Candidate Information

Who can be a candidate for Mayor, City Council or Regional Council?

To run as a candidate you must:

• reside in the municipality or, the owner or tenant of land in the municipality or the spouse of such person;
• be a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years old;
• not legally prohibited from voting; and
• not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office. 

Employees of the City of St. Catharines who wish to run for Mayor or City Councillor or an employee of Niagara Region who wishes to run for Regional Councillor, must take an unpaid leave of absence before filing a nomination paper. Documentation proving the leave of absence is required.

In municipal elections in Ontario, candidates are not elected as members of a political party.

In St. Catharines, City Councilors are elected to represent a ward. For details on City of St. Catharines wards, visit our ward map. 

Who cannot be a candidate for Mayor, City Council or Regional Council?

The following people are disqualified from being elected as a member of council, or from holding office as a member of council:

• a judge of any court;
• a member of the Provincial Legislature, the Federal House of Commons or Senate who has not resigned from their office by the close of nominations (proof of resignation must be provided by the close of nominations or the Clerk will not certify the nomination);
• a candidate who failed to file the necessary financial statement or exceeded the prescribed spending limit in the last municipal election or by-election.

Who can be a candidate for School Board Trustee?

• reside in the jurisdiction of the board;
• be a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years old;
• not legally prohibited from voting; and
• not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office; 
• ensure you meet any other qualifications to vote for the school board.

Employees of any school board are disqualified from being elected as a school board trustee or from holding office on any school board, except during a leave of absence.

The employee must be on a leave of absence before filing their nomination paper. Documentation proving the leave of absence is required.

Who cannot be a candidate for School Board Trustee?

 The following people are disqualified from being elected as a school board trustee:

• a clerk, treasurer, deputy-clerk or deputy-treasurer of any municipality within the area of jurisdiction of the school board except those on unpaid leave of absence.
• a member of the Provincial Legislature, the Federal House of Commons or Senate who has not resigned from their office by the close of nominations (proof of resignation must be provided by the close of nominations or the Clerk will not certify the nomination).
• a candidate who failed to file the necessary financial statement or exceeded the prescribed spending limit in the last municipal election or by-election.

Candidate Information Session

On April 28, 2022, St. Catharines, along with all Niagara Region municipalities, held a candidate information session for those interested in running in the municipal and school board election. Please click the following link for the recording of the information session Niagara Votes 2022 - Candidates Information Session - YouTube.

Filing a nomination

Candidates can register for nominations in-person by visiting the Office of the City Clerk between May 2, 2022 and Aug. 18, 2022 during regular office hours (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.). On Aug. 19, 2022 nominations will be accepted between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Due to the complexity of the filing process, prospective candidates are strongly encouraged to book an appointment using our online booking system.

To file a nomination, you must provide:

• nomination paper (Form 1);
• declaration of qualifications;
• at least 25 declarations of endorsement (Form 2), applies to Mayor, City Councillor and Regional Councillor candidates only;
• current acceptable identification showing name, qualifying address and signature; and
• the nomination filing fee paid by cash, credit or debit card, certified cheque or money order, payable to City of St. Catharines. The filing fee is $200 for candidates running for mayor and $100 for all other candidates. Nomination fees are refunded to candidates once they file their required financial statement.

A person cannot raise or spend money on an election campaign until they have filed the nomination paper.

A nomination paper must be filed in person by either the candidate or an agent of the candidate.

The candidate’s declaration of qualification must be taken before a Commissioner of Oaths. Staff of the Office of the City Clerk can administer this oath. If an agent is filing the nomination paper on behalf of a candidate, the candidate’s declaration of qualification must be commissioned by any commissioner of oaths, prior to the agent filing the paper. Candidates are required to show proof of identity and qualifying address within the City of St. Catharines at the time of filing.

Under the Municipal Elections Act, the City Clerk is required to reject or certify the nominations of candidates on or before 4 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2022. A candidate who wishes to withdraw their nomination, must notify the Clerk in writing by 2 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2022. The withdrawal may not be faxed or scanned. The candidate must submit a financial statement including all financial transactions up to the time of the withdrawal.

Nomination endorsements

Anyone running for City or Regional Council must submit the signatures from 25 voters endorsing the nomination. Each individual providing a signature must sign a declaration stating that they are eligible to vote in the municipality on the day that they signed the endorsement.

The requirement to submit 25 nomination signatures does not apply to candidates running for school board trustee positions.

If a candidate files a nomination, and then changes their mind and decides to run for a different office on the same Council (for example running as a Councillor then decides to run for Mayor), new signatures are not required. If a candidate files nomination papers for the lower tier council and then changes their intent and wants to run for the upper tier council, 25 new signatures are required.

Additional information

Learn more about the duties and responsibilities of elected officials and the resources available to them.

City Council meeting schedule

City Council meetings are held bi-weekly on Mondays at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, unless otherwise announced.  

Advisory Committees of Council

There are approximately 12 other internal and external committees to which members of Council may be appointed. Committee meetings are held at various times. As part of Council orientation, Council members will meet to decide which members will serve on the committees of their choice.

Salary for City Councillors and Mayor

The salaries for City Councillors and Mayor are:

• City Councillor (2022): $25,368.50 per annum
• Mayor (2022): $118,420 per annum plus $39,290.72 for serving on Regional Council

Rates are subject to change.

Additional stipends may be applicable for appointments to other boards or committees.

Regional Councillors

For information on meeting times, and compensation for Regional Chair, and Regional Councillors, candidates should contact the Niagara Region at 905.980.6000 or visit their website.

School Board Trustees

For information on meeting times, and compensation for School Trustees, candidates should contact the respective school boards:

• District School Board of Niagara: 905.641.1550
• Niagara Catholic District School Board: 905.735.0240
• Le Conseil Scolaire Viamonde: 416.614.0844
• Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir: 416.397.6564

Candidate supplies

When available, candidates for the 2022 Municipal and School Board Election will be provided with the following supplies from the Clerk’s division at no charge:

• one copy of the preliminary list of electors applicable to the office you are seeking (electronic format).
• one street index of the preliminary list of electors.
• one map of the geographic area applicable to the office you are seeking.
  
• one list of the polling places within the City of St. Catharines.
• a copy of the procedures established by the Clerk for the use of the vote counting equipment and for vote-by-mail.

Scrutineers

A candidate may appoint scrutineers to represent them at the polls during the voting and at the counting of the vote. The appointment of a scrutineer is to be made on the appropriate form which is available from the Clerks division.

Prescribed forms appointing scrutineers must be signed and approved by the Clerk. A candidate may appoint one scrutineer for each voting station. Scrutineers must show their written appointment to election officials upon request. Only one scrutineer per candidate may be in the voting place at each polling station. Candidates who enter the voting place are considered to be scrutineers and one of their scrutineers must leave the voting place during the period of time the candidate is in attendance.

Scrutineers are entitled to:

• be present when materials and documents are delivered to the Clerk following advance voting and on voting day.
• enter the voting place 15 minutes before it opens to inspect the ballot boxes, ballots, and all other papers, forms and documents relating to the vote (but not to delay the timely opening of the voting place).
• place his or her own seal on a ballot transfer box at the conclusion of voting on each day of advance voting.
• sign the Deputy Returning Officer’s (DRO) statement at the close of the polls.
• the role of candidates and scrutineers in the voting place is to scrutinize the integrity of the process, not a communicative role, and candidates and scrutineers are not to speak to electors.

Scrutineers and Candidates are prohibited from:

• attempting, directly or indirectly, to interfere with how an elector casts their ballot.
• attempting to campaign or persuade an elector to vote for a particular candidate.
• displaying a candidate’s campaign material in a voting place; this includes wearing campaign buttons.
• compromising the secrecy of voting.
• interfering or attempting to interfere with an elector marking a ballot.
• obtaining or attempting to obtain, in a voting place, any information about how an elector intends to vote or has voted.
• communicating any information obtained at a voting place about how an elector intends to vote or has voted.
• handle any of the DRO's supplies, including the poll book.
• serving as an interpreter for a voter.