Oakville's 2026 mayoral race is a five-way contest. Nominations are now closed

What happened

Nominations for Oakville's 2026 municipal election closed at 2 p.m. on Friday 21 August 2026. According to the Town's list of certified candidates, five people are running for mayor. Election day is Monday 26 October 2026.

The certified mayoral candidates are Rob Burton, the incumbent; councillors Jeff Knoll and Sean O'Meara; and Arvind Choudhary and Julia Hanna. Two sitting members of Council seeking the mayoralty means at least two ward seats are also contested by candidates who cannot run for both.

Key facts

Why it matters

The council elected on 26 October inherits the decisions this year has set in motion: the 2027 budget, the build-out of the four provincial Transit-Oriented Community sites in Midtown, the new inclusionary-zoning framework and a housing target the Town is measured against. A contested mayoral race is where those choices get argued in public rather than settled by acclamation.

It is also the first genuinely open contest at the top of the ballot in some time. When two current councillors run for mayor, the outcome reshapes the council table regardless of who wins, because their ward seats turn over at the same election.

What happens next

Certified candidate lists can change up to the vote if a candidate withdraws, so the Town's own page is the authority on who is running. Voting details, including advance voting and how to confirm registration, are published by the Town's election office. This page reflects the certified list as retrieved on 25 September 2026.