British Columbians vote in municipal elections across the province
Polls opened at 8 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. for races focused on public safety, housing and the economy.
British Columbians are heading to the polls Saturday to elect mayors, councillors and school trustees in municipalities across the province.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time and will close at 8 p.m., with results expected to start coming in after that.
In Vancouver, advance voting saw a record-high turnout, with more than 103,000 ballots cast before election day, a 60 per cent increase from 2022.
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Incumbent Mayor Ken Sim cast his vote early Saturday morning.
"Our door knockers, including the team and me, are out across the city right now, talking with neighbours and reminding people to vote, as we have been doing for many months," Sim wrote.
Other Metro Vancouver cities also reported significant jumps in advance voting, with Richmond up 141 per cent, New Westminster up 121 per cent and Victoria up 101 per cent compared to the last election.
Across the Interior and northern B.C., key issues in the races include public safety, housing and the economy.
In Kelowna, incumbent Mayor Tom Dyas is being challenged by former MP Ron Cannan and Andrew Uitvlugt.
Kamloops has a six-way race for mayor, with incumbent Reid Hamer-Jackson facing former councillors Mike O'Reilly, Nelly Dever and Ray Dhaliwal, and newcomers Kris Lloyd-Middleton and Ivory Winston.
Prince George has the most crowded mayoral race in the province with nine candidates, including incumbent Simon Yu, councillors Garth Frizzell and Kyle Sampson, and previous candidate Roy Stewart.
In Fort St. John, incumbent Mayor Lilia Hansen is running against longtime councillor Trevor Bolin, and residents are also being asked if they want to borrow up to $90 million for a new pool.
Cranbrook is guaranteed a new mayor, with councillor Lynette Wray and former MLA Tom Shypitka vying for the job.
In Surrey, incumbent school board trustee Gary Thind is asking voters not to cast a ballot for him in the municipal election.
Thind is running as a Conservative candidate for MLA in the upcoming provincial election and is not seeking re-election as a trustee, but the snap provincial election came too late for him to withdraw from the local race.
If Thind wins both elections, his school board seat would have to be filled through a by-election.
General local elections are also being held for regional district directors, park boards in Vancouver and Cultus Lake, and the Islands Trust.
Eligible electors include Canadian citizens aged 18 or older who have lived in B.C. for at least six months and in the jurisdiction for at least 30 days.
Anyone in line to vote before a polling station closes at 8 p.m. is still eligible to cast a ballot.
With files from Vancouver Sun, CBC News and Global News