Ottawa, ON — October 2, 2026
Monday, October 26, 2026 is voting day in Ottawa’s municipal election — and whether you own, lease, or run a business on one of our three mainstreets, this vote matters more than most.
City Hall decides the things that shape your day-to-day, week to week: your patio permit, your sidewalk, your parking, your policing, your transit routes, your permit fees, and how quickly the City responds when construction rolls in and disrupts your foot traffic. Every one of those decisions is made by the mayor and councillors we elect on the 26th.
First, the ground rules
Like OCOBIA and every BIA across Ottawa, the Vanier BIA is a local board of Council — which means we are non-partisan. We don’t endorse, support, or oppose candidates. What we can do is help you ask better questions, spot the issues that matter most to your business, and make an informed choice at the ballot box.
Why mainstreets matter this election
Ottawa’s 18 BIAs represent 7,100+ businesses and contribute $396M in commercial property taxes to the city — while reinvesting $10.4M of member levy dollars into placemaking, safety, beautification, and business support in 2025 alone. That’s a return the City receives every year, at no cost to its operating budget.
The takeaway: our mainstreets carry a lot of the city’s economic and community weight. They deserve to be central to this election.
Six issues worth asking about
Whoever knocks on your door — mayoral hopefuls or ward candidates — here’s what we’d suggest thinking about, drawn from OCOBIA’s candidate questionnaire:
- Local economy — Will they cut red tape on permits, licensing, and approvals?
- Safe, clean & welcoming districts — How will they balance public safety with compassionate response to those in crisis?
- Transit & connectivity — What’s their plan to actually get customers and staff to your door?
- Public space & infrastructure — Will BIAs be at the table before construction plans are finalized?
- BIAs as partners — Will they treat BIAs as decision-making partners, not stakeholders informed after the fact?
- How BIAs are funded — Will they support fair, predictable, multi-year funding models?
Resource at your fingertips
OCOBIA has put together a full toolkit of non-partisan election resources — and we’ve added a dedicated Election 2026 section to our Merchant Hub to make them easy to find, all in one place:
- ✅ What to look for in a candidate
- ✅ Questions to ask your candidates
- ✅ How City decisions affect your business
- ✅ Shareable graphics for your own channels
All of it is non-partisan, and all of it is designed to make your five minutes with a candidate count.
See where candidates actually stand
OCOBIA sent every certified mayoral and Council candidate the same questionnaire, on equal terms, covering the six issues above. Responses are published in full — unedited — on their Municipal Election Hub. It’s the fastest way to find out where a candidate really stands on mainstreet issues.
You’ll also find OCOBIA Believes — the collective ask from Ottawa’s 18 BIAs to the next Council. Consider it the mainstreet playbook for the next four years, and one we stand behind here in Vanier.
Key dates
- Oct 1–4 — Special advance voting (vote at any polling location), 10am–8pm
- Oct 16 — Advance voting day, 10am–8pm
- Oct 26 — Voting day
- Check the voters’ list → to confirm you’re registered
- Find your voting place →
Your vote is your voice on your mainstreet’s future. Make it count.