2026 Ottawa Municipal Election
 

Coun. Jeff Leiper eyes mayoral run against Mark Sutcliffe
3-term Kitchissippi councillor says transit and improving services are top priorities

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Jun 25, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Three-term city councillor Jeff Leiper is seriously exploring a run for mayor in next year's municipal election.

"At this point, I am planning to run for mayor. The conversations that I've been having with people who want this city to be better than it has been have been very encouraging," he said.

"I'm exploring with a very small team right now about what that candidacy might look like, but nothing is certain until you put your name on a ballot."

The election is slated for Oct. 26, 2026. Incumbent Mayor Mark Sutcliffe confirmed to CBC on Tuesday that he is also running.

"I intend to run for re-election in 2026, but right now my sole focus is serving the residents of Ottawa and not a campaign that is still more than a year away," Sutcliffe said in an emailed statement.

Leiper was first elected to council for Kitchissippi ward in 2014 and now chairs the planning and housing committee. He has won reelection by crushing margins, earning 85 per cent of the vote in 2018 and 72 per cent of the vote in 2022.

He was previously an executive with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and also served as president of the Hintonburg Community Association.

He said he's running to improve city services — from overflowing garbage in city parks to crumbling sidewalks — and to make transit a first choice, not a last option.

"One of the things that I am committed to doing if I go down this path is to ensure that our transit networks are frequent, reliable, convenient and affordable," he said. "Today, I don't think there's any resident who believes that they are, and that would be a key priority for me going forward."

He said he differs with the mayor on budgeting. In his view, council hasn't devoted sufficient resources to deliver quality city services.

"I understand really well the appetite that residents have for change in the city so that they get the services that they deserve and expect," he said.

Leiper has opposed the Lansdowne 2.0 project and voted against the 2025 city budget. He led an unsuccessful charge against reducing LRT frequencies. He also called for a royal commission to investigate the convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa in 2022.

Leiper said he has met with Sutcliffe to inform him of his plans.

"The commitment that we have both made if in fact I do run is to ensure that for the remaining year and a half of city council, that we are working in the public interest," Leiper said.

"Neither Mark nor I, no one around the council table, wants to see council devolve into an election campaign every two weeks."

Leiper's Kitchissippi ward includes the neighbourhoods of Hintonburg, Mechanicsville, Tunney's Pasture, Wellington Village and Westboro.

"One of the reasons I'm contemplating running is I'd like to bring my experience of effecting really positive change in my community to the whole city," he said.

"I've grown up in Orleans. I was a small child in Nepean. I've lived in the south end. I love this city, and I would love for people to have the kind of experience of their neighbourhoods that we've been fortunate to have in Kitchissippi ward."

The last election pitted a candidate supported largely by suburbanites against a candidate with a base in the central city, with the suburban candidate winning the day. Leiper will be hoping to prevent a repeat of that result next year.

"Certainly as I talk to people who are supportive of my running, that's one thing that they've made really, really clear is to make sure that I go out into the suburbs, hear the concerns that residents have and then address those in my platform," he said.

"I think I can talk to suburban residents with an experience of having lived there, grown up there, worked there in a way that maybe other candidates couldn't in the past."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...-run-1.7569914

Just what Ottawa needs a degrowther trying to be mayor, creating a battle between two nimbys.

Hopefully someone competent runs other then Leiper or Mark

So far, of the two ‘declared’ candidates my vote would be for Leiper; with no second though. I find that Leiper has been very good at communicating; with his weekly newsletters actually providing information – including on why he is planning to vote one way or another. Although I haven’t agreed with every choice that Leiper has made, I can’t think of anything that Sutcliffe has done that I agree with. Even the things that Sutcliffe hasn’t done (which seems to be more than he has done) I find that I disagreed with.

PS I finally thought of something that I agreed with Sutcliffe on; re-opening Wellington to car traffic.

I am getting sick of having to pick the lesser of two banalities, and getting very mad at Doug Ford for taking away the option of ranked municipal ballots.

(Hint, "progressive" Ontario provincial politicians: force this issue if you ever win another provincial election.)

:cheers:

Yeah, ranked ballot would be a welcomed change at all levels.

Leiper vs Sutcliffe. Not inspiring choices so far.

The next mayor of Ottawa is going to have a very tough job. Canada is facing a possible recession and/or inflation due to tariff wars. The media is saying that there will be large cuts to the federal public service coming soon---possibly 24,000 in the NCR.
That will be devastating to the Ottawa economy and the mayor will have to navigate the carnage.

2026 Ottawa Municipal Election
 

Former Ottawa Citizen journalist Joanne Chianello running for city council
Chianello said she is planning an official campaign launch in the spring to vie for a west end ward.

By Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Dec 01, 2025 | Last updated 1 hour ago

Former Ottawa Citizen and CBC Ottawa journalist Joanne Chianello confirmed the “worst-kept secret” at City Hall on Monday and announced she will be running for council in the Kitchissippi ward in the 2026 municipal election.

In a Dec. 1 social media post, Chianello said she was asked to confirm her intentions during a recent municipal affairs panel on CBC Radio.

“Well, I am all for transparency and accountability, so I had no problem with that,” she wrote. “And to be honest, I’ve been telling anyone who is remotely interested that I am planning to run for council in Kitchissippi ward in the October 26, 2026 election. So it’s hardly a secret.

“But it’s been a long year for elections — two already! — and most people are not exactly in ‘municipal ballot box’ mode just yet.”

Coun. Jeff Leiper, who has represented Kitchissippi since his election to council in 2014, announced earlier this year he will be seeking the mayor’s seat in the upcoming election.

Leiper and Chianello are friends and allies and have been photographed together at numerous community events, most recently at the Light Up the Village charity drive in Westboro and at the lighting of a public Christmas tree at Parkdale Market over the weekend.

In a posting, Chianello said she is planning an official campaign launch in the spring.

“I am spending the coming months learning even more about the incredible community I’ve called home for a quarter-century, and listening to the issues on the minds of residents and local business owners,” she wrote. “It’s early days — but I’m excited for the conversations ahead.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/forme...unning-council

Another nimby for an urban ward couldn't think of a better person to match kitchissippi general personality... And I don't mean that as a compliment....

Do you have any actual evidence of her being a NIMBY? Or does that term just apply to every urban councillor in your mind? We need more people on council who are willing to speak up and call out BS in this city, so I for one am excited that she'll be running.

Joanne has an extensive history as a reporter being against housing being built, to name the now iconic one being her campaign against 900 Albert st.... Also her opinions are in step with Leiper. Who she has been campaigning with before announcing.

And yeah most of the urban councilors are nimbys, and hypocrites at that when it comes to housing.

Obviously, in your world anyone who dares to read a dev app before approving it is a nimby, but are you really trying to say there are suburuban/rural councilors who are not nimbys when it comes to their backyards?

900 Albert, a project so big that no developer can actually make financial sense of constructing it? It probably would have been better if the project approved had been smaller since it might have actually got into the ground.

Sea of incumbent Ottawa councillors planning to seek re-election in 2026
With at least 19 incumbents intending to run again, this year's campaign is a departure from 2022

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Jan 13, 2026 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A solid majority of incumbent Ottawa city councillors are planning to stand for re-election this year.

The municipal election is set for Oct. 26, and candidates have until August to file their nomination paperwork. Plans can shift during those months, but at least 19 of the 24 sitting councillors currently intend to run again.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, the 25th member of council, has repeatedly said he is planning to seek re-election.

That has some city hall watchers bracing for a different race than in 2022, when only 13 incumbents were on the ballot.

Twenty-two councillors responded to CBC’s request to confirm their 2026 intentions. Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper is planning a run for mayor and cannot simultaneously run for his council seat. Of the 21 others, all but two said they are planning to run.

Both Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr and Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower said they are undeclared.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...2026-9.7042609

Wow, not a single one said they wouldn't run.

Really hope Luloff doesn't run. He embarrassed himself enough this term.

I could see Gower want to try for the Mayor's chair at some point.

There is speculation Tierney might run for Mayor.

I was really hoping Hubley would call it quits. He almost lost last time if it wasn't for vote splitting. When Cloutier one by the skin of his teeth, he didn't bother running again the following election.

Hopefully a few of them will be voted out.

Sidelined public school trustees ponder city council runs
Province still hasn't announced whether it will eliminate elected school boards

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Jan 14, 2026 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

With the province still mulling whether to eliminate elected English-language public school boards, it’s unclear whether Ottawa residents will be voting for their trustees in this year’s municipal election.

But that doesn’t mean trustees are planning to sit out the campaign: In a few cases, their names might show up on another part of the ballot.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustee Lyra Evans says she’s running for city council in Rideau-Vanier, one of the two wards in the zone she was elected to represent as a trustee.

Evans said she’s already achieved what she set out to do on the school board. Now she wants to get results at city hall on the environment, health and homelessness.

In her view, serving as a trustee is ideal preparation for city council.

"I learned a great deal about negotiation and compromise at the school board," she said. "It's an arena where you have to sit down with people who were also elected [and] who might hold very different views than you, and it's about how you work together to achieve your policy goals."

Evans was previously OCDSB board chair, until losing the position in 2023 on a tied vote that was settled through a card draw.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...runs-9.7043667

Homebuilder Alex Lawson plans to run for Ottawa mayor
He says transit, safety and affordability are getting worse and city should 'hit the undo button'

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Jan 23, 2026 8:11 AM EST | Last Updated: 39 minutes ago

A candidate with the backing of some big political operators plans to enter this year's race to be Ottawa’s mayor.

Alex Lawson, who owns a local home framing company, said he voted for Mayor Mark Sutcliffe in 2022 but now feels like the city is in worse shape.

“There's a lot of potential in Ottawa, but there's also been a steady decline of services recently,” he said. “I mean, what's working better these days?”

That overlaps with the message of Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, another declared candidate to challenge Sutcliffe in October.

But unlike Leiper, an urban councillor who champions progressive causes, Lawson lives in Dunrobin and had a foot in Conservative politics — previously serving on the board of the Kanata-Carleton Conservative Association.

Even so, Lawson said he doesn't view himself as a conservative candidate.

“The nice thing about municipal politics is it's not partisan, because solutions to different problems are going to come from different places,” he said.

Lawson said he plans to bring a "solution-oriented attitude" to priorities like housing, affordability, transit, traffic and public safety.

He said he wants to take Ottawa back to a time where the city worked better.

“Let's get back to the old Ottawa. Let's take a step back. Let's hit the undo button. Let's revert to the saved file of Ottawa, where the transit got you where you needed to go,” he said.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...2026-9.7057326

No thank you. We need to go forwards, not backwards.

Lmao, lyra Evans is not fit for council and that's not exactly a high bar.

Hopefully he'll be better on housing then Leiper or Sutcliffe

Former top McKenney advisor laying groundwork for his own mayoral run
Neil Saravanamuttoo was a key player in former city councillor’s 2022 campaign

CBC News
Posted: Jan 30, 2026 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

The field of candidates making a run to be Ottawa’s mayor could soon have a fourth name, as another potential challenger seeks support to formally launch his campaign.

Neil Saravanamuttoo was economic advisor to Catherine McKenney’s unsuccessful 2022 campaign for mayor.

Now, he’s thinking about the next election, this October.

The economist, podcaster and organizer behind non-profit CitySHAPES and its Better Ottawa town hall events said he’s prepared to be a candidate, but with an unusual caveat: he'll only run if a “grassroots movement” signs up to back him.

“If there are 1,000 people that feel the way I do, that we can take back the City of Ottawa, return it to its rightful owners, we can win the next election,” he said in an interview with CBC.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...-run-9.7067492