Voters

Municipal government impacts your life daily. This fall, you can help decide who will guide the future of your city.

During the 2022 Municipal & School Board Elections, qualified electors can cast their vote one of three ways:

Pencil marking a checkmark and casting a vote

In-person on Voting Day or at an Advance Voting event

Vote In-Person

A sealed envelope with a checkmark above it

By mail, on request

Request your mail-in ballot starting August 12

Learn more about vote-by-mail

What do you need to know as an Oshawa voter?

Who can vote?
What positions can I vote for?
When, where and how can I vote?

Who can vote?

Get ready to cast your ballot this fall if you’re:

a Canadian citizen;
at least 18 years old on Voting Day;
an Oshawa resident or an owner or tenant of land in Oshawa (and the spouse of such owner or tenant); and,
not prohibited by law from voting.

You may only vote once in the City of Oshawa Municipal & School Board Elections, regardless of how many properties you own or rent within the city.

You must vote in the ward where you live or where your property is located.

Information for post-secondary students

If you are a student and consider your “home” to be the municipality you live in when you are not attending school, which means you plan to return there, then you are eligible to vote in both your “home” municipality and in the municipality you live in while attending school.
If you are a student from Oshawa attending school in another municipality, please check with the City Clerk of that municipality to find out your voting options.
As a student and a resident of Oshawa, if you are unable to vote in the City of Oshawa Municipal Election, you may request to vote-by-mail.

Who cannot vote?

You are prohibited from voting on Voting Day if you are:

serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution;
a corporation;
acting as executor or trustee or in another representative capacity, except as a voting proxy; or,
convicted of a corrupt practice described in section 90(3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.

Make sure you're on the Voters List! Check now using MPAC’s VoterLookup tool.

Take a minute to make sure your voter information is up-to-date by using MPAC’s VoterLookup tool. There, you can confirm your information, add a new elector to your address and change school support for for the purpose of voting in the school board election.

VoterLookup is for municipal and school board elections only; if you completed a similar process for the Provincial election you will still need to do this again.

What positions can I vote for?

Qualified Oshawa electors may vote for:

one candidate for Regional Chair, elected region-wide;
one candidate for Mayor, elected city-wide;
one candidate for Regional & City Councillor, elected from your ward;
one candidate for City Council, elected from your ward; and,
Trustee(s) from your School Board (as applicable).

What's your ward? Use the City's What's my Ward? tool to find your ward and learn more about Oshawa's ward system.

Find the official list of individuals who have filed a nomination on the Candidates webpage.

When, where and how can I vote?

Voting on Voting Day is just one of the ways you can vote in Oshawa this fall.

To make voting easier, we’re providing a variety of options, including vote-by-mail, on-request and multiple in-person opportunities.

Vote-by-mail, on request

Vote from the comfort of your home by requesting a mail-in ballot!

From August 12 – September 12, 2022, qualified voters can request to vote by mail online, in-person at Service Oshawa or by calling Service Oshawa at 905-436-3311. Only the voter may request their vote-by-mail package. Candidates and third party advertisers cannot request vote-by-mail packages on behalf of voters.

In addition to their address and birthday, qualified Oshawa voters submitting a request to vote-by-mail will be asked to provide:

their email address in the event that an Election Official needs to contact them; and,
a piece of identification. Please note that any record of your identification is deleted as soon as it has been processed by an Election Official.

You'll provide your identification one of three ways, depending on how you are requesting your vote-by-mail package. If you're requesting your vote-by-mail package:

online, upload a photo of your identification when completing your vote-by-mail request online;
over the phone with Service Oshawa, include a photocopy of your identification in the pre-paid return envelope when mailing or dropping off your ballot; or,
in-person at Service Oshawa, located at 50 Centre St. S., you can present a piece of identification to the Customer Service Representative serving you.

Collection of Information and Privacy Statement

This form may contain personal information as defined under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This information is collected under the legal authority of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended. This information will be used and maintained by the City of Oshawa for processing voter registrations and vote-by-mail requests. Questions regarding this collection may be directed to the City’s Information Access and Privacy Officer, City of Oshawa, 50 Centre Street South, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 3Z7, 905-436-3311.

Don't forget to upload your identification!

Vote-by-mail packages will be mailed on September 26 to qualified voters who requested a package. Your vote-by-mail package will include your ballot, a pre-paid return envelope, and instructions on how to return your ballot.

Check the status of your vote-by-mail package!

Voting by mail is easy! Once you receive your vote-by-mail package:

Vote for your chosen Candidate(s) by filling in the circle beside their name(s).
Place your marked ballot inside the secrecy envelope. Complete the declaration form by signing in the required box. Place the declaration form and the secrecy envelope inside the pre-paid return envelope.

Return your marked ballot one of two ways:

Put your marked ballot in the pre-paid return envelope through any Canada Post box prior to October 10, 2022; or,
Drop off your return envelope in any of the six Vote Oshawa drop boxes throughout the city prior to October 20, 2022. Your vote-by-mail package will include the drop box locations.

In-person opportunities

When you arrive at an in-person voting opportunity, you will be asked to show I.D. to prove your identity and residence.

What identification do I need to vote?

In order to be issued a ballot, voters must provide one of the following documents to prove their identity and residence:

An Ontario driver’s licence.
An Ontario Photo Card.
An Ontario motor vehicle permit (vehicle portion).
A cancelled personalized cheque.
A mortgage statement, lease or rental agreement relating to property in Ontario.
An insurance policy or insurance statement.
A loan agreement or other financial agreement with a financial institution.
A document issued or certified by a court in Ontario.
Any other document from the government of Canada, Ontario or a municipality in Ontario or from an agency of such a government.
Any document from a Band Council in Ontario established under the Indian Act (Canada).
An income tax assessment notice.
A Child Tax Benefit Statement.
A Statement of Employment Insurance Benefits Paid T4E.
A Statement of Old Age Security T4A (O.A.S.).
A Statement of Canada Pension Plan Benefits T4A (P).
A Canada Pension Plan Statement of Contributions.
A Statement of Direct Deposit for Ontario Works.
A Statement of Direct Deposit for Ontario Disability Support Program.
A Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Statement of Benefits T5007.
A property tax assessment.
A credit card statement, bank account statement, or R.R.S.P., R.R.I.F., R.H.O.S.P. or T5 statement.
A C.N.I.B. Card or a card from another registered charitable organization that provides services to persons with disabilities.
A hospital card or record.
A document showing campus residence, issued by the office or officials responsible for student residence at a post-secondary institution.
A document showing residence at a long-term care home under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, issued by the Administrator for the home.
A utility bill for hydro, water, gas, telephone or cable T.V. or a bill from a public utilities commission.
A cheque stub, T4 statement or pay receipt issued by an employer.
A transcript or report card from a post-secondary school.
An Ontario Health Card (photo card) - must include qualifying address.

The voter may use any document listed above so long as it is an original, or a certified or notarial copy, and shows the person’s name and qualifying address.

If a voter does not have any of the above listed documents, they may complete the declaration of identity form, which will be provided to them by an election official upon request.

Voting Day

You can vote in-person on Voting Day, Monday, October 24, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at any voting place in your ward.

When you arrive at a voting place, you will be asked to show your I.D. to an Election Official who will check if you are registered on the Voters List. If you are not on the list, an Election Official will add you to the Voters List and ask you to make a declaration.
The Election Official will then issue you a ballot in a secrecy folder based on your school support.
You will go behind a voting screen to mark your ballot. To vote for your chosen Candidate(s) fill in the circle beside their name(s).
Bring your marked ballot in the secrecy folder to the Election Official operating a tabulator. The Election Official will hold the secrecy folder with your ballot to the tabulator and your vote will be counted.

Advance Voting Events

Avoid the line on Voting Day and vote at an Advance Voting event!

The City is providing 11 voting events on October 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15 and 16 with flexible voting times.

Stay tuned! Advance voting places will be announced soon.

When you arrive at a voting place, you will be asked to show your I.D. to an Election Official who will check if you are registered on the Voters List. If you are not on the list, an Election Official will add you to the Voters List and ask you to make a declaration.
The Election Official will then issue you a ballot in a secrecy folder based on your ward and school support.
You will go behind a voting screen to mark your ballot. To vote for your chosen Candidate(s), fill in the circle beside their name(s).
Bring your marked ballot in the secrecy folder to the Election Official operating a tabulator. The Election Official will hold the secrecy folder with your ballot to the tabulator and your vote will be counted.

Stay tuned - in the coming weeks, voters will be able to look up when and where they can vote. This information will also be on your voter notification card, which you will receive in the mail if you are registered to vote.

Explore our Key Dates page to learn more about upcoming milestones in the 2022 Municipal & School Board Elections.