Ottawa's new City Council and school trustees take office November 15
Sixty-two people elected on October 26 begin their four-year terms on November 15. The new Council has until December 16 to hold its first meeting, and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe's key campaign promises now have a start date.
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One week from today, 62 people elected on October 26 begin their four-year terms as Ottawa's mayor, ward councillors and school board trustees. The start date is fixed by law: section 6 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, which applies to every Ontario municipal election, sets it as November 15, 2026. On that day, the people voters chose take office and their promises become a matter of public record to follow.
Who was elected and what comes next
Ottawa held elections for the mayor, one councillor in each of its 24 wards, and trustees for four school boards: the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (12 trustees), the Ottawa Catholic School Board (10 trustees), the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (8 trustees elected in Ottawa) and the Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario (7 trustees elected in Ottawa). In total, 62 people were elected on October 26.
Of the 868,248 eligible voters, 314,393 cast ballots, a turnout of 36.2 percent. Those numbers come from the City's unofficial results, tabulated on October 27, 2026. The City Clerk declares the official results under section 55 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. The term runs to November 15, 2030, when the next election will have been decided.
The first Council meeting
Section 230 of the Municipal Act, 2001 requires the new City Council to hold its inaugural meeting no later than December 16, 2026, which is 31 days after the term starts. As of November 8, the City had not yet published the date for that meeting. When it is announced, it will be open to the public, and it is typically when the mayor addresses Council for the first time and the councillors are sworn in formally.
The Ottawa Catholic School Board published its inaugural meeting: November 17, 2026 at 7:00 pm, two days after the term begins. The other three boards, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the CECCE and the CEPEO, had not yet published their inaugural meeting dates as of November 8.
What Mayor Sutcliffe promised
Mark Sutcliffe won re-election on October 26 with 139,354 votes, according to the City's unofficial count. During the campaign he made three large commitments that his tracker at voche.me now records.
On property taxes, he committed on October 2, 2026 to limit increases to 2.5 percent for each of the first two years of a new term. CBC News reported that he was the only candidate at the mayoral debate that day to name a specific number.
On public safety, he promised on September 3, 2026 to add 200 police officers, 100 paramedics and 50 firefighters, to create a downtown safety coordinator role, and to remove homeless encampments within two to five days of a report being filed. CBC News reported those commitments.
On housing, he said on September 9, 2026 that he would move from 20,000 affordable homes to 30,000 by the end of the decade, including 650 supportive housing units within five years, and that he would end the use of hotels for homeless families. CBC News reported that pledge.
None of these commitments have been recorded as done yet. The term has not started. The tracker updates as the new Council acts.
What councillors promised
The 24 ward councillors elected on October 26 each have a promise tracker at voche.me. Among them are several councillors re-elected from the previous term. Their promises range from ward-specific infrastructure projects to city-wide votes on the police budget, zoning and the transit plan.
The promise tracker records every pledge by subject: housing, transportation, public safety, schools, the budget and more. Once the City publishes vote records for the new term, voche.me will record how each councillor voted and whether those votes match their campaign commitments.
The school boards
The four school boards oversee publicly funded schools across Ottawa. Their trustees are elected to four-year terms under the same Act and take office on the same day, November 15.
The Ottawa Catholic School Board, which covers English Catholic schools, holds its inaugural meeting on November 17 at 7:00 pm, as published on its meetings page. The board states that all regular meetings are open to the public. The other three boards had not yet published their inaugural dates.
The school boards handle budgets, programs, school buildings and staffing across hundreds of schools. Their decisions affect families directly, and their trustees' promises are also tracked at voche.me.
What you can follow
The new Council's first vote will be recorded at /on/ottawa-2026/tracker. Each councillor and each trustee has a page that lists what they committed to during the campaign. As the term proceeds, those pages will show every promise resolved and every vote cast.
The first Council meeting will be announced by the City. Watch for it before December 16, 2026.
Questions this story answers
When does Ottawa's new City Council officially take office?
The four-year term of Ottawa's mayor, all 24 ward councillors and all four school boards' trustees begins on November 15, 2026. This date is set by section 6 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, which applies to all Ontario municipal elections. The 62 people elected on October 26, 2026 each begin their term on that day.
When must Ottawa's new City Council hold its first meeting?
Section 230 of the Municipal Act, 2001 requires the new City Council to hold its first meeting no later than December 16, 2026. The City has not yet published the exact date for its inaugural meeting. The meeting will be open to the public.
What did Mark Sutcliffe promise on property taxes?
During the campaign, Sutcliffe promised to limit property tax increases to 2.5 percent for each of the first two years of a new term. CBC News reported on October 2, 2026 that he was the only mayoral candidate at that debate to commit to a specific number. His tracker page at voche.me records the promise and its source.
What did Sutcliffe promise on public safety?
On September 3, 2026, Sutcliffe promised 200 more police officers, 100 more paramedics and 50 more firefighters, a downtown safety coordinator, and removal of homeless encampments within two to five days of a report. CBC News reported the pledge. These commitments are listed on his promise tracker at /on/ottawa-2026/tracker.
What did Sutcliffe promise on affordable housing?
On September 9, 2026, Sutcliffe promised to move from 20,000 affordable homes to 30,000 by the end of the decade, including 650 supportive housing units within five years, and to end the use of hotels for homeless families, as reported by CBC News.
When do Ottawa's school boards hold their inaugural meetings?
The Ottawa Catholic School Board has posted its inaugural meeting as November 17, 2026 at 7:00 pm. The other three school boards, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est and the Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario, had not yet published their inaugural meeting dates as of November 8, 2026.
How many people voted in Ottawa's 2026 municipal election?
314,393 ballots were cast, out of 868,248 eligible voters, for a turnout of 36.2 percent. Those are the numbers from the City's unofficial results, counted on October 27, 2026. The City Clerk declares the official results under section 55 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.
Where can Ottawa residents follow how their new councillor votes?
Voche.me tracks every elected official's promises and, once the term begins and the first votes are recorded, every vote cast in City Council and the school boards. Visit /on/ottawa-2026/tracker to see who represents your ward and what they committed to during the campaign.
Sources
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