Metro Vancouver voters are heading into the 2026 municipal elections with a clear appetite for change, but much less certainty about who should deliver it.
Just over half of residents across the Vancouver CMA (51%) say their city is on the wrong track, while 57% believe it is time for a change in city council. At the same time, voters continue to expect municipalities to play an active role in addressing affordability, housing and other major challenges facing their communities.
Key Highlights
- 57% of Metro Vancouver residents say it is time for a change in city council, rising to 66% in Richmond, 64% in Surrey and 62% in Vancouver.
- Cost of living and affordability is the top municipal issue, cited among the top three concerns by 47% of residents. Housing affordability follows at 34%.
- Three-quarters or more want municipalities to be more involved in homelessness, poverty and mental health (77%), cost of living (76%), housing affordability (75%) and the drug and overdose crisis (74%).
- The mayoral races remain highly fluid. Pete Fry leads Ken Sim 23% to 19% in Vancouver, while Brenda Locke leads Doug McCallum 24% to 12% in Surrey. Still, 36% of Vancouver voters and 34% of Surrey voters remain undecided
The appetite for change is strongest in Vancouver, Surrey and Richmond
Vancouver residents enter the election in a particularly dissatisfied mood. Nearly two-thirds (62%) say the city is on the wrong track, compared with 28% who believe it is headed in the right direction. Approval of both the mayor and council is also lower in Vancouver than across the CMA overall.
These findings continue a pattern seen in Leger’s December 2025 research on Vancouver and Surrey, when Vancouver residents were already expressing widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the city.
The pressure is not the same everywhere. In Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver, roughly six in ten or more residents want a change in city council. In Burnaby and Coquitlam, fewer than half say the same. Coquitlam also stands apart as the only city measured where more residents say their city is going in the right direction (46%) than on the wrong track (36%).
Affordability is reshaping the municipal agenda
Cost of living and affordability outside of housing is now the leading issue across Metro Vancouver, selected as a top-three concern by 47% of residents. It ranks ahead of housing affordability (34%), property taxes and spending (27%) and homelessness, poverty and mental health (26%).
The findings also point to expanding expectations of what municipal governments should do. Even on issues that traditionally extend beyond local jurisdiction, residents want cities to play a larger role. Seventy per cent, for example, want municipalities more involved in advocating for resources or improving relationships with other levels of government.
This is consistent with Leger’s research ahead of the 2022 B.C. municipal elections, which found that voters were increasingly looking to municipalities to engage with issues that have traditionally fallen under provincial or federal responsibility.
Residents may be dissatisfied with local government, but they are not asking it to do less. The challenge for candidates is increasingly about showing how municipalities can respond to pressures such as affordability and housing, even when the solutions extend beyond city hall.
Turnout could be as important as vote intention
Half of Metro Vancouver residents say they are 100% certain they will vote in the upcoming municipal election, but likelihood to vote varies sharply by age. Just 35% of residents aged 18 to 34 say they are certain to cast a ballot, compared with 64% of those aged 55 and older.
That gap is particularly important in races where voter preferences are still taking shape. In Vancouver, Pete Fry’s support rises from 23% overall to 34% among those who say they are certain to vote. Brenda Locke sees the same increase in Surrey, moving from 24% overall to 34% among certain voters.
With voters looking for change, but the electorate still far from settled, who ultimately turns out could play an important role in determining how these races develop.
Vancouver residents can find official information on candidates, advance voting and Election Day through the City of Vancouver’s 2026 election website.
Methodology
This online survey was conducted from September 23 to 30, 2026, among 1,207 Vancouver CMA residents aged 18 or older, randomly recruited through Leger’s LEO online panel, with additional targeted sampling in municipalities across the region.
Results were weighted according to age, gender, region and education. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1,207 respondents would have a margin of error of no greater than ±2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Comparisons with Leger’s 2022 Metro Vancouver research should be interpreted with caution because of changes to the sampling approach.
