Victoria, BC · Civic election · Saturday, October 17, 2026
Victoria deserves a council that listens.
Our six for council
Endorsed by Victoria's firefighters too. Why these six
This council pushed through far-reaching and consequential development rules most residents never heard about, and raised your city taxes 35% while in office. October 17 is your answer.
Join your neighbours
Free: the one-page 2026 Voter Guide, with the dates, ID rules and five questions for every candidate.
- Advance votingOct 7, 13, 14 and 15 · confirmed by the City
- Election dayVoting places open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Voting by mailRequest your ballot by Oct 9, 4 p.m.
Meet the six in person
Go and ask them yourself
Free public events in your neighbourhood where the council candidates we are voting for will be. Past ones drop off by themselves.
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Downtown
Thu Sep 24 · 6 to 8 p.m.
Meet and greet with the council candidates
The Atrium, 800 Yates St. Free, just walk in. Marg Gardiner, Stephen Hammond and Arthur McInnis will be there.
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James Bay
Fri Sep 25 · 5:30 to 6:50 p.m.
James Bay all-candidates evening
Hotel Grand Pacific, Pender Room, 463 Belleville St. Free, no sign-up. The 7 p.m. question session is already full.
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Cook Street Village
Mon Oct 5 · 4 to 6 p.m.
All-candidates meeting at the Activity Centre
380 Cook St. Everyone welcome. Then Fernwood at 7 if you want two in one evening.
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Fernwood
Mon Oct 5 · 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Candidates on food and community safety
Fernwood Community Centre, 1240 Gladstone Ave. Free, but book a seat on Eventbrite, it is nearly full.
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Fairfield
Wed Oct 14 · 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Every candidate at a table: ask them anything
Sir James Douglas school gym, 401 Moss St. Everyone welcome, no sign-up.
We are your neighbours
We are a grass-roots, community-based network committed to change at Victoria City Hall. We are issues driven, and we are not endorsed by, supported by, or affiliated with any political organization or special interest group.
Victoria deserves better than this
Over the past four years, a majority on Council, the five councillors residents call the Gang of 5, has eroded public trust and changed Victoria for the worse by undermining the safeguards of local democracy: consultation, transparency and accountability. What did we get instead? Little citizen input, quick decisions, narrow in scope and rationale, and favouritism to special interests.
Victoria deserves better. Your voice should count between elections, not just on one day in October.
October 17 is when you get a say
Good government is something we do together. On October 17, vote for people who ask neighbours first.
Six key areas need urgent fixing
The current city council and mayor have failed to listen to their citizens and are leaving behind a devastating record that threatens the future of Victoria. See what they did and how to fix the damage.
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Governance and public trust
From a council that does what it wants, to one that answers for what it decides.
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Development and neighbourhoods
From a one-size-fits-all plan for development, to planning that values the uniqueness of your neighbourhood.
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Housing and affordability
From bulldoze and build anything, to affordable homes people can actually rent and buy.
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The urban forest
From planting saplings as replacements, to keeping the mature trees already standing.
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Transportation and infrastructure
From growth first and pipes later, to infrastructure funded before approval.
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Safety and well-being
From money spent, to results for residents, measured and reported.
The record, 2022 to 2026
What this council did with four years
We are a network of citizens fed up with a majority of council forcing their vision on the city. Specifically, "the Gang of 5" (Councillors Dell, Caradonna, Loughton, Kim and Thompson), together with Mayor Alto, have undertaken the following. Judge for yourself.
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A Parks Sequencing Plan with limited consultation
The plan approved the re-design of Centennial Square and pushed the mega Crystal Pool project forward, with limited consultation with the citizens who pay for both.
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$15 million of land bought without asking
The city purchased Romeo's on Blanshard for $11 million, to eventually become a park, and Hermann's for roughly $4 million, again without consulting citizens. Parks, yes. But who would agree that a park right beside Blanshard is a good idea?
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Taxes up every single year, and a raise they backed down on
The residential increase has climbed every budget of this term: 6.0, then 7.93, then 8.18, now 9.34 percent, roughly 35 percent compounded, while the announced headlines stayed conveniently smaller. In March 2024 council also voted itself a 25 percent raise, from $52,420 to $65,525, effective that May rather than at the next election. It backed down after public objection, and the smaller rise that survived does not start until after October 17.
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Downtown left to fend for itself until election year
Council all but abandoned downtown business owners to crime and disorder for most of their mandate, and acted only in their last year, before the election, with the Community, Safety and Wellbeing Plan.
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"Social Service Centres" allowed anywhere, without notice
Council approved a policy that allows social service centres, including homeless shelters, to open anywhere in Victoria without the community, or even council, being aware it is occurring.
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Bike lanes built without meaningful consultation
The continual construction of bike lanes has gone ahead corridor after corridor without meaningful consultation with the businesses, residents and road users affected by them, including cyclists themselves.
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The worst of all: an OCP almost nobody knew about
Council approved an Official Community Plan that less than 2 percent of the populace is even aware of. At no time was the public consulted when council asked staff to create a plan that would allow 4-storey condos on every lot in Victoria.
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A governance review, ignored
Clearly this council learned nothing from the MNP governance review prepared for the last council, which found that people want to be consulted and listened to, not consulted and ignored.
That is the record of five councillors and the mayor. Change means none of them go back, and none of the people they are backing get in. We have named six who should.
One plan now decides what can be built on your street.
The biggest change to city planning in a generation passed with fewer than 2,500 survey responses. We read the plan so you do not have to, and wrote down what matters.
- 4 storeysminimum building height now allowed on residential lots citywide
- 1.5 metreshow close a new building can sit to your property line
How we spend the time until October 17
- Watch
- We watch every council meeting and read every agenda, so nothing slips past unnoticed.
- Translate
- We turn hundred-page staff reports into short updates, with every source linked.
- Back
- We highlight candidates who commit to consult-first governance, and ask the hard questions in public.
- Turn out
- We help neighbours register, make a plan, and get to a voting place.
Twenty-nine people want your vote
Eight council seats and the mayor's chair are on the ballot. See everyone on the ballot, who is worth your time and who is not, along with the groups working to influence the outcome.
On September 23, Victoria's firefighters endorsed the same six council candidates we are voting for.
Answers before you ask
Who is behind the Sustainable Victoria Network?
Volunteer residents from neighbourhoods across Victoria who watch council meetings, read the agendas, and publish what they find in plain language. The network is independent, with no party and no affiliation with the City of Victoria. The members who agreed to be named are on the About page.
Who are the "Gang of 5"?
The nickname residents use for the five councillors who vote as a bloc: Matt Dell, Jeremy Caradonna, Krista Loughton, Susan Kim and Dave Thompson, usually joined by Mayor Marianne Alto. The full story is in our glossary, the decisions are on this page above, and who is backing whom this election is on the candidate tracker. Change starts with not sending them back and not electing the people they are backing, and we have named six people to vote for instead.
Why does the city say 7.28% tax when my notice says 9.34%?
Because the announced number blends property classes. For 2026, council assigned homes a tax of 9.34% and business 4.78%, then announced the blended 7.28. The year-by-year numbers, the extra fees, and the sources are on the real tax bill page.
When is the 2026 Victoria election?
Saturday, October 17, 2026, with voting places open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. BC law also requires advance voting. The City has confirmed four advance voting days: October 7, 13, 14 and 15. Dates, ID rules and voting places are on the how to vote page.
Who can vote?
Canadian citizens who are 18 or older on election day, BC residents for at least six months, and Victoria residents for at least 30 days. Property owners who live elsewhere in BC may qualify as non-resident property electors. You can register right at the voting place with two pieces of ID, at least one bearing your signature. Details on our how to vote page.
I rent. Does city hall really affect me?
More than almost anyone. The new Official Community Plan shapes whether your building gets redeveloped and what compensation you get when it happens. Most Victoria households rent, and every renter ballot counts the same as every homeowner ballot. What we want changed is on the housing and affordability page.
What is this Official Community Plan everyone mentions?
Victoria 2050, adopted October 2, 2025. It replaced every neighbourhood plan in the city and allows buildings of at least four storeys on residential lots citywide. Our plain-language walkthrough covers what it means for owners, renters, trees and heritage.
What will you send me if I sign up?
Short election updates by email: what council decided, what it costs, who is running, and the key voting dates. Unsubscribe anytime with one click. We never sell or share your information, which is set out in our privacy note.
Are you endorsing candidates?
We're endorsing good policies that work. We're doing it in a way where we share with you what our research and thinking process got us to, and give it to you to think over and decide for yourself. We do it in a way where you can check it all for yourself: the six we support and the record behind each one.
Where the deep detail lives
- The OCP guide walks through the 2025 Official Community Plan clause by clause.
- The real tax bill traces where the money went, with every figure sourced.
- The media tracker collects what Victorians have written about city hall, sorted by issue.
- The glossary explains the terms council uses in plain language.
- Who we are voting for sets out each name and the record behind it.
Change city hall with one email and one ballot.
Sign up, make a plan to vote, and bring two neighbours. The last council seat is often decided by a few hundred ballots.