Vancouver’s mayoral candidates will be on the ballot Saturday after the City reported more than 103,000 people had already voted in advance, up 60% from about 65,000 in 2022.
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Vancouver’s mayoral election is set for Saturday as the race narrows between incumbent Mayor Ken Sim and two-term Green councillor Pete Fry, while other prominent candidates reject the idea that they are “spoilers” in the centre or centre-right vote.
The City of Vancouver says more than 103,000 people have voted in advance, an increase of 60% from roughly 65,000 voters over five advance days in 2022.
Sim and Fry each frame the contest as a direct challenge to the other. Sim, campaigning for a second term as mayor with ABC Vancouver, said there are “way more work to do” even though he believes “pretty significant things” have been accomplished during his time in office.
Fry said he has benefited from a narrowing of the progressive field, after the withdrawals of William Azaroff from OneCity Vancouver and Stephanie Allen for COPE Vancouver. Fry praised Azaroff’s campaign after Azaroff ended his candidacy, saying it “raised real issues” including housing, small business and affordability, and Fry said Azaroff’s withdrawal reflected recognition that he was best suited to defeat Sim.
Alongside Sim and Fry, three other candidates are running—Kareem Allam with the Vancouver Liberals, Rebecca Bligh with Vote Vancouver, and TEAM candidate Colleen Hardwick—and each rejected the “spoiler” characterization. Hardwick said, “The question is not left or right. The question is about who we are serving at city hall.”
Bligh said she is running to govern for Vancouver’s “ignored middle class,” adding that polling has not changed how she campaigns and saying, “It’s anyone’s race.” Allam said he believed he was taking votes from Sim and Fry equally, and distanced himself from Sim in the context of a separate legal dispute.
Allam, Hardwick and Bligh all emphasized quality-of-life issues such as affordability and public safety in their platforms.
The election ballot also includes two plebiscite questions related to public safety. One asks whether voters favour the city strengthening its laws to forbid open-air hard drug use in public spaces, which the provincial government already has said is illegal in B.C. The other asks whether the city should ask the province to convert portions of the old St. Paul’s hospital into a “secure medical facility” with 100-plus involuntary care beds, a non-binding question.
Sim said the city health bylaw—regulating conduct such as smoking in common areas—would enable officers to issue tickets or confiscate drugs without arrests, and he said the involuntary care question is about asking the province to fulfil accountability to people who pose a risk to their own safety or others.
Fry said he supports managing drug use in public spaces, but said he differs from Sim by arguing people should be diverted to supervised consumption sites or shelters. Fry’s platform focuses on housing, transportation and the economy.
Bligh said Sim’s property tax freezes protect wealthy landowners and undercut critical services, and she said she would work with the federal government to leverage city-owned land and provide free transit for youth. Hardwick said the key to livability is effective city planning, saying she would repeal the city’s official development plan and re-establish neighbourhood planning offices.
Allam said he wants to bring youth back to Vancouver by improving affordability through jobs and housing, and investing in parks and community centres, adding that his platform cuts across ideologies.
Legal disputes involving candidates were also part of the campaign context. The evidence indicates Sim filed a lawsuit in May 2025 alleging Allam falsely accused him of drinking and driving, and Sim also faces a defamation lawsuit from councillor Sean Orr after comments Orr says falsely accused Orr of distributing illegal drugs. Both cases are described as far from trial.
With the vote set for Saturday, candidates’ attention remains on the ballot box, with Allam saying, “I think people will be surprised at the results.”
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