Nominations open, council changes expected this fall

Municipal politics is the story here — and the big takeaway is simple. The 2026 races in Waterloo Region and Guelph opened on Friday, May 1, and the first few hours already showed this fall won’t be a sleepy incumbents-only election. You can see turnover forming in real time. A couple of mayor’s chairs are opening up, at least one school trustee is jumping levels, and the usual local-council domino effect has started. ### What opened on Friday? The nomination period for mayor, councillor, regional chair and school board trustee officially began on May 1 across Waterloo Region municipalities and in Guelph. Candidates have until 2 p.m. on August 21 to file, and the actual election is set for October 26, 2026. That sounds procedural, but it matters because nobody can formally campaign as a candidate until the paperwork is in. ### Why does day one matter? Because day one tells you where the openings are. In Cambridge, Ward 7 councillor Scott Hamilton filed to run for mayor almost immediately. Brian Kennedy, who leads the Downtown Cambridge BIA, also entered the mayor’s race. That means Cambridge already has a real contest on the board, and Hamilton’s move opens his own council seat at the same time. One filing can create two races. ### What changed in Waterloo? Scott Piatkowski, who now serves as a Waterloo Region District School Board trustee, filed to run for Waterloo city council in Ward 5 instead of seeking another trustee term. That is the kind of move local election watchers look for early, because it signals that some candidates think the pressure points in housing, growth and city services now sit more at council than at the school board table. ### Why are people talking about turnover already? Because two mayors in the area have already said they are done. Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie announced on March 17 that he will not seek re-election after three terms. Then Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz said on April 30 that she also won’t run again, ending 12 years in that role. y advantages in place. ### Why does an open mayor’s race matter so much? Because mayoral exits don’t just affect one office. They pull sitting councillors, trustees, former candidates and local board figures into new lanes. Think of it like removing the stopper from a bottle — once the top job opens, ambition that was bottled up starts moving everywhere else too. That is especially true in Guelph, where Guthrie had held the mayor’s office for more than a decade. ### Is the regional chair race really open too? Not exactly — and this is one catch worth knowing. Waterloo Region’s election materials still list regional chair among the offices for 2026 nominations, but CBC noted that position is expected to change. So voters may see it on forms for now, even while the structure around that office appears likely to shift. ### What should people watch next? Watch for sitting councillors deciding whether to move up, and for whether early entrants stay alone in their races. August 21 is still a long way off, so the field can change a lot. But the first-day pattern is already clear — this election is not shaping up as simple continuity. bottom line The news is not just that nominations opened. It’s that the opening bell immediately exposed real vacancies, real ambition, and the first visible signs that several local councils could look meaningfully different after October.