It’s time to get involved

We have a general habit of giving all our attention to the biggest stages while the most practical decisions get made on the smallest ones.

We follow federal politics like a sport, we debate premiers like they are celebrities, and we pour energy into national arguments that can feel a hundred miles away from the everyday rhythms of our lives. Meanwhile, the issues that shape your week: how your neighbourhood grows, how your taxes are spent, how your kids’ schools are governed, and how safe your streets feel, are decided locally, often by a surprisingly small number of engaged citizens on local municipal councils and school boards.

This fall, on Monday, October 26^th, 2026, Ontario holds municipal and school board elections. These are non-partisan by design and local by nature, and for many people they are the most realistic doorway into public service you will ever find. You do not need to be a career politician, and you do not need a party machine. In many communities, you simply need to be the kind of person who cares, listens well, and is willing to do the work.

Municipal councils decide on roads, transit, parks, zoning, housing approvals, local policing priorities, bylaw enforcement, budgets, and the long-term planning that determines whether a community becomes more livable, or more stressed. School board trustees help set direction and policy, oversee budgets, and provide governance that influences whether schools stay anchored in strong outcomes and healthy culture. These are not symbolic roles, they are practical, consequential, and close to home.

When local governance is at its best, it is not flashy. It is competent and steady, the kind of leadership that makes a place quietly better year after year.

The challenge, of course, is that local elections often run under the radar. In the 2022 municipal elections, average turnout across Ontario was about 32.9%, and 553 positions were filled by acclamation, meaning no contest at all. That data tells a simple story: many communities are being led by a small slice of the population, not because others do not care, but because life is busy and local politics feels easy to postpone and even ignore.

If you have ever volunteered at a school event, served on a church committee, coached a team, helped organize a fundraiser, sat on a board, built a business, or simply been the neighbour who shows up when someone needs a hand, you already understand the heart of local leadership: consistency, service, and responsibility. Municipal councils and school boards need more of that servant leadership energy. More stewardship and less performative politics.

For those who assume running is complicated, it is often far simpler than expected. Nominations open May 1^st, 2026, and close Friday, August 21^st, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. In most places, the filing fee is $100 (and $200 for head of council), and in municipalities with more than 4,000 electors you need 25 endorsement signatures. In other words, the process is designed to be accessible to allow regular citizens to step forward.

If you are honest, thoughtful, and willing to learn, you are exactly the kind of person who should consider it. Local government does not need perfection; it just needs some passion and presence. It needs people who can listen, read a budget, ask good questions, and work with others – even those they disagree with – to make practical progress. It needs people who can keep the temperature down while keeping standards up.

This matters across Ontario, and it particularly matters in communities that are typically underrepresented at these levels. Representation is not only about identity; it is about lived experience, priorities, and perspective. When more people from the full fabric of Ontario participate by voting, by attending meetings, by serving on committees, and yes, by running, public decisions will better serve the broader populace.

Consider something bigger this year: running for school board or council or helping a suitable candidate knock on doors. A healthy province is built one municipality at a time, one school board at a time, one meeting at a time, by ordinary people who decide that their community is worth their attention.