The Vancouver General Election is Coming Up in October, with Six Mayoral Candidates Representing Different Parties with Various Platforms.
Caroline Zhang (any/all) // Contributing Writer
Anya Ali-Mulzet (they/them) // Crew Illustrator
Six parties are presenting mayoral candidates for the Oct.17, 2026 Vancouver General Election.
Municipalities all over B.C. are fast approaching the municipal election,
and the competition between several parties opposing Ken Sim and his A Better City (ABC) party is fierce. There is a whirlwind of news coming out everyday, making examining party platforms potentially complicated. Six parties are going head-to-head this October for the mayoral spot, with two more parties joining in for the vote on city councillors, park board commissioners and school board trustees.
The ABC party, spearheaded by Vancouver’s current mayor Ken Sim, has been under scrutiny regarding their policies and management during their four-year term. Their claim to fame is with subjects like the economy and public safety as their core values. However, the mayor has been in a number of controversies.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Sim has built himself a gym in City Hall. Other controversies include his proposed motion to make Vancouver a “bitcoin friendly city” and alleging that city councillor of COPE (Coalition of Progressive Electors) Vancouver Sean Orr was giving out drugs on Christmas Day. Overall, ABC’s platform, as seen on their official website, is built around making Vancouver safer through investment in police and the removal of encampments. They are also popular among homeowners for promising property tax freezes for 2027, as reported by The Tyee on August 13, 2026.
The aforementioned COPE Vancouver is probably the premiere party for young progressives in the city. They have the most followers of any municipal party on Instagram by a considerably high margin, which is several times more than the other parties, and 3k more than Ken Sim.
Their party is bringing up four candidates for city council, namely Sean Orr and the Instagram-famous socialist Solomon Yi-Kieran.
COPE’s social media content appeals to younger Vancouverites, with Solomon themself being an on-campus organizer at the University of British Columbia. Their Instagram content touches on transit availability, empty housing and anti-AI movements. COPE’s mayoral candidate Stephanie Allen stepped down from the municipal race as of September 2, to avoid splitting the progressive vote between COPE, OneCity and the Green Party. The main slogan of COPE is “Evict Ken Sim,” which serves as a call to vote against Sim in order to undo many of the decisions he has made.
As for OneCity, their platform with William Azaroff incorporated the idea of rebuilding the city to reflect its diversity and ambition. As the party was founded by the teachers, artists and other social working class people, OneCity’s goal is to support the Vancouver working class and give them a secure future. However, Azaroff has decided to follow in Allen’s lead to step down from the race, rallying behind the Green Party.
The last party is the Green Party, which is most well known for being the environment-first party on all levels of government. They describe themselves as idealistic on all fronts like equality, climate action, affordable housing, food security and healthy communities on their website. Pete Fry is their mayoral candidate. He helped with blocking ABC’s decision to remove the Park Board, as well as combating Ken Sim on most fronts. Fry has been a consistent critic and watchdog who has called out Sim’s controversies, including exposing inappropriate spending.
The Electors’ Action Movement (TEAM) Vancouver has a more grassroots approach to the election. They aim for the everyday Vancouverite’s vote, using the slogan “Residents Still Matter” to represent their policies. These policies focus on things like parks, transportation and livability. They are notably doing a “22 Neighbourhoods Tour,” where TEAM visits all the neighbourhoods in the city to listen to the thoughts of residents. Former city councillor Colleen Hardwick leads the party. During her time in city hall, she was known for consistently opposing the decisions of the city around new housing developments without data supporting the city’s housing targets.
Kareem Allam leads the Vancouver Liberals. Like other parties, they state on their website that they are opposed to the Vancouver that Ken Sim has developed over the past four years. They take pride in the diversity of their party, not only in ethnicity but also in political identity. Allam himself used to be the chief of staff of ABC under Ken Sim, but quit shortly into his term in February 2023. The Vancouver Liberals put a lot of focus on transparency and responsible government spending, particularly on reducing the current managerial costs of the City. Their plan for better housing is to eliminate Vancouver’s Building Code in favour of the BC Building Code, which will reduce costs and wait times to build housing.
Bright Future Vancouver with Muhammad Ahmad is built on five specific plans. These plans support the city’s working class through housing, safety and trust. Aspects of their platform include providing free transit fare for youth under 18 and seniors, supporting small businesses with faster permits and free worker training and a unique plan for rent ownership.
Vote Vancouver is yet another party which seeks to increase Vancouver’s affordability, strengthen neighbourhoods, and restore trust in local governments. Their mayoral candidate Rebecca Bligh carries the party’s stated values of a united city, and leadership that is rooted in service to the people. They seek to accomplish this through an increase in public services, affordability and transportation.
As we get closer to the final election date of Oct. 17, several all-candidates meetings will be popping up around Metro Vancouver. These are opportunities for everyday citizens to hear directly and openly from political candidates. Depending on the format of the event, attendees can ask their own questions either directly or through a moderator.