--- title: "Craig Hodge sets affordability and safety as his first priorities as Coquitlam mayor" description: "In his first address as mayor, Craig Hodge named housing choices, safer streets and infrastructure as the work his new council will take on over the next four years." canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/coquitlam-2026/news/craig-hodge-coquitlam-mayor-first-address-november-2026" last_updated: "2026-11-12T20:47:11.714Z" --- Craig Hodge stood at the front of Coquitlam's council chamber on Monday, November 9, as the city's first new mayor in 18 years, and laid out the work his council plans to take on. The ceremony at the 2026 Inaugural Council Meeting included an honour guard and a blessing from Kwikwetlem First Nation, with former mayor Richard Stewart, MLAs and MPs among those present, the Tri-Cities Dispatch reported. The swearing-in began the 2026-2030 council term, with four returning councillors and four people on council for the first time joining Hodge at the table. ## What the new mayor said Hodge told those at the ceremony that growth in Coquitlam must mean the city gets better, not simply larger, the Dispatch reported. He said every decision should come back to one question: how will it improve the daily lives of the people who live, work and raise their families here. His address named five areas of focus: affordability, community safety, infrastructure, housing that suits residents at different stages of life, and two specific projects at Burke Mountain and Fraser Mills. "Our goal can't be just to get bigger, it must be to get better," Hodge said, as reported by the Dispatch. Hodge has served on Coquitlam's council for 15 years before this term. He worked as a photographer for much of that time, something he noted in his address: "I've had the privilege to photograph the people, places, and moments that tell Coquitlam's story," the Dispatch reported him saying. He succeeded Richard Stewart, who served as mayor from 2008 and did not seek re-election. ## Housing and affordability Housing is the subject with the most commitments in Hodge's platform, which is his own account of what he will work toward. It calls for more housing choices, with an emphasis on family-sized two- and three-bedroom homes, support for rental and below-market housing, and renewing older neighbourhoods. At his campaign launch in October 2025, Hodge told the Dispatch that 900 below-market homes had been built in Coquitlam and 1,300 more were in the pipeline. His platform does not give a target for how many more he would like to see built. The platform also commits to keeping City spending under control and working to keep property taxes as low as possible. The budget is a separate process that the new council will begin in the coming weeks, and it is covered in [an earlier article at /bc/coquitlam-2026/news](/bc/coquitlam-2026/news). ## Safety commitments Hodge named community safety and livelihood as a top issue at the inauguration, the Dispatch reported. His platform, his own account, sets out several policing and safety commitments: more RCMP officers, more visible neighbourhood and foot patrols, stronger gang prevention and enforcement, better traffic enforcement, more Community Safety Officers, and improved 911 response. One specific commitment in the platform is a direct 911 line for mental health calls, so that callers in crisis reach a mental health responder rather than a police dispatcher. The platform does not say when this would happen or what it would cost. Before the election, Hodge told Freshet News that he would like to see the City's two-person medic unit expanded and that a second fire hall on the south side of the city will be needed as the population grows there. Neither item was mentioned in the Dispatch's coverage of the inauguration speech. ## The two projects he named Hodge singled out Burke Mountain and Fraser Mills as major projects for the term. His platform commits to delivering a community centre for the Burke Mountain neighbourhood and planning recreation amenities at Fraser Mills. Neither the platform nor the City's current announcements that this site could read state a construction start date, a cost estimate, or a timeline for either project. Burke Mountain is a fast-growing area in the northeast of the city where thousands of homes have been built over the past decade. The neighbourhood has grown quickly and residents there have been waiting for a community centre for several years. Fraser Mills is a large development site along the Fraser River, formerly an industrial mill site, where a mix of homes, shops and public spaces is planned. Hodge's platform also commits to improving the Coquitlam Crunch and advancing a trail connection to Crystal Falls, as well as expanding pickleball and tennis facilities and renewing older parks and playgrounds. He told Freshet News before the election that he has long supported an entertainment zone near a SkyTrain station, with a new theatre as its anchor, though he did not name that project at the inauguration ceremony. ## What comes next The new council's first regular meeting after the November 9 ceremony will set the direction for the 2027 budget and the council's priorities for the term. Residents who want to follow how each commitment is kept can visit the promise tracker at [/bc/coquitlam-2026/tracker](/bc/coquitlam-2026/tracker), where each of [Craig Hodge's](/bc/coquitlam-2026/candidates/craig-hodge) pledges is listed with its sources and will be updated as the council votes and acts. The City's budget survey closed November 15; the City had asked residents to weigh in on what services matter most before the new council sets the 2027 spending plan. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/bc/coquitlam-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.