Surrey's 2026 civic election turnout rate was the highest since 1990 | Daily Hive

City of Surrey's 2026 civic election turnout rate was the highest since 1990

Voting place for the City of Surrey's October 2026 civic election. (Surrey Fire Fighters Local 1271)

The voter turnout increased in the City of Surrey’s 2026 civic election, with preliminary results showing 134,437 ballots cast — up by more than 15,500 from four years ago.

The preliminary count for Metro Vancouver’s second most populous city shows civic election participation reached 37.4 per cent of its 359,921 eligible voters. This was the highest turnout for the elections of Surrey’s municipal government in 36 years.

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That compares with 118,908 ballots and a 34.5 per cent turnout in the City’s official 2022 civic election results. This year’s figures represent approximately 13 per cent more ballots and a turnout rate increase of almost three per cent.

The preliminary turnout rate also exceeds those recorded in all of the City’s civic elections since 1990. The strongest participation rate during those earlier civic elections was 36.3 per cent in 2014, when 105,055 people voted.

The City saw 110,920 ballots and a turnout of 34.5 per cent in the 2018 civic election. Earlier civic elections recorded 70,253 ballots (25 per cent) in 2011, 61,965 ballots (24.1 per cent) in 2008, 83,997 ballots (35 per cent) in 2005, 54,114 ballots (31.3 per cent) in 2002, 43,772 ballots (29.3 per cent) in 1999, 45,999 ballots (28.5 per cent) in 1996, 37,289 ballots (27.2 per cent) in 1993, and 42,800 ballots (38 per cent) 1990.

Surrey had a population of about 230,000 residents in 1990, growing to just over 700,000 in 2026 after decades of rapid urbanization, with its large land area absorbing a sizeable proportion of Metro Vancouver’s overall growth.

Prior to 1990, based on the available statistics, the previous highest turnouts were for the civic elections of 1980 (24,422 ballots; 41.3 per cent) and 1977 (22,022 ballots; 44.2 per cent). Previously, Surrey’s civic elections were held far more frequently, on an annual basis up until 1988, with a three-year cycle later taking over beginning in 1990. In 2014, the provincial government implemented a four-year cycle for civic elections across B.C.

The overall increase followed a substantial rise in advance voting for the 2026 civic election. The City reported 52,600 early ballots were cast during four advance voting days, representing an increase of 47 per cent from 35,701 in 2022. For this month’s civic election, the City expanded the number of advance voting locations from six to 10.

Based on those preliminary figures, advance ballots accounted for approximately 39 per cent of this year’s preliminary total number of ballots, compared with 30 per cent in the 2022 civic election.

As for the outcome of this civic election, Doug McCallum is returning as Surrey’s mayor after defeating incumbent Brenda Locke, with preliminary results showing 42,741 votes for McCallum and 30,886 for Locke. His Safe Surrey Coalition also won seven of the eight city councillor positions, giving the party a commanding eight-seat supermajority on the nine-member Surrey City Council, including the mayor.

Surrey Connect lost its City Council majority and was reduced to a single seat, with Harry Bains the only successful candidate outside McCallum’s party. Linda Annis’ Surrey First was completely shut out of City Council.

There were also higher turnout rates in the 2026 civic election in other Metro Vancouver jurisdictions, such as the City of Vancouver.

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