Election Summary
417 municipalities were to hold elections in 2022. This figure includes three upper-tier municipalities that hold elections for regional chairs at the lower tier: Halton Region, Waterloo Region, and Durham Region.

Approximately 6,325 candidates competed for the 2,842 elected positions. 553 positions were uncontested and were therefore acclaimed.

Women [1] comprised 32% of candidates – and 32.3% of elected or acclaimed candidates, which is higher than 29.4% in 2018. Incumbents comprised 33.8% of candidates and captured 57.5% of seats available. In the 2018 election, incumbents comprised 33.9% of candidates and captured 58.7% of seats available. 
 

Voter Turnout
Average voter turnout was 36.30% (based on 385 municipalities that conducted direct elections and provided voter turnout information). In 2018 it was 38.30%.

 

Women
1,939 of the 6,325 candidates in this election were women. That’s 31% of the total pool of candidates – and a moderate increase over the 27% in 2018, and 24% in the 2014 election.

Women Acclaimed to Office
Of the 553 acclamations, 165 were female. That’s 30% of acclamations, and slightly lower than the percentage of female candidates overall.

Women Elected to Office
Of the 2,283 candidates elected to office, 750 were women. That’s 33% of women running in contested elections. In contrast, 37% of men running in contested elections were successful.

Total number of females elected as:

  • Head of council = 110 (92 in 2018)
  • Councillors: 942 (includes those that sit on both upper and lower tier)

All Female Councils

Township of Algonquin Highlands elected a council comprised entirely of women.


Success Rates
A candidate’s electoral success depends on the magnitude of her competition, the recognition of her name among the electorate, the size of her war chest, and other factors.[2]  Our data cannot account for all of these influences; information below should be interpreted with caution.

Women [1] were slightly more successful than men in Ontario’s 2022 municipal elections (Table 1). Of 1,939 female candidates, 47.2% were successful. In contrast, 43.8% of the 4,385 men running were successful. Compared to 2018, where 46.4% of women running were successful, and 41.4% of the men running won a seat. 

Incumbents enjoyed a substantial advantage (Table 2). Of 1,791 incumbents running for the same office, 80.1% were successful. This is higher than the success rate for incumbents running for the same office from 2018, which was 76.5%. Of 350 incumbents running for a different office, 59.1% were successful, which is also higher than 57.5% in 2018. In contrast, 28.5% of the 4,184 candidates running for the first time were successful. New candidates elected was around 26.7% in 2018.

Women and men [1] were equally likely to be incumbents. Elected female incumbents (same and new office) at 54.5% were lower than 57.2% for the elected male incumbents. However, 30.9% of females running as new candidates were elected, whereas only 23.4% of new male candidate were elected. (Table 3).


Turnover Rates
Municipalities experienced an average turnover of 42.0%, which is higher than 41.5% in 2018. New candidates captured 42.0% of seats available. Turnover ranged from 0% in 23 municipalities to 100% in 10 municipalities.

 

Tables

Table 1: Electoral results by gender

 

Female

Female

Male

Male

Total

 

Number

Percentage

Number

Percentage

Number

Acclaimed

165

8.5%

388

8.8%

553

Elected

750

38.7%

1,533

35.0%

2,283

Unsuccessful

1024

53.8%

2,464

56.2%

3,489

Total

1,939

100.0%

4,385

100%

6,325

Table 1: Electoral results by gender

Table 2: Electoral results by incumbency

 

 

Incumbent

(Same Office)

Incumbent

(New Office)

New

Candidate

 

Total

 

#

%

#

%

#

%

#

Acclaimed

388

21.7%

46

13.1%

119

2.8%

553

Elected

1046

58.4%

161

46.0%

1076

25.7%

2,283

Unsuccessful

357

19.9%

143

40.9%

2989

71.4%

3,489

Total

1,791

100.0%

350

100.0%

4,184

100.0%

6,325

Table 2: Electoral results by incumbency

Table 3: Elected candidates by incumbency and gender (excl. acclaimed)

 

 

Elected Females

 

Elected Males

Total

 

 

Number

Total Candidates Running

 

Percentage

 

Number

Total Candidates Running

 

Percentage

Number

Elected

Incumbent (Same Office)

302

527

57.3%

744

1264

58.9%

1,046

Incumbent (New Office)

46

112

41.1%

115

238

48.3%

161

Total Incumbent

348

639

54.5%

859

1502

57.2%

1207

New Candidate

402

1300

30.9%

674

2883

23.4%

1,076

Table 3: Elected candidates by incumbency and gender. Percentages are expressed in terms of the number of candidates of the specified gender and incumbency that competed in a contested election (e.g., 57.3% of female incumbents running for the same office were elected, not including acclaimed candidates).


[1] Disclaimer. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) has generated these election statistics as a public service. AMO cannot guarantee and assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information posted. As of publishing this information, the post-election data is not final.

[2] Kushner, Siegal and Stanwick described relevant factors in Ontario’s municipal elections back in 1997. See their article online or in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, 30 (3): 539-553.