Why every Vancouver voter picks all 10 councillors: the at-large system and the 1996 and 2004 votes on wards

On October 17, every Vancouver voter gets the same council ballot, with all 56 council candidates on it. You may mark up to 10 names, and the 10 candidates with the most votes win. CBC News has reported that other major Canadian cities elect councillors by area. Vancouver voters were asked about wards in 1996 and in 2004, and the at-large system stayed both times. This is the history, with the exact results and the arguments each side made.

What "at large" means

In an at-large system, the whole city is one voting area. Each councillor is elected by voters from every neighbourhood, and each councillor represents the entire city.

In a ward system, the city is divided into areas called wards. Voters in each ward elect their own councillor, the same way people elect one MLA or one MP for a riding. The mayor is still elected by the whole city.

The Vancouver Charter, the provincial law that sets up the City's government, makes at-large the default. Section 138(1) says: "Unless a by-law under subsection (2) applies, every member of Council must be elected from the city at large."

Section 137 sets the size of Council at a mayor and 10 councillors. Council can raise the number of councillors by by-law, and it needs the voters' approval to reduce it.

Council can change the system itself

The Charter sets no requirement for a referendum before wards come in.

Section 138(2) lets Council provide, by by-law, "that all or some of the Councillors be elected on a neighbourhood constituency basis." A neighbourhood constituency is the law's term for a ward. The rule has 3 conditions:

1. The by-law must set the boundaries of each ward.
2. It must plan an orderly move to the new system.
3. The provincial cabinet, called the Lieutenant Governor in Council, must approve it before Council adopts it.

Both past votes on wards were questions Council chose to ask. The Charter required neither of them.

1996: an opinion question

At the general election of November 16, 1996, voters answered an opinion question on how councillors should be elected. The City Clerk's report on the results, dated November 29, 1996, sets out the numbers.

Part I asked whether to keep the existing system:

• Yes: 48,232 (59.43%)
• No: 32,923 (40.57%)

Part II asked which other systems voters would prefer. Each option had its own yes and no count:

• Ward system: 32,968 yes (55.99%), 25,908 no (44.01%)
• Mixed system: 25,539 yes (47.64%), 28,068 no (52.36%)
• Proportional system: 17,648 yes (36.52%), 30,670 no (63.48%)
• Other system: 10,991 yes (24.85%), 33,242 no (75.15%)

A majority chose to keep the at-large system. Among the alternatives, wards drew the most support.

2003 to 2004: the Berger commission

In 2003, Council set up the Vancouver Electoral Reform Commission. Thomas Berger, a former judge of the BC Supreme Court, led it. He presented his report, "A City of Neighbourhoods", to Council on June 8, 2004, according to a City Clerk's memo summarizing its 23 recommendations. They included:

• abolish the at-large system for City Council and elect councillors from wards,
• expand Council from 10 to 14 councillors,
• divide the city into 14 wards, each electing 1 councillor,
• reject a mixed system,
• keep the Park Board elected at large,
• ask the Province to change the Charter to allow proportional representation, and
• hold a referendum on wards in October 2004.

2004: the plebiscite

The vote took place on Saturday, October 16, 2004. CBC News reported the question as: "Are you in favour of, or are you opposed to, abolishing the at-large system and electing members of City Council by a ward system, with boundaries as set out on the map on this ballot?"

CBC News reported these results the next day, citing the City's website:

• For wards: 30,499
• For the at-large system: 35,813

CBC gave the split as 54 per cent against wards and 46 per cent in favour. It put turnout at 22.6 per cent.

The Georgia Straight reported before the vote that the mayor at the time, Larry Campbell, had said wards would be in place for the 2005 election if voters chose them. Vancouver still elects its council at large today.

The arguments for wards

These are the arguments as the people making them put them, from reporting in 2004 and 2022.

• A shorter ballot. Berger told Council the at-large ballot was so long that voters could not make an informed choice. The 2002 ballot had 46 council candidates, the Georgia Straight reported. "No citizen can be expected to properly inform himself or herself about the character and qualifications of 46 persons running for city council," he said.
• A local voice. Berger argued that on issues affecting one area, a ward councillor makes sure the neighbourhood's view is heard at Council.
• Uneven turnout. Berger's report found higher turnout on the West Side than the East Side in 2002. He argued that this gives West Side voters more influence over who wins.
• Cheaper campaigns. A Kitsilano community organizer told the Georgia Straight that candidates in smaller areas need less money.
• Minority representation. A Sikh temple president told the Georgia Straight that the at-large system makes it hard for minority candidates to win unless they are known across the whole city.
• Representation. Former councillor Kerry Jang told CBC News in 2022 that wards represent "the local folk at a fundamental level".

The arguments for the at-large system

• A citywide view. The Georgia Straight reported in 2004 that defenders of the system say it elects councillors with a citywide perspective.
• Less local conflict. Former mayor Philip Owen told CBC News in 2004 that wards would lead to more fighting over issues such as where to place group homes and halfway houses.
• Fix the system instead. A councillor who defended the at-large system in 2004 accepted that the ballot was too large and complicated. He proposed keeping at-large elections and asking the Province to require 20 signatures before a candidate could run, the Georgia Straight reported.
• A narrower focus. Political scientist Stewart Prest told CBC News in 2022 that wards shift the focus "from candidates putting together arguments for what the city needs, to what their particular corner of this city needs."
• Housing. CBC News reported in 2022 on a study in The Review of Economics and Statistics. It found that when US municipalities moved from at-large to ward elections, local housing production dropped by an average of 20 per cent.

Where the debate stood in 2022

CBC News reported in October 2022 that 2 mayoral candidates that year said wards were worth exploring. It also reported a Research Co. poll from June 2022: 58 per cent of the Vancouver residents surveyed favoured a ward system. The poll surveyed 400 likely voters, with a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

No question on the electoral system is on the 2026 ballot. The City's 2026 election page lists 3 Capital Plan borrowing questions and 2 plebiscite questions. They are on our ballot questions page.

What this means on October 17

You vote for up to 10 council candidates from the full list, and the top 10 citywide win. Our guide to marking the Vancouver ballot explains the rule that cancels a council vote if you mark 11 names or more. For what those 10 councillors decide, read what Vancouver City Council controls.

The Vancouver Charter sets how councillors are elected, and the City of Vancouver runs the vote. If anything here disagrees with the Charter or vancouver.ca, those sources are correct.