Surrey Municipal Election on Oct 17: Seven Mayoral Candidates, 67 Council hopefuls vie for key city posts

Safety, housing, taxes, transportation, business growth and youth facilities emerge as major election issues

Hardam Maan

Surrey (Canada), September 14, 2026: The political battle for Surrey’s 2026 municipal election has intensified, with voters set to elect a mayor, eight city councillors and six school trustees on October 17.

According to the official candidate information released by the City of Surrey, seven candidates are contesting the mayoral race, while dozens of candidates are competing for the eight council seats and six school trustee positions.

The mayoral contest features incumbent Mayor Brenda Locke, former mayor Doug McCallum, Linda Ennis, Eagle Emmons II, Honvir Singh Randhawa, Mike Starchuk and Troy Van-Vleet.

Locke is seeking re-election, with her campaign focusing on public safety, investments in police and fire services, taxation, infrastructure, housing and community services.

Former Surrey City Council member Linda Ennis has made public safety, fiscal transparency and a review of spending on major city projects central to her campaign.

Former mayor Doug McCallum is also seeking a return to municipal politics. His campaign has highlighted proposals including extending the SkyTrain from King George Boulevard to Newton, a zero per cent property tax increase for four years, action against crime and extortion, and expanded helicopter and drone capabilities for the Surrey Police Service.

Conservative candidate Honvir Singh Randhawa, a Surrey native and lawyer, has focused his campaign on safer roads, lower taxes and accountable governance.

Mike Starchuk, a former Surrey Fire Service officer, councillor and MLA, is campaigning on making Surrey safer, more accessible, less congested and more affordable.

Businessman and builder Troy Van-Vleet is focusing on safety, housing, family amenities, pro-business policies and planned urban development.

The issue of public safety has emerged as one of the key themes of the election, with candidates putting forward different approaches to tackling extortion, gang violence, drug-related crime and policing. Property taxes, housing affordability, traffic congestion, SkyTrain expansion and infrastructure development are also major issues among voters.

Major development projects and municipal spending have become another significant area of debate. Candidates have differing positions on the scale of spending on major projects and the financial burden on taxpayers. The proposed 10,000-seat arena and entertainment district in Surrey’s city centre is also featuring prominently in the campaign.

The contest for the eight council seats is also attracting considerable attention. The official list includes candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, including Intkhab Ahmed, Yousef Aldabaina-Barakat, Lisa Dawn Alexis, Debra Antifave, Harry Bains, Ricky Bajwa, Gail Bezdes, Mike Bos, Janet Brown, Philip Carless, Dan B. Carlos, Chandan Chahal, Liana Chatwin, Bilal Cheema, Parminder Chauhan, Cheney Cloke, Isaac Daniel, Ian de Hoog, Narima Dela Cruz, Oliver Dixon, Macia Ditchimba, Michael Dunn, Doug Alford, Mira Gill, Rahul Gill, Suhana Gill, Jasrup Gosal, Laurie Guerra, Ashiana Hanif, Gord Heppner, Christopher R. Hoffman, Mehnaz Javed, Jesse Johal, Emily Kennedy, Yusuf Khattab, Brad Keelman, Pardeep Kooner, Vera Lefranc, William Lee, Margaret Mubanda, Mandeep Singh Nagra, Gagan Nahal, Alison Patton, Enrique Ponce de Leon, Cordell Puller, Jimmy Rico, Tom Said, Manu Sharma, Beau Simpson, Matthew J. Smad, Werner Spangle, Clint Stewart, Rob Stott, Rona Tapper, Miguel Ting, Lily Tsi, Vic Uppal, Calvin Vanderploeg, Sheena Vermani, Noemi Victorino, Kevin Wilkie, Mila Wong-Kabush, Donna Wu, James Yu and Salman Zafar.

Several candidates with strong links to Surrey’s Punjabi and South Asian communities are also in the council race, including Harry Bains, Ricky Bajwa, Bilal Cheema, Parminder Chauhan, Jasrup Gosal, Mandeep Singh Nagra, Gagan Nahal, Pardeep Kooner, Mira Gill, Rahul Gill, Suhana Gill, Ashiana Hanif and Sheena Vermani.

The school trustee race is also significant, with 25 candidates contesting six positions. They include Terry Allen, John Benovich, Harjit Bhullar, Amrit Biring, Michelle Seniza, Gurleen K. Chahal, Noor Cheema, Rohit D’Silva, Tatiana Da Silva, Vanessa Gilera, Gary B. Hee, Bob Holmes, Kyle Jones, Susha Cassidy Jones, Vic Karn, Meena Kochhar, Laurie Larson, Ghulam Mujtaba, Afzalur Rahman, Gary Thind, Vincent Tigh, Gary Tymoshuk, Vanson Wang, Ann Whitmore and Shawn Wilson.

School trustees will have an important role in decisions concerning school district policies, budgets and educational priorities. With Surrey’s rapidly growing population, issues including school capacity, new school construction, student safety, facilities for children with special needs and education funding are expected to remain important during the campaign.

The Punjabi community is also closely watching the election, given its significant presence in Surrey. Safety, a supportive environment for businesses, youth facilities, transportation, housing and community services are among the issues drawing particular attention.

The nomination period closed on September 11. Candidates now have a limited period to present their policies and campaign promises to voters.

Advance voting is scheduled for October 7, 10, 14 and 15, while general voting will take place on October 17 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A total of 52 polling locations are expected to be available across Surrey.

With voting day approaching, safety, taxes, traffic, SkyTrain expansion, housing, infrastructure, major development projects and school needs are likely to remain at the centre of the election debate.