B.C. municipal election results bring defeats for several incumbents

Some incumbent candidates took a beating in British Columbia’s municipal elections. Voters on Saturday ousted the mayors of Vancouver and Surrey, the province’s two largest cities. Here are some of the results.

**High turnout in Vancouver as Fry wins**

Pete Fry will become Vancouver’s first Green mayor after decisively defeating incumbent Ken Sim. The result marks a sharp reversal for businessman Sim, whose ABC Party swept to power four years ago with seven of the 10 council seats. ABC now holds just one seat, won by Mike Klassen, while progressive candidates from the Greens, the Coalition of Progressive Electors and OneCity Vancouver took nine seats.

Turnout topped 209,000, up 36 per cent from 2022. Preliminary results show Fry with more than 98,000 votes, well ahead of Sim’s 67,000. Colleen Hardwick placed a distant third with about 18,000 votes. Kareem Allam, Sim’s former chief of staff, received about 10,500.

**McCallum returns to Surrey’s mayor’s office for a third stint**

Doug McCallum is returning for his third separate term as Surrey mayor, a job he first held 30 years ago. Preliminary results show he received about 32 per cent of the vote, comfortably defeating incumbent Brenda Locke, who received 23 per cent. Locke defeated McCallum four years ago, and the two have repeatedly clashed over Surrey’s move from the RCMP to a municipal police force. McCallum supported the change; Locke strongly opposed it.

McCallum, 82, was mayor from 1996 to 2005 and again from 2018 to 2022.

**Victoria and Saanich voters split on amalgamation**

Voters in Victoria and Saanich disagreed on whether the two communities should amalgamate. A non-binding ballot question asked whether they should combine into one municipality. In Victoria, 62 per cent supported the proposal; in the District of Saanich, 68 per cent voted against it.

Meanwhile, Marianne Alto was re-elected mayor of Victoria with about 44 per cent of the vote, defeating Bruce McGuigan, who received about 34 per cent. Rishi Sharma is forecast to win the mayoralty in Saanich.

**Hamer-Jackson’s tumultuous term ends in Kamloops**

Kamloops incumbent Reid Hamer-Jackson was soundly defeated after a turbulent term, finishing fourth with 12 per cent of the vote. Former councillor Mike O’Reilly will be the new mayor, winning 44 per cent according to preliminary results.

In 2024, council stripped Hamer-Jackson of his role as the city’s official spokesperson amid a prolonged conflict with council and city staff.

**Tight three-way race in Prince George**

Simon Yu lost his bid to remain mayor of Prince George in a close three-way contest. Preliminary tallies show longtime councillor Garth Frizzell defeating Yu with 28 per cent of the vote. Yu received 24 per cent and Kyle Sampson 23 per cent.

**Richmond gets its first new mayor in 25 years**

Richmond will have its first new mayor in a quarter-century after Rob Howard narrowly defeated former Olympian Alexa Loo. Howard, a former provincial legislator, received almost 20,000 votes and beat Loo by fewer than 900. Malcolm Brodie had been mayor since 2001 but chose not to run again.

**Brad West takes about 90 per cent in Port Coquitlam**

One of B.C.’s best-known and most popular mayors was re-elected with a huge share of the vote. Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West received about 90 per cent to keep the office he first won in 2018. In a social media message, he said he was “deeply humbled and grateful.”

The Canadian Press first published this report on Oct. 18, 2026.