The City of Vancouver has two vacant council seats right now and an election will be held to rectify the lack of local politicians.
An official date has been announced for the election: April 5, 2025. Locals will be able to vote at City Hall or any of the city's 24 community centres on that day.
There will also be advance voting available on March 26 and April 1 at City Hall.
Why are we voting?
There are currently two empty seats. One was left by OneCity's Christine Boyle, who departed when she was elected to the provincial legislature as the new NDP MLA for the Vancouver-Little Mountain electoral district.
The other seat was more recently vacated by Adriane Carr. The Green Party member and (formerly) longest-serving city councillor resigned earlier this month after 14 years of serving at City Hall.
“I've come to the conclusion that on the issues that really drive me, that drove me to run for office — and have been predominant issues in my life around particularly sustainability and the health of this planet — I can't make much progress,” she said at the time.
The current city councillors voted to instate Katrina Leckovic as the chief electoral officer for the byelection at the Jan. 21 meeting, kick-starting the electoral process.
Who are we voting for?
There are no candidates yet.
The byelection nomination period runs from Feb. 18 to 28, when candidates can officially register for the election with the city.
Who can vote
There are a few rules around who can vote in municipal elections in Vancouver.
One must:
- be at least 18 years old by election day (April 5, 2025)
- be a Canadian citizen
- have lived in Vancouver for at least six months
- live in Vancouver or have owned Vancouver property for at least 30 days
- be allowed to legally vote (some people have been disqualified by law)
When's the next municipal election?
A full municipal election will be held on Oct. 17, 2026.
With files from Mike Howell.
