If a Vancouver council, Park Board or School Board seat becomes empty: the by-election rules

The people elected on October 17 serve a 4-year term. Seats can still become empty before it ends, through a resignation, a death or a court ruling. When that happens, the law decides whether voters elect someone new to fill the seat. The rules differ for City Council, the Park Board and the School Board, and they change in the last year of the term.

How long the term runs

Section 139 of the Vancouver Charter says the term for the mayor and councillors begins on the first Monday after November 1 following the election. For this council that is November 2, 2026.

The term ends immediately before the first Monday after November 1 in the year of the next general election. Section 9 sets that year: general local elections are held in 2014 "and in every fourth year after that", on the third Saturday of October. The next one falls on Saturday, October 19, 2030. The School Act, in section 35, sets the same year and the same Saturday for school trustees.

When a council seat becomes empty

Section 10 of the Charter says an election must be held to fill a council vacancy in these cases:

• the person dies, before or after taking office,
• the person resigns,
• the office becomes vacant because the person is convicted of an indictable offence, the more serious class of criminal offence,
• a court declares the office vacant, or
• the office becomes vacant as a penalty under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, for example for failing to file disclosure or for going over the spending limit.

A resignation has a set form. Section 142 says a member of Council may resign only by delivering a written resignation to the City Clerk. It takes effect when the Clerk receives it, even if it names a later date, and it cannot be withdrawn after that.

The exception near the end of the term

Section 10 gives Council 2 choices late in the term. In both cases Council may decide that no by-election is held, and the seat stays empty until the general election fills it.

1. After June 1 in the election year. Council may skip the by-election for any vacancy.
2. After January 1 in the election year. Council may skip the by-election if the seat is elected city-wide and at least one more member remains than the quorum. Section 137 sets the council at a mayor and 10 councillors, with a quorum of 6. So at least 7 members must remain.

For this term, the election year is 2030.

How a by-election runs

Section 10 sets the steps and the deadline:

1. As soon as practicable after the vacancy, Council appoints a chief election officer and notifies the provincial minister.
2. The chief election officer notifies the BC chief electoral officer.
3. The chief election officer sets voting day on a Saturday no later than 80 days after being appointed.

The person elected serves only the rest of the term, until the next general election.

The City's 2017 review report notes that the general election rules in Part I of the Charter apply to a by-election, including nominations, advance voting and counting. Section 12 adds that a City election by-law must be adopted at least 6 weeks before the nomination period to apply to a by-election.

If so many seats become empty that Council falls below its quorum, section 10(6) lets the minister either allow the remaining members to act as a quorum or appoint qualified people to fill the seats until a by-election is held. Section 11 lets the minister order an election if one is not held when the law requires it.

The Park Board

The Park Board follows a different rule. Section 486(4) of the Charter says that for a vacancy on the Park Board, "a by-election need not be held unless directed by the Council". If Council does direct one, it runs in the same way as a council by-election under section 10. Section 486(3.1) applies the council resignation rule to commissioners too: a written resignation delivered to the City Clerk.

Our guide to what the Park Board controls explains the board itself.

The School Board

School trustees are covered by the School Act. Section 36 says a by-election must be held when a trustee seat becomes empty. After January 1 in a general school election year, the board may hold the seat open until the election, as long as at least 3 trustees remain in office.

Section 37 says that when a trustee area is all or part of one municipality, that municipality's council runs the trustee elections. In Vancouver, the City runs them. The steps under section 36:

1. Within 30 days of the vacancy, the board notifies City Council and the minister.
2. Within 30 days of that notice, Council appoints a chief election officer.
3. Voting day is a Saturday no later than 80 days after the appointment.

If fewer than 3 trustees remain, the board must hold an election or tell the minister, who must appoint trustees to fill the seats.

The 2017 by-election

The City's review report sets out how the 2017 by-election worked. A councillor resigned by letter on July 4, 2017. Council appointed the City Clerk as chief election officer on July 26, and voting day was set for Saturday, October 14, 2017. The report lists the 80-day schedule the City followed:

• August 8: candidate information packages available
• August 29: public inspection of the voters list begins
• August 29 to September 8: nomination period
• September 26: mail ballot packages available
• October 4 and 10: advance voting at City Hall, 8am to 8pm
• October 14: general voting day
• October 31: the elected candidate takes the oath of office

The report says the July 26 appointment gave staff 80 days to plan and deliver the vote, the full time the Charter allows.

On August 3, 2017, the province ordered a by-election for School District No. 39, Vancouver, which covered all 9 trustee seats. The City ran both votes on the same day. Our guide to the Vancouver School Board explains why the board was empty.

The report's figures:

• Eligible voters: 442,792
• Voters: 48,645, a turnout of 10.99%
• Ballots: 4,174 at advance voting, 330 by mail and 44,141 on voting day
• Voting places: 50 in Vancouver and 1 in the UBC and University Endowment Lands area
• Cost: $1.2 million

For comparison, the report gives turnout at the 2014 general election as 43.4%.

The 2025 by-election

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, Vancouver held a by-election for 2 council seats. The City's declaration of official results, dated April 9, 2025, reports 450,492 registered voters and 67,962 ballots cast, a turnout of 15.09%.

The next day, the City Manager apologized for the long waits many voters faced at voting places, and said the lessons would be used in planning the 2026 general election.

The City's 2025 by-election page says only 17 by-elections had been held in the City's 138-year history, with the most recent in 2017.

The Vancouver Charter and the School Act are the authorities on vacancies and by-elections. If anything here disagrees with vancouver.ca or the text of those laws, the official source is correct.