56 names, 10 seats: a method for choosing your Vancouver council candidates

The City Council race on October 17 has 56 candidates for 10 seats. Every voter in Vancouver gets the same list, because councillors are elected across the whole city. Few people can read 56 platforms. This guide gives a method that works with a long list, using official sources and the research pages on this site. It names no candidates.

The numbers

The City's final candidate list, confirmed after the random ballot draw on September 18, 2026, has 56 councillor candidates. Our own records agree: the candidate files on this site list 56 people with City Council as their office.

Each candidate has a ballot number. On the City's list, the council numbers run from 100 to 155. Names appear in random order, set by a draw the City held on September 18 under section 79 of the Vancouver Charter.

You may mark up to 10, and fewer is allowed

Two rules in section 101 of the Vancouver Charter set the limits.

• The upper limit. Section 101(4)(e) says a ballot is rejected for an election if it has more marks than there are candidates to be elected. Mark 11 or more council names and none of your council votes count. Your votes in the other races still count.
• No lower limit. Section 101(1) says marks that clearly show who you meant to vote for are counted. The City's open data notes give an example: a voter who marks 8 council candidates has those 8 votes counted, and the 2 unused spaces are recorded as "undervotes".

Many voters use this. Jens von Bergmann and Nathan Lauster studied the City's anonymous ballot records from 2022. They found that just over half of voters marked fewer than 10 council candidates. Marking all 10 was still the most common choice. The second most common was 7 names.

Here is why some voters stop short of 10. Every name you mark gets 1 vote from you, and candidates compete against each other for the 10th seat. If you mark only the people you want, you give no vote to someone who might beat one of your choices by a small margin.

Step 1: know what Council decides

The City's councillor page says the mayor and 10 councillors are responsible for City services such as by-laws, taxes, sidewalks and water. A promise about something Council does not control is harder to keep. Read what Vancouver City Council controls first, so you judge each candidate on what the job can do.

Step 2: pick 2 or 3 issues

Choose the subjects that matter most to you, such as housing, transport or taxes. A short list of issues turns 56 profiles into a set of comparisons you can finish in one evening.

Step 3: read the field on each issue at /compare

Our compare page is built for this race. You work through it in order:

1. Choose a race. Pick City Council. The page shows how many candidates are running and how many seats there are.
2. Choose a subject. Under each subject, a number shows how many of the 56 candidates have published something on it that we could source.
3. Read every candidate on that subject. Each position appears with its source beside it. Candidates we found nothing for are listed separately, with the date we checked. A blank space records only what we have found so far, and the candidate may hold a view we could not find.
4. Narrow the list. You can search by name, party or ballot number, and filter by party.
5. Add names to your own ballot. The page stops you at 10 for council. If you mark fewer, it tells you how many spaces remain and that stopping is allowed.

In races with several seats, the page can also start your list from a party's full slate. Adding a slate never removes a name you already picked.

Your list is kept only in your browser. Nothing is sent to us. When you finish, you can print it.

Step 4: open the profiles at /candidates

The candidates directory has a page for every person on the 2026 ballot, grouped by race and listed in official ballot order. Each profile names its sources and says what is still unchecked. Use it for the people who made your short list.

Keep one rule in mind. A candidate's own website, platform or social post shows what the candidate says. Proof that a claim is true has to come from somewhere else.

Step 5: check the parties at /parties

Many council candidates run with a party. The parties section covers all 11 parties on the same 10 issues. Its side-by-side pages put every party next to the others on a single subject, with a source and a date beside each position. Party labels on this site come only from the City's official candidate list.

Step 6: confirm with the official sources

The City's candidate list. At vancouver.ca/candidates, the City lists each candidate's name, party, contact information, and links to their website and social media. The councillor page also links each candidate's nomination papers. The City says any Vancouver Public Library branch can help voters research candidates. Printed copies of the list are available at library branches, community centres and the Election Office at 305 West 8th Avenue.

The City's Plan Your Vote tool. The City's 2026 election page links a tool called Plan Your Vote. The City describes it as a way to choose candidates, answer the Capital Plan borrowing and plebiscite questions, and pick where and when to vote.

Elections BC. Elections BC runs a searchable database called the Financial Reports and Political Contributions system. It says local candidates must file a financial report within 90 days of general voting day, and the report is published after the filing deadline. For this election, day 90 is January 15, 2027. So the 2026 financial reports arrive after the vote. The donation and spending limits for this year are in our campaign donations guide, listed on the news page.

Step 7: write down the numbers

The City suggests writing down the ballot numbers of the candidates you choose, so you can find them on the long ballot. Before you mark anything, check each number against the name printed on the paper ballot. Count your council marks: 10 is the most you can make. If you spoil a ballot by mistake before it goes into the box, section 90 of the Charter lets you hand it to the presiding election official and get a replacement.

The same method for Park Board

The Park Board race works the same way on a smaller scale. The City's list shows 35 candidates for 7 seats, and you may mark up to 7. Pick the Park Board race on the compare page and repeat steps 2 to 7.

A checklist

1. Read what Council decides.
2. Pick 2 or 3 issues.
3. Read every council candidate on those issues at /compare.
4. Open the profiles of the people on your short list.
5. Check the parties.
6. Confirm names and parties on the City's official list.
7. Write down your ballot numbers, 10 or fewer.

The City of Vancouver publishes the official candidate list and runs the election, and Elections BC publishes campaign finance reports. If anything here disagrees with them, their records are correct.