Vancouver's three left-wing parties agree to limit candidates in civic election | Daily Hive

Vancouver's three left-wing parties agree to limit number of candidates in civic election

Pete Fry. (Kenneth Chan)

To improve their odds of beating Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver party, the city’s three left-wing/progressive-leaning municipal political parties announced today they have reached an agreement to limit the number of candidates they will each run in the civic election on Oct. 17, 2026.

Such a strategy is intended to reduce the amount of competition between left-wing/progressive-leaning candidates, thereby improving their chances of being elected.

This follows the highly public fallout in February 2026, when the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) and the Green Party of Vancouver lashed out against OneCity Vancouver mayoral candidate William Azaroff’s surprise public unilateral proposal to quickly hold a progressive “unity” mayoral primary under his party’s terms.

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Under this new agreement, hashed out ever since the public exchange of words this past winter, each party can field their own mayoral candidate, but the parties will “agree to engage in a good-faith effort to determine which progressive mayor is best suited to compete.”

The agreement also establishes limits for the number of candidates each party can run in each of the three chambers of elected office.

Each of the three parties can nominate up to five candidates for the Vancouver City Council, where there are 10 city councillor seats to fill.

For the Vancouver Park Board, COPE, and Green can each run up to four candidates, while OneCity will run up to three. A total of seven commissioner seats are to be elected.

In the Vancouver School Board, COPE, and Green will each run up to four candidates, and OneCity will run up to five. Nine trustee seats are open.

Each party will be limited to up to 13 total non-mayor candidates.

William Azaroff. (William Azaroff)

Sitting city councillor Pete Fry was nominated as the Green mayoral candidate in January 2026. Azaroff was nominated by the OneCity membership in February 2026 as their mayoral candidate. COPE is expected to nominate their mayoral candidate soon.

Moreover, all parties are also expected to nominate their candidates for the various seats in the three chambers over the coming weeks, by the first half of May 2026.

“This agreement reflects a shared commitment to collaboration while maintaining each party’s distinct voice and priorities. OneCity sees this as a practical step to make sure progressive voters are best represented,” said Liz Locke, co-chair of OneCity, in a statement.

Shawn Vulliez, campaign director for COPE, said this approach reflects on lessons from the 2022 civic election campaign, when there were “too many great Council candidates and not enough great Mayoral candidates.”

“We trust the voters to rally behind someone and show us who the strongest candidate is for Mayor over the summer, and we trust them to vote for the progressive candidates that best represent their priorities in October,” continued Vulliez.

Nick Poppell, chairperson of the Green Party of Vancouver, added, “Greens want a Vancouver that is more affordable, more livable, and more hopeful. This agreement helps give voters a clearer progressive choice while allowing each party to keep fighting for its vision of the city.”

However, both the COPE and Green parties still need to present this agreement to their general membership for ratification in order to proceed with such a strategy.

As well, the parties have expressed a desire for a “shared priority for ranked ballots” in future mayoral elections, as opposed to the current first-past-the-post system.

The new Vancouver Liberals civic party, Vote Vancouver party, and TEAM For A Liveable Vancouver party are also expected to run major slates, with the Liberals announcing a number of candidates in recent months.

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