Getting ready to vote in the Vancouver municipal election ?
Fun Fact: Three CityStudio collaborations involving City of Vancouver staff and BCIT faculty and students helped explore how Vancouver’s Plan Your Vote tool could become an open-source resource for other municipalities.
Vancouver’s general municipal election takes place on Saturday, October 17, 2026. Voters will elect the mayor, City councillors, Park Board commissioners, and School Board trustees, and weigh in on additional three questions about the City’s Capital Plan and two plebiscite questions.
With so many decisions on the ballot, a little preparation can go a long way.
Make a Plan for Your Ballot
The City of Vancouver’s Plan Your Vote Tool helps you prepare for filling out your ballot by bringing your choices together in one place and organizing them to match the order in which they will appear on your ballot.
Candidates are listed in random order rather than alphabetically, so finding your preferred candidates can take a bit of time. This nifty tool lists your candidates in ballot order and with their associated number. You can also record your preferences for the three Capital Plan borrowing questions and the two plebiscite questions, giving you a chance to review your choices before casting the ballot.
Your Choices, Your Privacy
The tool does not require you to enter personal information, and your answers are not saved or shared. Once you are finished, you can print or email your plan to refer to when you vote.
Why Does Your Local Vote Matter?
Local elections help shape the places where we live, work, learn, and connect. The City Council sets strategic priorities, makes decisions about municipal spending, establishes bylaws, and influences how land is used. Park Board commissioners oversee the city’s parks, seawall, pools, community centers, rinks, and playing field, while School Board trustees make decisions about public education.
Your vote is an opportunity to help shape the decisions and the future of your community. Taking time to learn about the candidates and consider the questions on your ballot can help make informed choices.
Check You Voter Eligibility, Required ID, and Voting Location
Before election day, check your voter eligibility, identification requirements, accessibility, and voting locations on the City of Vancouver’s election website. Vancouver vote-anywhere system, meaning eligible voters can cast their ballots at any voting locations in the City of Vancouver.
The CityStudio and BCIT Connection
In 2019, CityStudio supported a three-phased collaboration between BCIT’s School of Computing and Academic Studies and the City of Vancouver’s Digital Services team. Guided by Tadhg Healy and Kelvin Lau from the City of Vancouver, and BCIT instructor Medhat Elmsary, students developed an open-source adaptation of the City’s Plan Your Vote tool, called OpenVoting. The project resulted in publicly available code repositories, with the aim of making the approach adaptable for other municipalities.
Phase 1: Voting Tool
Phase 3: Plan Your Vote
If you are located outside of Vancouver and are interested in adopting this tool for your own community, we’d love to hear from you.
For now, See you at the polls!
