations. Ask them what they think about you running and how involved (or not) they may want to be.

Will this affect my future career? If you win the election, you will likely have to take time off from your current position or even quit.

What effect will this have on your lifestyle? What are the salary, benefits and pension arrangements in the elected office you’re seeking?

Is there a reason I shouldn’t run? It’s safe to assume that you will be analyzed and investigated by citizens and the media. Are elements of your life that you wouldn’t want made public?

How to win a municipal election

Election success depends on a number of factors, including:

• Intensity of competition
• Name recognition
• Funding

However, there is no single way to conduct an election campaign.

Most municipal campaigns by their nature don’t have a lot of resources. They also lack the ability to get started with any traction because they lack name identification with voters.

Know what it will take

Use the following information as guidelines/goals:

• Funding – Find out how much successful candidates spent on their campaigns in the previous election by looking up their publicly available “Financial Statement – Auditor’s Report Candidate – Form 4”. These can be found on the municipalities website, CivicWeb portal or by contacting the municipal clerk.
• Votes – Use Open Council to find out how many votes successful candidates received in the previous election.

In 2018:

• 477 council members (120 heads of council) were acclaimed (uncontested/won by default) out of the 2,864 elected positions
• New candidates captured 41.3% of seats available
• Women made up 27% of the candidates (up from 22.6% in 2014), 29% of acclamations (election wins due to no contest) and 42% of those elected to office

Know the rules

• Avoid automatic penalties
• Voters are allowed to be absent from work for 3 hours in order to vote
• Know where and how voters can vote: in-person, online and/or by mail.
• Know what form of ID is required

Be involved

It is often said that elections are won between campaigns. Long before you submit your nomination, it is a major asset to be involved in the community – ideally in positions that indicate your commitment and ties to the area and keep you in the public eye. A few examples of community connections and involvement are:

• Advisory boards for charities, non-profits and other organizations such as:
  • Public Library Board
  • Conservation Authority
  • School Board
  • Agricultural Society
  • Economic Development Commission
  • Humane Society
  • Alzheimer’s Society
  • Social Services
  • Community Centre
  • Food Bank
  • Umpiring/refereeing
• Running a local business

Have useful experience

Just like applying for a job, it helps to have a resume full of recent and relevant experience:

• Post-secondary education
• Professional employment
• Mentions in local paper
• Volunteering on other past candidates’ campaigns
• Past political experience

Seek out support and advice

Reach out to past members of council, community leaders and local organizations that align with your stances and philosophy and ask to connect, get their thoughts, mentorship or further networking opportunities.

Talk with any and all potential future constituents who are interested and willing to engage to collect their opinions, concerns and thoughts about the current and ideal future state of the community. This could be your neighbours, coworkers, through your volunteer work and any groups to which you belong.

Have a clear and straightforward message

Show an awareness of the issues currently facing municipal council, a desire to do something about them and have at least a general idea of what actions or initiatives could help enact change.

“Why are you running?” will be one of the most frequently asked questions (it’s also one of the questions in our candidate interview), so be prepared to answer it clearly, confidently and concisely.

Finish the sentence: I’m running for office because…

Raise funds

Asking people for money doesn’t come naturally to many people, but it does create opportunities to talk with voters.

Candidates also hold various meet-the-candidate fundraisers, commonly barbecues, cocktail receptions, dinners and other social events throughout the campaign. In general, people donate money due to the following motivations:

• Projects that interest or challenge them
• Philosophy they think is right and good
• Personality that sways them
• Power they feel when donating and being affiliated

Contributions can come from individuals who are normally resident in Ontario. Corporations, clubs, associations, residents outside Ontario and political or public parties or organizations are not allowed to make contributions to municipal council campaigns.

Contribution limits

The maximum you or your spouse can contribute to your own campaign is:

• Head of council: Lesser of $7,500 + $0.20 per elector or $25,000
• Councillor: Lesser of $5,000 + $0.20 per elector or $25,000

Cash donations of $25 or less are not considered to be contributions and therefore you are not required to keep track of who gave them to you, but you must still report the total amount of these donations.

Contributions over $25 must be made by cheque, money order or by a method that clearly shows where the funds came from (such as certain debit, credit or electronic transfer transactions).

The total value of all contributions from each individual cannot exceed $1,200 ($2,500 in the City of Toronto).

Canvassing (door-to-door and telephone)

Canvassing is the most important campaign activity and way of communicating with voters. Depending on resources, aim to complete a full door-to-door canvas. If that isn’t possible, focus on the areas where you expect strongest support based on voting in previous elections. If resources aren’t an issue, a second (or even a third) door-to-door canvas in addition to a telephone canvas can make a big difference.

The purpose of canvassing is to promote the candidate, their priorities and collect the following data:

• Are they going to vote for you, or another candidate?
• What issues are important to them?
• Are they interested in receiving more information about your campaign?
• Can we put a sign on your lawn?
• Are they willing to volunteer on your campaign?
• What is their contact information?

Codes can be used to simplify data collection. For example:

• 1. Supporter
• 2. Likely to support
• 3. Undecided
• 4. Not likely to support
• 5. Opposed
• NH: Not home
• NV: Not voting
• NE: Not eligible to vote

Phone calls

Services such as MightyCall and OpenPhone offer online, app-based phone lines for calling and texting that are affordable and powerful (phone menu, forwarding, voicemail transcriptions).

Send a letter

Try to get at least one piece of literature to every door in your area. Software such as PostGrid will let you send a letter or postcard that can act as both outreach and fundraising.

Campaign lawn signs

Giving out signs creates additional touch points with voters and is visible proof of support. While unlikely to solely put you over the the top, candidates have lost due to a poor sign campaign. Be sure to follow local by-laws relating to sign size, placement, content and display dates.

Create a website and online presence

A large and growing proportion of Canadians get their news and information online and from social media, whether it’s Google, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

It’s important to have an online presence so people can look up who you are and what you believe in, without you having to answer the same basic questions more than you have to, and to be able to engage with people and get involved in online discussions on the most important issues.

Candidate (and councillor) websites should include:

• Biography
• Issues/views/priorities
• Frequently asked questions
• How to volunteer, donate
• Calendar of events
• How/where to vote
• Contact information
• Email/newsletter subscription

Building a website is a great way to make your bio, priorities and personality available. You can also create a profile on Open Council by giving an interview and answering a standardized set of questions:

Get active on social media

Have a presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you are going to use your existing personal accounts, review their privacy settings and past posts to ensure they only include information you’re willing to show to the public.

You can also reach thousands or even tens of thousands of local Reddit users (“Redditors”) by taking questions from on your city’s subreddit (eg. London, ON or Kingston, ON) by hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA). For example, this one by London-Fanshawe NDP incumbent Lindsay Mathyssen or this one by Dr. Waji Khan Green Party Candidate for Kingston and the Islands. Be sure to follow the subreddit’s rules (found on the sidebar) and when in doubt send a message to the mods (link also in sidebar).

Keep a database

Keep records in database of voters you encounter, along with any pressing issues they talk about. This could be in something as simple as a Google Sheet or Excel spreadsheet or in a powerful all-in-one software such as NationBuilder. Details collected could include name, phone number, email address, physical address, issues and classification (supporter, opponent, undecided).

This will help you build a list and help you recognize trends in what issues matter most in your community and why. Consider publishing policy statements on the most pressing topics.

Over to you

We’re interested to know – have you considered running for council? Is there anything you’d like to know that we missed in this guide? Let us know by leaving a comment below!