This record covers what ABC Vancouver publishes about school board candidate Maria Kritikos, the party's platform items on schools, her own campaign posts on the Instagram account the City lists for her, and the published reports that name her as a 2026 candidate. It also notes two older news items that confirm one community role.
The score counts how complete and checkable the published plan on this issue is. Whether the plan would work is a separate question, left to the reader. Measured October 4, 2026. The same seven points apply to every candidate for this office.
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
ABC Vancouver’s platform on schools: 3 commitments, none with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education runs Vancouver public schools, sets catchment boundaries and approves the district budget. Teacher pay and the provincial funding formula are set by the province.
“Maria is running for Vancouver School Board Trustee to bring classroom experience, entrepreneurial problem-solving, fiscal responsibility, and compassionate, practical leadership to the Board.”
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
What this office controls. Council, the Park Board and the Board of Education each set their own meeting rules, committees, public consultation and reporting. The Vancouver Charter and the School Act create the three bodies and set their powers, and only the Province can change those acts.
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
ABC Vancouver’s platform on taxes and budget: 5 commitments, at least one with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education approves the school district’s operating and capital budgets. The Province sets the funding formula and the school tax.
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
ABC Vancouver’s platform on public safety: 5 commitments, at least one with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education sets safety policies for its schools and decides whether police liaison officers work in them. Policing itself is the Vancouver Police Department’s.
Party platform; candidate not quoted. ABC Vancouver publishes 3 commitments on this issue.
0/2
Names a mechanism the office controls
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/2
States a measurable target
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/1
States a cost or funding source
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/1
States a timeline
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/1
A dated, sourced action on the issue
No dated public action on this issue found.
0/1
Answered the voche.me question on the issue
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
ABC Vancouver’s platform on child care: 3 commitments, at least one with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education decides how school buildings and land are used, including child care on school sites. Licensing and operating funding are provincial.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Maria Kritikos
Maria Kritikos appears on the City of Vancouver's final 2026 candidate list for School Board, with ballot number 311. The City records the affiliation as ABC Vancouver.
The page says Kritikos started a career teaching French and Spanish to secondary students with the Vancouver School Board. The page says the candidate founded CREO College of English for international students and newcomers, and later co-founded Canaglobe TESL Centre, which trained English teachers. The page says Kritikos holds a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Education and a Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish from the University of British Columbia.
ABC Vancouver's candidate page says Kritikos holds a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Education and a Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish, both from the University of British Columbia.
The party page says Kritikos taught French and Spanish to secondary students as a teacher with the Vancouver School Board. No independent record of that employment was found.
The party page says Kritikos founded CREO College of English, which it describes as an English-as-a-second-language college for international students and newcomers, and co-founded Canaglobe TESL Centre, which trains teachers.
The party page says Kritikos has run a real estate business and links that work to housing, affordability, density and neighbourhood change in Vancouver.
Daily Hive named Kritikos as the founder of Ladies Who Lunch in a December 2017 photo report on a Dress for Success fundraiser, and a 2014 BCBusiness photo caption listed Kritikos as "Ladies Who Lunch founder and CEO". These are the two independent records found for that role.
The party page says Kritikos wrote a book called Girl With A Plan, is involved with The Hellenic Initiative Canada, and volunteers with programs that support people facing homelessness and food insecurity.
Daily Hive reported on August 27, 2026 that ABC Vancouver named Kritikos to its school board slate alongside Rob Nijjar, Lina Vargas, Shirley Sio and Matt Kroeker, joining sitting trustees Alfred Chien and Preeti Faridkot.
Kritikos appears on the Vancouver ballot as number 311 for school board trustee, according to the candidate list published on September 22, 2026.
In a September 28, 2026 post on her Instagram account, which the City lists for her campaign, Kritikos wrote that she taught in Vancouver public schools for five years before working in real estate and running her own business, and that she has worked as an entrepreneur for the last two decades. No school district record of those years was found.
On the same day she posted that ABC Vancouver had launched its School Board platform and listed its five items as 'our plan': more teaching assistants and classroom supports, swimming lessons, School Liaison Officers, support for every student, and more education money reaching classrooms.
voche.me assembled this profile from the official candidate list and the campaign material linked under Sources. The campaign has not been contacted, and no candidate-supplied content appears on this page.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
16 commitments shown · Checked Oct 4
2026 · EducationCampaign pledge
Swimming lessons during school hours
ABC Vancouver's 2026 platform says the party will bring swimming lessons into the school day.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The platform page carries the commitment. The party's one-page School Board platform says an ABC School Board will work with the Park Board and community partners to bring swimming instruction into physical education, and the party's September 28, 2026 release adds free access for children aged 3 to 12 to the first three levels of the Joe Fortes Learn-to-Swim program. None of the three pages names Kritikos, and none says which grades are covered or how the lessons would be paid for.
What still needs checking
Which grades are covered, and which body pays for pool time and instructors.
School tax collected in Vancouver staying in Vancouver
The party platform says ABC will fight to ensure the provincial school tax collected in Vancouver goes to Vancouver schools.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The platform states the aim. The party's one-page School Board platform gives its figures: it says the Province will collect $658,682,122 from Vancouver residents through the school tax in 2026, that the Vancouver School Board received $598,400,000 in provincial grants for its 2025-2026 budget, and it asks for the $60 million difference. School tax rates and the funding formula are set by the Province, and neither page says what a school board vote could do to change that.
What still needs checking
What step a trustee could take, given that the province sets and distributes the school tax.
After-school programming and extracurricular activities
The party platform says ABC will keep extracurricular activities available and expand after-school programming.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The platform lists both items, and the party's September 28, 2026 release repeats them. Neither page gives a budget figure, a number of new places or a start date, and neither names Kritikos.
What still needs checking
How many after-school places would be added, and in which schools.
The party platform says ABC will increase investment in teaching assistance.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The platform lists the item without a dollar amount or a staffing target. The party's one-page School Board platform adds that an ABC School Board will increase teaching assistants and specialized support staff for students with diverse learning needs, also without a number, cost or date. Staffing for education assistants is funded through the provincial operating grant to the school district.
What still needs checking
The number of positions intended and where the money comes from.
What Kritikos says the campaign would bring to the board
The candidate page says Kritikos would bring classroom experience, problem solving from running businesses, and fiscal responsibility to the board.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is a statement of approach on the party page, read again on September 24, 2026. The page is written in the third person and names no specific measure, motion, budget change, number or date.
What still needs checking
Which board decisions Kritikos would change, and how.
2026 · Language learning and school resourcesCampaign pledge
Language learning and school resources
The campaign describes previous VSB teaching, language-education businesses and real-estate work.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Taken from the campaign page listed in the sources. This entry describes background rather than a commitment, so it is tagged to no scored issue and earns no points.
What still needs checking
What would this cost, who would deliver it, and by when?
The candidate page says Kritikos would bring fiscal responsibility to the Board.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The same sentence on the party's candidate page, read on September 24, 2026. It is a statement of approach to the Board's finances and names no budget line, figure or date.
What still needs checking
Which budget decisions Kritikos would change, and by how much.
More teaching assistants and specialized classroom supports (her post)
In a September 28, 2026 Instagram post, Kritikos listed more teaching assistants and specialized classroom supports as part of the plan she is running on.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Her own post on the Instagram account the City lists for her campaign, introduced with the words 'Our plan includes'. It repeats an item from the party's one-page School Board platform. Neither the post nor the platform gives a number of positions, a cost or a date.
What still needs checking
How many teaching assistant positions she would add, and which part of the district budget would pay for them.
Swimming and water safety as life skills (her post)
In the same post, Kritikos listed swimming and water safety, taught as essential life skills, as part of the plan.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Her own post on the Instagram account the City lists for her campaign, introduced with the words 'Our plan includes'. It repeats an item from the party's one-page School Board platform. The platform says the School Board would work with the Park Board and community partners to bring swimming into physical education. No grade, cost or start date is given.
What still needs checking
Which grades would get lessons, and whether the School Board or the Park Board would pay for pool time.
Keep School Liaison Officers in schools (her post)
In the same post, Kritikos listed safe schools with School Liaison Officers as part of the plan. The party's School Board platform says an ABC School Board will maintain the School Liaison Officer program.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Her own post on the Instagram account the City lists for her campaign, introduced with the words 'Our plan includes'. It repeats an item from the party's one-page School Board platform. The Board decides whether police liaison officers work in its schools. The post names the program, and gives no number of officers, cost or date.
What still needs checking
Whether she would keep the program unchanged, and what the Board would spend on it.
In the same post, Kritikos listed support to help every student succeed as part of the plan. The party's platform describes this as more specialized training, classroom resources and individual supports for students.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Her own post on the Instagram account the City lists for her campaign, introduced with the words 'Our plan includes'. It repeats an item from the party's one-page School Board platform. The post states a goal. Neither page names a program, a number of staff, a cost or a date.
What still needs checking
Which supports she means, and which budget line would pay for them.
More education money reaching classrooms (her post)
In the same post, Kritikos listed more education dollars reaching Vancouver classrooms as part of the plan.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Her own post on the Instagram account the City lists for her campaign, introduced with the words 'Our plan includes'. It repeats an item from the party's one-page School Board platform. The platform links this item to a demand that the Province give Vancouver schools the $60 million it says is the gap between school tax collected in Vancouver and the district's grants. The Province sets that funding, so a Board vote cannot settle it. The post gives no figure for how the Board's own budget would change.
What still needs checking
Which parts of the district budget she would move toward classrooms, and by how much.
Vote yes on the public safety plebiscite questions
In an October 3, 2026 Instagram post, Kritikos asked followers to vote for Mayor Ken Sim and the ABC team and to vote yes on the plebiscite questions. Daily Hive reported that the two questions ask whether the City should strengthen its laws to forbid open-air hard drug use in public spaces, and whether it should ask the Province to set up a secure care facility with more than 100 involuntary care beds.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Her own post on the account the City lists for her campaign. Both questions concern City Council and the Province, and a School Board trustee has no vote on either. The post gives no reason and names no school measure.
What still needs checking
Whether she would ask the Board to take any step in schools linked to these questions.
The ABC platform says the party will mandate that provincially approved drug consumption sites be located away from schools and parks.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The platform page states the commitment. The provincial health authority and the City's zoning bylaw decide where these sites go, so the School Board has no vote on it. The page does not name Kritikos.
What still needs checking
What distance rule the party wants and which authority would apply it.
A monthly committee of Council, Park Board and School Board
ABC's September 28, 2026 release says the party will set up an action committee across levels that meets monthly to oversee its family plan and track waitlists, new openings and access.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The party release states the commitment. It does not name Kritikos, and it does not say who would sit on the committee or when it would start.
What still needs checking
Whether the School Board would vote to join such a committee, and which trustees would sit on it.
Each entry below names its source. Campaign material is the candidate's own account. Nothing here is presented as a verified outcome unless the entry says so.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
Recent appearances / Read and watch
Talks, interviews & statements
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
From Teacher to Trustee: post announcing her run
Kritikos wrote on Instagram that some readers may remember her as Ms. Kritikos, that she taught in Vancouver public schools for five years before working in real estate and running her own business, and that she is running for the School Board with ABC Vancouver. She wrote that she never expected to run for public office. The post names no school policy.
Post on the launch of ABC Vancouver's School Board platform
Kritikos wrote that ABC Vancouver had launched its School Board platform and listed five items as 'our plan': teaching assistants and classroom supports, swimming and water safety, School Liaison Officers, support for every student, and more education money reaching classrooms. She wrote that teachers deserve the support and resources to do their work.
Kritikos wrote that door knocking had become one of her favourite parts of the campaign, that it lets the team share what ABC stands for and answer questions, and thanked volunteers and the candidates who join in. The post does not say which neighbourhoods she visited.
On the first advance voting day, Kritikos asked followers to vote for Mayor Ken Sim and the ABC team and to vote yes on the plebiscite questions. Daily Hive's August 14, 2026 report gives the two questions: a City ban on open-air hard drug use in public spaces, and a request to the Province for a secure care facility.
Kritikos posted that 'our Women in Politics Lunch' took place on October 3, 2026 with Mayor Ken Sim as special guest, and thanked the women who attended. A second post the same evening begins 'Apparently I had something to say!' and mentions conversations with the Mayor at the lunch. Neither caption says what was said.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
News coverage / Original publishers
Read the reporting
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Daily Hive
Ken Sim's ABC party names four new Vancouver City Council candidates
The article lists ABC Vancouver's school board slate for 2026 and names Kritikos among the five new trustee candidates. It carries no separate profile of Kritikos.
Candidates Questionnaire Week 1: Meet your School Board candidates and find out why they're running
The Eric Hamber Secondary student newspaper published School Board candidates' answers on why they are running. It lists Kritikos among the candidates who were sent the questionnaire and did not respond by the deadline.
Sources checked October 4, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
For Our Kids Vancouver and PACES Vancouver · September 25, 2026
No interview, debate appearance or answered questionnaire by Kritikos was found. She did not answer The Griffins' Nest questionnaires of September 22 and 28, 2026, and her VoteMate profile page states she has not uploaded a profile. Her own words on School Board matters come from Instagram posts that repeat the party's five School Board items and give no number, cost or date. Only the six most recent posts on her lunchwithmaria account and the posts shown on the Kritikos Real Estate Group account's public embed page could be read, so older posts were not checked. A Grandview Woodland Area Council meeting for Park Board and School Board candidates on September 29, 2026 was listed by Women Transforming Cities, but no source says whether Kritikos took part. The claims about CREO College of English, Canaglobe TESL Centre, the book Girl With A Plan, The Hellenic Initiative Canada, her university degrees and the Vancouver School Board teaching role come only from the party page and her own posts and were not confirmed anywhere else. Her real estate licence was not checked with the provincial regulator. The Tyee reported on August 11, 2026 that ABC did not answer its questions about AI chatbot accounts in schools; that article was published before ABC named its school board slate, so it says nothing about Kritikos. No record of a 2022 or earlier run for office was found. Her nomination papers are linked on the City's list and have not been reviewed.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on September 22, 2026: Current campaign material; biographical claims require corroboration.
Campaign page read on September 22, 2026. 0 stated positions and 3 background facts recorded here. This site blocks automated requests, so each quotation was read from the live page twice, independently.
Reviewed again on October 4, 2026: the party page and platform, the party's School Board platform and its September 28 release, the City's list, VoteMate, two student newspaper questionnaires and the candidate's Instagram posts from September 28 to October 3, 2026.
Checks still to do: Verify teaching and business roles and request specific funding and conflict-management commitments.
The ballot name, office, ballot number and party label come from the City's final candidate list. Everything described as campaign material is the campaign's own account and has not been confirmed by an independent source.
03 / Background
Experience & community
Five years, dates not stated
Secondary teacher, Vancouver School Board
The party page says the role involved teaching French and Spanish to secondary students. In a September 2026 Instagram post, Kritikos wrote that she spent five years teaching in Vancouver public schools.
BCBusiness listed Kritikos as founder and CEO of the network in a May 2014 event photo caption, and Daily Hive named Kritikos as its founder in December 2017. The party page describes it as a network created to connect women.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
Which student language or learning-support gap would you address first?
No response has been submitted.
How would you balance student learning support, facilities and staffing within the district’s available funding?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Maria Kritikos directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Maria Kritikos's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Maria Kritikos?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Maria Kritikos's own campaign.
What is Maria Kritikos's ballot number for the 2026 Vancouver election?
Maria Kritikos is number 311 on the City of Vancouver's official 2026 ballot for School Board.
What party did Maria Kritikos run with?
Maria Kritikos ran for School Board with ABC Vancouver.
Does Maria Kritikos currently hold public office?
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Maria Kritikos.
How many sources does this Maria Kritikos profile cite?
This profile lists 2 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Has Maria Kritikos filed nomination papers for the 2026 election?
voche.me has not yet added a nomination record for Maria Kritikos. This does not mean no nomination paper was filed, only that voche.me has not completed that research yet.
Why do some questions on Maria Kritikos's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Maria Kritikos in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When was the election Maria Kritikos ran in?
The 2026 Vancouver municipal election, including the School Board race, was decided on October 17, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
Added the candidate's Instagram posts, the party's School Board platform, new reports and an October 6 forum; corrected one source link
Added five posts from the Instagram account the City lists for Kritikos, from September 28 to October 3, 2026. Her September 28 post lists the party's five School Board items as 'our plan', so each is now recorded as her own position, and her October 3 post asking for a yes vote on the plebiscite questions is recorded as a public safety position outside the School Board's powers. Added the party's one-page School Board platform and its September 28 release, two party commitments not recorded before, The Griffins' Nest questionnaires of September 22 and 28 that list her as not responding, a 2014 BCBusiness report, and an online School Board forum on October 6. Correction: the Ladies Who Lunch experience entry cited the party page while its text described the BCBusiness and Daily Hive reports, so it now links the BCBusiness report. Removed the October 3 advance voting day from the calendar because that date has passed.
