Nomination Period opens May 2 for 2022 Municipal Election

Cities hosting free virtual information workshop on roles and responsibilities of public office

Waterloo Region, April 12, 2022 – Thinking about running for office? The nomination period for the 2022 Municipal and School Board Election officially opens on May 2, 2022.

The 2022 Municipal Election and School Board Election will be held on October 24, 2022. Interested candidates may file their nomination starting May 2, 2022 until August 19, 2022 at 2 p.m. at their respective municipality or for Regional Council at the Region of Waterloo.

Interested candidates are also invited to register for a free virtual information workshop taking place on May 4, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. The information workshop - “So You Want to Run for Council?” will feature municipal coach and former municipal solicitor, Fred Dean.  

Presented by the City of Cambridge, Region of Waterloo, the City of Kitchener, the Townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Woolwich, Wilmot and the City of Waterloo, the workshop will provide an overview of the roles and responsibilities of regional and municipal council members including duties, scope, and commitments.

This workshop will not cover information about nomination, campaigning or other election processes. Those details will be available through each of the area municipalities.

Register for the virtual information workshop

To be eligible as a candidate in this year’s Municipal and School Board Election, you must meet the following requirements:

• A Canadian citizen
• At least 18 years of age
• A resident of the municipality, a non-resident owner or tenant of land in the municipality or the spouse of such non-resident, owner or tenant
• Not legally prohibited from voting
• Not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office

Nominations will be received by the Clerk for the Offices of:

• Regional Chair
• Regional Councillor for Cambridge, Kitchener or Waterloo
• Mayor
• Ward Councillor
• Waterloo Region District School Board
• Waterloo Catholic District School Board
• French Language Public School Trustee (Conseil Scolaire Viamonde)
• French Language Separate School Trustee (Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir)

Nomination Procedure:

To run for the office of mayor, councillor or school board trustee, individuals must file a nomination paper and provide proof of qualifying address within each municipality or school board jurisdiction and the appropriate filing fee. Additionally, mayor and councillor nominees must provide at least 25 endorsements of nomination from eligible voters. The nomination paper and endorsement of nomination forms must have original signatures.

1. The prescribed Nomination Paper may be obtained and filed in the Office of the Clerk:
   1. On any day from May 2, 2022 to August 19, 2022 when the Clerk’s Office is open (contact for office hours);
   2. No later than Nomination Day, Friday, August 19, 2022 during the hours of 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
   3. The Nomination Paper shall be accompanied by a filing fee in cash, debit (if available), certified cheque or money order payable to the municipality in the amount of:
      1. $200.00 for the office of the Regional Chair or Mayor,
      2. $100.00 for any other office

It's important to note that, until a nomination paper is filed, a person cannot raise or spend any money on their campaign. Each municipality may have unique procedures for how to file a nomination, those interested in filing a nomination should confirm with the municipality prior to making arrangements to file.

While the municipal election is still months away, eligible voters can now complete the first step in preparing to vote this fall. Visit MPAC’s website to check if you are on the voter list. You can add or verify your details, update your address or contact information, and add new eligible voters of your household.

For more information on this year’s election in each municipality, including running for council, candidate session dates, filing fees, additional resources and details on third party advertising, please refer to the respective city’s contact information and website: 

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Media Contacts:

Allison Jones, City of Cambridge: jonesa@cambridge.ca

Shawn Falcao, City of Kitchener: shawn.falcao@kitchener.ca

Cari Van Niekerk, City of Waterloo: cari.vanniekerk@waterloo.ca

Corporate Communications, Region of Waterloo: corporatecommunications@regionofwaterloo.ca

Corporate Communications, Township of Wilmot: communications@wilmot.ca

Rae-Ann Bauman, Township of Woolwich: rbauman@woolwich.ca

Michelle Poissant, Township of North Dumfries: mpoissant@northdumfries.ca

Grace Kosch, Township of Wellesley: gkosch@wellesley.ca