Calgary municipal election 2025 voting guide and who is running

A Calgarian shows off a sticker they got after voting in the municipal election, Oct. 18, 2021. (PHOTO: Nick Blakeney, CityNews Calgary)

Posted Oct 19, 2025 2:13 pm.

Last Updated Oct 20, 2025 12:26 pm.

The City of Calgary’s 2025 municipal election — spanning 14 wards, school board trustees, and the mayor’s seat — is finally here.

If you missed out on advanced polling earlier in October, there are over 200 voting locations across the city where Calgarians living in those wards can place their vote on Monday, Oct. 20.

However, election workers will have to count and double-check each ballot by hand due to the provincial government prohibiting municipalities from using electronic voting tabulators.

As a result, counting 1.3 million expected ballots will take longer than it did in the last election due to ballots being hand-counted, said Kate Martin, the city’s returning officer, in September.

Because tallying votes will take much longer, it’s not clear whether a mayor will be called on Monday night.

Regardless, Calgary’s municipal government will look a little different on Tuesday.

Here is a guide on how Calgarians can vote and find out who is running in this year’s election.

Where do you vote?

If you’re unsure where you need to vote, the city’s online voting tool has all 261 locations and can direct you based on your address. There are also nine locations outside the city for separate school board elections.

After you type in your address, tabs with information for mayoral, ward, and school board trustee candidates will appear, along with a map of the ward you are in. The tool will have the address and voting location based on your ward.

Polling stations are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Calgary’s mayoral race

Recent polls also show more Calgarians are not sure who they are voting for; however, the frontrunners in the mayoral race include Jeromy Farkas, Jyoti Gondek, and Sonya Sharp.

Including Jeff Davison and Brian Thiessen, the five candidates ranked as the ones Calgarians are likely to pick in several polls have gotten the most attention and had more opportunities to debate their policies.

However, there are nine candidates in total, including Sarah Elder, Grant Prior, Larry Heather, and Jaegar Gustafson.

CityNews had a chance to speak with the top five candidates ahead of the election in the monthly CityNews Connect series, which you can watch below.

Watch: CityNews Connect: Calgary’s Municipal Election

CityNews has also prepared a list of all the mayoral candidates you can find here. You can also click the tab below for a rundown of all the candidates, which includes links to their websites.

Jyoti Gondek – Independent (Incumbent). Website: jyotigondek.ca

Platform: First elected in 2021, says she is a proven leadership in crisis, and aims to strengthen Calgary’s energy future by growing Calgary’s economy. Says she will prioritize public safety, and putting people first. Examples listed include handling the water shortage crisis, projects like downtown revitalization, the Green Line, and the Prairie Economic Gateway.

Jeromy Farkas – Independent. Website: ourpathforward.ca

Platform: Lost to Gondek in the 2021 election, Farkas says his focus is on “a household you can afford, jobs you can count on, safe streets for our kids, and leadership we can trust.” Says election is about household costs, jobs, and safety.

Sonya Sharp – Communities First. Website: sharpformayor.ca

Platform: Sharp says she will prioritize affordability, public safety, and efficient core services with a focus on collaboration. Committed to working with the provincial and federal governments. Says she will reduce red tape and improve city processes to make tax dollars go further. Business unit’s spending will be reviewed for efficiencies.

Brian Thiessen – The Calgary Party. Website: vote4brian.ca

Platform: Thiessen’s party stands for accountability, affordability, and action. It claims to make streets safer and lower taxes while building an effective, responsive, and forward-looking city. They want a more liveable, prosperous, secure, fiscally responsible Calgary.

Jeff Davison – Independent. Website: jeffdavisonyyc.com

Platform: He is running on a platform of safer communities for everyone, affordability that works, jobs, innovation, and local opportunity, more innovative infrastructure and transit, and responsive, transparent government. Davison says his vision is a Calgary where safety, affordability, and opportunity are absolute for every resident, not just promised.

Sarah Elder – Independent. Website: sarahelder.ca

Platform: Elder’s inclusive campaign focused on asking Calgarians to identify their top three issues. Concerns she wants to tackle include: available spaces, like pools, for kids; addressing the removal of a tree swing in northwest Calgary; property tax increases on small businesses; unconsulted construction; and a lack of support for small businesses in general.

Larry Heather – Independent. Website: democracyattwilight.org

Platform: Heather’s campaign promises include revoking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) measures across the City of Calgary, revoking the reintroduction of fluoride into the water system, revoking blanket rezoning, and removing aspects of Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenization at the City of Calgary.

Grant Prior – Independent. Website: grantprior.ca

Platform: Will emphasize a “human-centered capitalism” framework to address issues such as inequality, homelessness, affordable housing, and public transit. He advocates for increased support for working-class residents and expresses concern about the affordability of living in Calgary.

Jaegar Gustafson – Independent. Website: mayorgus.ca

Platform: Intends to lower residential and commercial taxes, boost morale, and empower frontline city staff to reduce costs. Wants customized solutions for communities, particularly in housing and infrastructure. Gustafson wants city hall to work with all unions, ensuring all professional organizations feel supported and have adequate resources to do their job and provide services to Calgarians.

With three parties on the ballot — including mayoral candidates Sharp and Thiessen for Communities First and The Calgary Party — CityNews’ own online survey revealed nearly 90 per cent of those who participated don’t like the idea of a municipal party.

Editor’s note: The survey sample can include anyone outside Calgary, so it is not an accurate representation.

Councillor candidates for all 14 wards

Seven of the fourteen wards will have new representatives following the election, and four incumbent candidates in the remaining wards are running under a party banner.

Click the tabs below for the names of the candidates in your ward, and a link to their website for more information.

School board trustees

Here is a list of all the school board trustees for the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and the Calgary Catholic School Division (CCSD).

It is divided into the Public School Board and Separate School Board tabs for the respective wards and towns.

Public School Board – CBE

Separate school board – CCSD

Mail-in and advanced voting ballots count to start Monday; results may come on Tuesday

The Big Four Roadhouse Building is designated as the vote-counting centre for advance votes and mail-in ballots for Calgary.

While the official Calgary vote closes Monday evening, councillor and trustee results may not be available until Tuesday.

That is because the UCP government brought in new legislation — requiring all ballots to be counted by hand and not by electronic voting tabulators.

Kate Martin, the city’s returning officer, said Sunday she is confident councillors for each of the wards will be selected by 3 p.m., while the school board trustee count may be done by 8 p.m.

She adds that there are 500 election workers available to count ballots, and 130 scrutineers for each mayoral campaign. Each councillor campaign may have 120 scrutineers as well.

The extra costs of additional employees, space rental and security have made this election much pricier than those in the past, estimated to cost about $15 million.

About 96,000 Calgarians cast their ballot during advance voting this year – compared to 140,000 in the previous election.

With files from Amar Shah

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