Candidates for Mayor and Regional Council in Waterloo Region

Estimated 6 minutes

The municipal election will take place on Monday, Oct. 26, and residents will be considering their choices for who will represent them in the upcoming weeks.

Click on your municipality to view a list of candidates running for office in your area:

Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Regional chair will be appointed, not elected

The regional chair position is now appointed by the province and won’t be included on the ballot.

In the past, this role was elected. The current chair for the Region of Waterloo is Karen Redman.

This regional chair role is one of eight that will be appointed throughout Ontario. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack has stated that all eight chairs will be announced simultaneously.

When appointing these chairs, the province plans to grant them strong powers similar to those held by mayors, which can help municipalities expedite housing projects and allow mayors to draft budgets.

In April, Flack mentioned that this change is needed for “effective government” and aims at “getting politicians out of the way.”

Lindsay Jones, executive director of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, expressed concerns regarding these strong chair powers in May, calling them “fundamentally undemocratic.”

“It results in a situation where you have an unelected chair who is able to essentially overrule the voices of democratically elected regional councillors,” she said.

Region of Waterloo candidates

Regional councillor for Cambridge

Two representatives are set to be elected. Candidate names will appear only on the City of Cambridge ballot.

Salman Arefin. Bryan Causarano-Bolton. Doug Craig (incumbent). Prakash Venkataraman. Pam Wolf (incumbent).

Regional councillor for Kitchener

Four representatives are set to be elected. Candidate names will appear only on the City of Kitchener ballot.

Ed Edwards. Joe Gowing (current councillor appointed in Aug. 2025). Mac Graham. Simon Guthrie. Michael Harris (incumbent). Kim Huxted. Colleen James (incumbent). Anna Meksavanh. Matt Rodrigues (current councillor appointed in March 2025). Eve Elizabeth Simson. Kevin White. Michael Wisniewski.

Regional councillor for Waterloo

Two representatives are set to be elected. Candidate names will appear only on the City of Cambridge ballot.

Jim Erb (incumbent). Chantal Huinink (incumbent). Soo Bok Lee. Lindsay Manary. Chris Moser. Rami Said. Sarvesh Pratap Singh.

Cambridge candidates

MAYOR

Ryan Bolender. Tony Chaves. Scott Hamilton (current Ward 7 councillor). Ihtsham Haq. Jan Liggett (incumbent). Ken Roche.

w ARD 1

Jeff Donkersgoed. Saleem Shaikh. Helen Shwery (incumbent).

w ARD 2

David Craig. Mike Devine (incumbent). Mark Linton. Matt Rogers.

w ARD 3

Kiran Abid. Corey Kimpson (incumbent). Shaun Spalding.

w ARD 4

Ross Earnshaw (incumbent). Jawad Ahmad Malik. David O’Hara.

w ARD 5

Sheri Roberts (incumbent). Nazim Shah.

w ARD 6

Randy Carter. Adam Cooper (incumbent). Barbara A. Harrington. Chris Mc Cormick.

w ARD 7

Tasneem Chhadiya. Manuel Da Silva. David Guerin. Dani Ieso. John Teat.

w ARD 8Chris Alward. Cody Botelho. Nicholas Ermeta (incumbent). George Fiddick. Arpan Pandit.

Kitchener candidates

MAYORDavid Alton. Wazhma Frogh. Wali Khan. Manikantan Nair. George Trihenea. Berry Vrbanovic (incumbent). Cindy Ward.

WARD 1 Elizabeth Bate. Scott Davey (incumbent ). Haile Kiflai. Zahid Mian Mahmood.

w ARD 2 Soran Ibrahim. Derrick Rabethge. Dave Schnider( incumbent ).

WARD3 Shawn Bradshaw. Joanne Delaney-Fraser. Jason Deneault( incumbent ). Lurdes Jordao. Ismail Mohamed. Matt Parker.

WArd4 Anant Jain. Ibraheem Kappaya. Chistine Michaud( incumbent ). Vikki Poirier. Harry Scanlan.

Ward5 Nate Bahlbi. Dimple Birdee. Muhammad Miqdad Hudda. Jon Massimi. Rich Peers. Navjot Sidhu. Sumit Sehli. Fitz Vanderpool. Tracey Weiler.

The current Coun. Ayo Owodunni isn’t running for re-election.

WArd6 Amber Louise Culley. Paul Singh( incumbent ). Brooklin Wallis.

Ward7 Bil Ioannidis( incumbent ). Richie Nanan. Nikki Rollick.

Ward8 Wendy Creighton. Margaret Johnston( incumbent ). Philip Molto. Carly Pettinger.

Ward9 Mohamed Askalany. Debbie Chapman( incumbent ). Tim Willcox.

Ward10 Everton Dixon. Sam Nabi. Peter Gordon Piluk. Aalaa Rehman. Stephanie Stretch(current councillor appointed in Jan.2024 ).

Waterloo candidates

MAYOR Jeyas Balaskanthan. Jamie Hari. Jerry Jiang. Dorothy Mc Cabe( incumbent ). Shannon Weber.

WArd1 Joel Botter. Sandra Hanmer( incumbent ).

WArd2 Asma Al-Wahsh. Khaled Berbash. Shawn Humes. Ying Susan Jiang. Venkat Kondam. Moraa Mochama. Janice Moore.

The current Coun. Royce Bodaly isn’t seeking re-election.

WArd3 Hans Roach( incumbent ). Victoria Robertson.

WArd4 Diane Freeman( incumbent ). Travis Restoule. Syed Tirmizi.

WArd5 Eda Dede. Scott Piatkowski. Andrew Portwine. Marty Rempel. Victoria Richardson.

The current Coun. Jen Vasic isn’t running again.

WArd6 Damian Mikhail. Mary Lou Roe( Incumben t).< P ) Ward7 Abdullah. Julie Wright.(Incu mb ent)

No rth Dumfries candidates Mayor Terry Knarr. Rodney Rolleman(current Ward1 Councillor). Prabhjap Sandhu. The current mayor Sue Foxton isn’t running again.< P ) W ARD1 Derrick Ostner(currently ward two Councill or). Kishan Patel.) Qavi Aziz. Sherri Hughes Denise Vanderhorst. Ward3<H h THREE) Ward4 Jonathan Bos. Barb Elliott. Current Coun. Scott Tilley withdrew his nomination paperwork last July and won't run again.

# ELLSIY candidtes Mayor Chris Martin Joe Nowak(Incum ben) # W ard1 Shelley Wagner(acclaimed ) # War d$ Chris Van Bargen(acclaimed). The current coun. Lori Sebben didn’t seek reelection. Ward3) Claude Hergott(acclaimed)

# Wilmot candidate Mayor Stephanie Goertz Natasha Salonen(Inc umb ent ) Kristopher Wilkinson(curr ent ward two Councill or) Clive Woolner. WARD # Stewart Cressman(Inc umben t) Kiera Upward Peter Varga. WARD # Alan Dicknoether Lucy Lantz Michael Roth. WARD # Tammy Gaudun Gies Harvir Sidhu(in cum bent) Kevin Sundberg. Ward four Two representatives will be e lected. Jeff Bell Scott Dunstall Sam Hiemstra Steven Martin(in c um bent ) Krista Straus. Current Coun. Lilliannne Dunstall is not seeking re-election.

# Woolwich candidate MAYOR Chane Ballantyne Evan Burgess(Current Ward One Counc illor). Glenn Fern Eric Schwindt(Current ward Two council lor). Current Mayor Sandy Shantz won’t run again.) Two representatives wil lbe e lected. Nathan Cadeau(in cum bent ) Paula Ferguson Jason Godglick Tony Stevens Tina Weltz. Ward Two Steven Haase Sheryl Tilley. WARD THREE Two representatives wil lbe e lected.. Bonnie Bryant(in cum bent ) Jeff Carruthers Janet Cox Eryn Koncir. Current Coun. Kayla Grant isn’t seeking re- election.

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