Vancouver Civic Election 2026

[Glow Fun City]

With this much vote splitting, we really need ranked ballots…

[seamusmcduff]

It's why incumbents (almost) always win, it's really hard for voters to consolidate around any one candidate when municipal elections tend to be so low information. Name recognition goes a long way, and being the previous mayor is a huge advantage for that

[Migrant_Coconut]

Anything but ranked - the last thing Vancouver needs is a two-party system.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by madog222

Mario Canseco's Reasearch Co. poll released today.

Full poll results: https://researchco.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Tables_Politics_VAN_04Aug2026.pdf & associated article: https://researchco.ca/2026/08/04/vanpoli-2/

In funny news relating to this poll + accuracy of social media, /r/vancouver moderators removed this for being "inaccurate".

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1vfhsm9/removed_by_moderator/

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

In funny news relating to this poll + accuracy of social media, /r/vancouver moderators removed this for being "inaccurate".

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1vfhsm9/removed_by_moderator/

The vancouver forum on reddit sucks.

Anyway, I honestly wonder why Rebecca Bligh is even running as mayoral candidate and why add another "party" to an overcrowded field? She's basically throwing her fairly safe council seat away.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

The vancouver forum on reddit sucks.

Anyway, I honestly wonder why Rebecca Bligh is even running as mayoral candidate and why add another "party" to an overcrowded field? She's basically throwing her fairly safe council seat away.

Bligh was ousted from ABC so she'd have to run as an independent or latch onto an existing party.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Bligh was ousted from ABC so she'd have to run as an independent or latch onto an existing party.

She won as NPA, won as ABC, she'd likely win on name recognition.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

She won as NPA, won as ABC, she'd likely win on name recognition.

You're implying that neither the NPA in 2018 nor ABC in 2022 had name recognition. I bet you the median voter would have no clue who she is if she didn't have a recognisable party name beside hers. Do you think Orr or Zhou would have much of a chance if they ran independently this election?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Never underestimate the willingness of the average voter to just mark everything that says "NPA" or "ABC." If a Vancouver councillor has ever won on an independent ticket, it's not within the last 36 years.

[chowhou]

Vancouver Liberals seem to be living up to the "big tent" claims I suppose. The main unifying ideology seems to be "Anti-Sim", which makes me wonder what happens to this party if Sim goes down this election.

Former Park Board commissioner John Coupar to run for council with Vancouver Liberals

Kareem Allam’s Vancouver Liberals are starting to redefine the term “big tent.” But there does seem to be a uniting factor among many of its members: a strong desire to drive Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver party out of office.

The Liberals’ most recent city council candidate is none other than former Park Board commissioner and BC Conservative candidate John Coupar.

Coupar ran against Ken Sim in 2018 for the leadership of the NPA, losing out in a party vote. Coupar decided to run again for Park Board commissioner in that election, winning for the third time. Sim barely lost out to Kennedy Stewart for mayor. In 2022, Coupar was set to run for mayor again with the NPA but bowed out.

Sim has, of course, served as mayor with ABC Vancouver since. Coupar hasn’t liked what he’s seen from his former colleague.

“I haven’t been happy with the direction the city has been going in, particularly around public amenities,” Coupar says over the phone to the Straight. “The Broadway Plan lacked amenities; the Villages Plan, same thing. There was nothing in it for regular families.”

Coupar is proud of what he was able to accomplish over his years on Park Board, including his work to help improve the Bloedel Conservatory. “We’ve fallen behind—we need to work on our community centres, our pools. There was supposed to be an outdoor pool at Oak Park that didn't materialize, and a replacement pool at Mount Pleasant Park that didn’t materialize. Now the mayor’s saying, ‘We’re going to do this and that,’ when he spent three years trying to eliminate the Park Board."

https://www.straight.com/city-culture/fo...-run-for-council-with-vancouver-liberals

[Feathered Friend]

Councilor Zhou has confirmed he's running for reelection.

Lenny Zhou @LennyNanZhou
There's more work to do. I'll keep listening to residents and working with them togehter. Thank you, Canada, for making my Canadian dream possible. It has been an honour to serve Vancouver, and I'd be grateful to earn your support once again
6:39 PM · Aug 5, 2026

https://x.com/LennyNanZhou/status/2085178935399317782

ABC has announced a new candidate for council, Lorraine Lowe.

ABC Vancouver @Vote4ABC
I’m Lorraine Lowe, and I’m proud to be running for Vancouver City Council with Mayor Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver.

My family’s story in Vancouver goes back generations, and I’ve spent my career working in our civic and cultural spaces, including at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and the HR Macmillan Space Centre
11:31 AM · Aug 8, 2026

https://x.com/Vote4ABC/status/2086158288698409039?s=20

[chowhou]

I got my first election junk mail yesterday from ABC and Lowe must be a very last minute addition because it's only asking me to re-elect Sim for Mayor, and Dominato, Kirby-Yung, Klassen, Meiszner, and Zhou for council. I assume they must all be confirmed now. No mention of Parks Board or VSB.

[RedArbutus]

As of this week, I'm getting targeted ads on Meta platforms for Views of Vancouver, one of those "community organization" pages that alternates between posting "Wow! Check out this hidden gem on Granville Island!" and "What do you think of Kennedy Stewart's plan for cleaning up the DTES? " As they're running political ads they have to disclosed their website and phone number but they're just covering the bare minimum ("Views of Vancouver is a platform to engage with citizens and promote dialogue around these important issues)".

I love that global corporations readily facilitate the mockery of our municipal democracy by allowing dubious lobbying groups to astroturf glorified campaign ads to low-education voters!

edit: Start the countdown on Kenneth Chan penning a "article" on crime and safety downtown. Or maybe it'll be a guest editorial from Adam Zivo about how Vancouver was dying, isn't right now, but could be if you don't vote in Sim again. Who knows! Step right up and spin the wheel!

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by RedArbutus

As of this week, I'm getting targeted ads on Meta platforms for Views of Vancouver, one of those "community organization" pages that alternates between posting "Wow! Check out this hidden gem on Granville Island!" and "What do you think of Kennedy Stewart's plan for cleaning up the DTES? " As they're running political ads they have to disclosed their website and phone number but they're just covering the bare minimum ("Views of Vancouver is a platform to engage with citizens and promote dialogue around these important issues)".

I love that global corporations readily facilitate the mockery of our municipal democracy by allowing dubious lobbying groups to astroturf glorified campaign ads to low-education voters!

edit: Start the clock for Kenneth Chan penning a "article" on crime and safety downtown. Or maybe it'll be a guest editorial from Adam Zivo about how Vancouver was dying, isn't right now, but could be if you don't vote in Sim again. Who knows! Step right up and spin the wheel!

There's nothing stopping you from paying for non-partisan ads. You don't have to like it but advertising has always been part of the election process. Do you get mad when the nurse's union runs ads saying politicians need to pay them more?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by chowhou

There's nothing stopping you from paying for non-partisan ads. You don't have to like it but advertising has always been part of the election process. Do you get mad when the nurse's union runs ads saying politicians need to pay them more?

I think you're completely missing the point that we currently have a major issue where actors from outside our Province (and Country) are utilizing unregulated social media to produce political ads that legitimate groups like your nurse's union example would need to register with Elections BC in order to run and remain reasonably accurate/factual. There's some pretty scary statistics that most people get their "news" these days from Meta platforms (Facebook/Instagram) even though that specific foreign corporation refuses to comply with Federal legislation and therefore isn't allowed to host any news in Canada.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by mcj

I think you're completely missing the point that we currently have a major issue where actors from outside our Province (and Country) are utilizing unregulated social media to produce political ads that legitimate groups like your nurse's union example would need to register with Elections BC in order to run and remain reasonably accurate/factual. There's some pretty scary statistics that most people get their "news" these days from Meta platforms (Facebook/Instagram) even though that specific foreign corporation refuses to comply with Federal legislation and therefore isn't allowed to host any news in Canada.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there's any requirement for the nurse's union to register with Elections BC to simply run an ad saying "pay us more", especially since we're still outside the campaign period. Should they run an ad that says "vote for the BCNDP", that's a different story. Same how there's nothing stopping any other lobbyist group from running an ad saying, "Isn't the DTES in a sorry state?" Does it bother you that we've always been able to distribute unregulated leaflets into people's mailboxes?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there's any requirement for the nurse's union to register with Elections BC to simply run an ad saying "pay us more", especially since we're still outside the campaign period. Should they run an ad that says "vote for the BCNDP", that's a different story. Same how there's nothing stopping any other lobbyist group from running an ad saying, "Isn't the DTES in a sorry state?" Does it bother you that we've always been able to distribute unregulated leaflets into people's mailboxes?

It's clear from this response that the scale of disinformation in the present age is beyond your comprehension. This isn't comparable with distributing leaflets into people's mailboxes.

[kikin]

Good thing we have access to foreign owned platforms as the mainstream media is Canada is ridiculously bought and paid for for the most part.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by mcj

It's clear from this response that the scale of disinformation in the present age is beyond your comprehension. This isn't comparable with distributing leaflets into people's mailboxes.

Some neighbourhood conservatives ran an ad you don't like. Boo hoo. Misinformation in our current age is an issue but people politically opposed to you are not "disinformation". Grow up.

Do you get mad when environmentalists run ads despite being international organizations with dubious backing?

[madog222]

Originally Posted by kikin

Good thing we have access to foreign owned platforms as the mainstream media is Canada is ridiculously bought and paid for for the most part.