Resource
2026 Ontario municipal campaign setup checklist
A practical, source-linked starting point for organizing campaign operations. It is general information, not legal advice or a substitute for your municipal clerk’s instructions.
1. Confirm the official timetable
- Ontario’s municipal council and school board voting day is Monday, October 26, 2026.
- The nomination period begins May 1, 2026. The deadline to file a nomination is Friday, August 21, 2026, at 2 p.m.
- Confirm the filing process, forms, fees, and any local instructions directly with the municipal clerk.
2. Put campaign operations in one controlled workspace
- Choose the authorized campaign team and set up role-based access with multi-factor authentication.
- Bring approved contact information into the campaign workspace, record consent and suppression details, and assign follow-up owners.
- Set up the campaign’s canvassing, calling, volunteer, shift, survey, task, and reporting routines before the team starts sharing work.
- Review the included editable one-page campaign site and its campaign contact and lawn-sign intake path when those modules are enabled.
3. Treat the voters’ list as a controlled campaign record
The Ontario candidates’ guide says the voters’ list becomes a public document on September 1, 2026. A candidate can request the portion relating to the office being contested from the municipal clerk in writing.
The guide also says a recipient must provide a written acknowledgement before receiving a copy, use it only for electoral purposes, follow the handling restrictions, and obtain similar acknowledgements before sharing it. Copies must be destroyed when the campaign ends, and the written acknowledgements and destruction confirmations must be kept until November 15, 2030.
Do not put voters’ list copies or other private campaign records in public content, screenshots, URLs, analytics, or shared support material.
4. Keep local guidance in the loop
Ontario’s official guides explain rules that are common across municipal elections, but municipalities conduct their own elections and may have local requirements. Check the current municipal clerk instructions and the applicable legislation before acting.
Official sources and review date
Last reviewed .
- Ontario — Municipal elections
- Ontario — 2026 candidates’ guide
- Ontario — Candidates’ guide: Nominations
- Ontario — Candidates’ guide: The voters’ list
General information only: This checklist is not legal, election, accounting, or privacy advice. Rules and local instructions can change. Confirm what applies to your campaign with the appropriate municipal clerk and qualified advisers.