Richmond Hill Shares Important Information for Candidates and Voters

RICHMOND HILL – The City of Richmond Hill is kicking off the 2026 Municipal Elections with nomination period opening on May 1, 2026. Eligible voters will elect a Mayor, Regional and Local Councillors, Ward Councillors and School Board Trustees. Voting Day is October 26, 2026 and the next term of Council is November 15, 2026 to November 14, 2030.

Candidate eligibility

To run for an office on Richmond Hill Council, a candidate must be:

• a Canadian citizen;
• at least 18 years of age on or before Voting Day (October 26, 2026);
• a resident of the City of Richmond Hill, or the owner or tenant of land in Richmond Hill (or the spouse of any such owner or tenant of land).

 To run for School Board Trustee, candidates must be:

• a Canadian citizen;
• at least 18 years of age on or before Voting Day (October 26, 2026)
• qualified to vote for members of that district school board and resident in that School Board’s area of jurisdiction

Potential candidates must comply with all provisions of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. This includes, but is not limited to, not accepting any contributions or incurring any expenses pertaining to their election campaign until after their nomination is filed with and accepted by the City Clerk. Potential candidates should carefully review the full eligibility requirements and nomination information at RichmondHill.ca/RHVotes before submitting their nomination.

Filing a nomination

To file a nomination, eligible candidates may email candidates@richmondhill.ca to make an appointment with the Office of the City Clerk at Richmond Hill’s Municipal Offices (225 East Beaver Creek Road). While walk-ins are permitted, individuals who do not book an appointment may experience a significant wait.

• Completed forms can be filled in and printed before the scheduled meeting but should only be signed at the meeting.
• At the time of filing, all candidates must submit a completed nomination form, the declaration of qualification, government-issued photo identification with a qualifying address and pay the prescribed filing fee. Council candidates are also required to file at least 25 fully complete endorsements on the prescribed form.
• Forms are available at RichmondHill.ca/RHVotes. Nominations will be accepted until 2 p.m. on Friday, August 21, 2026.

Vote online or in person

Richmond Hill is offering the choice to vote in person or online. Online voting will be available from October 20 to 26 and in-person voting on October 24, 25 and 26.

Who can vote?

To be eligible to vote you must be:

• a Canadian citizen;
• at least 18 years of age on or before Voting Day (October 26, 2026);
• a resident, owner or tenant of land in the City of Richmond Hill, or the spouse of such tenant or owner; and
• not otherwise prohibited by law from voting.

To vote, you must also be on the Voters’ List, managed by Elections Ontario. Use Election Ontario’s Voter Registration Tool to check, update, add or remove your information from the Voters’ List if you:

• have changed your name or address;
• own or rent a new property;
• no longer own or rent a property;
• want to remove your information; or
• want to remove the information of a deceased person.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is legislatively responsible for collecting school board support designation information. You must update your school board support designation through MPAC’s Online School Board Support Tool by June 1, 2026, otherwise, your ballot will default to English Public School Board Trustee voting.

For more information about the 2026 Municipal Elections, visit RichmondHill.ca/RHVotes.