Kitchener advance vote up 47%: how to vote in K-W Oct. 26

Advance voting in Kitchener’s municipal and school board election rose 47 per cent over 2022, the city said, and voters in Kitchener and Waterloo cast their remaining ballots on Monday, Oct. 26, with polls open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A total of 8,208 Kitchener residents voted during advance voting from Oct. 8 to 20, about four per cent of eligible voters, the City of Kitchener said in a news release on Oct. 21. This year the city offered drive-thru voting for the first time, let residents vote at any advance location, added a fifth advance day and ran a “Shop and Vote” program at retail and community sites.

“Our goal is to make voting as accessible and convenient as possible,” said Amanda Fusco, Kitchener’s director of legislative services and city clerk. “The community’s positive response to advance polling tells us residents care about local government and they value the flexible voting options we’ve provided this election.”

In Kitchener, voters can go to any voting place in their ward on Monday, the city’s where-to-vote page says. A voter card is not required. Voters need ID showing their name and address, and eligible voters who are not on the list can add themselves at the voting place. Residents of listed retirement homes and long-term care homes will vote where they live, and voters who cannot enter a voting place can ask for curbside voting.

In Waterloo, voters can use the location on their voter notification card or any of six “supervote” locations open to all Waterloo voters from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.: Waterloo City Centre at 100 Regina St. S., the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, RIM Park, the John M. Harper Library branch, the University of Waterloo Student Life Centre and Wilfrid Laurier University’s Concourse, the City of Waterloo says. If your ID does not show your current Waterloo address, you can sign a declaration at the voting place.

Kitchener voters will choose among seven mayoral candidates, including Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, according to the city’s certified candidate list. Waterloo has five candidates for mayor, including Mayor Dorothy McCabe.

One familiar race is missing. The Waterloo regional chair will not be on the ballot because the Region of Waterloo says the Better Regional Governance Act, 2026, adopted May 7, made it a provincially appointed position. Voters still elect regional councillors.

Trustee races are also on the ballot, and the Waterloo Region District School Board’s parent involvement committee has complained the board declined to email families its non-partisan reminder to vote for trustees, citing board policy on election neutrality, CBC Kitchener-Waterloo reported.

Other Ontario cities are reporting similar advance turnout, including Hamilton, where advance votes already top the 2022 total. More local news is on our Kitchener-Waterloo page.

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