Frequently asked questions

Monday, October 24, 2022 is voting day.

Online voting begins October 5, 2022 at 10 a.m. and runs 24/7 until 8 p.m. on October 24, 2022.

You may vote in the election if you reside in the City of Thunder Bay, or are the owner or tenant of land in the City of Thunder Bay or your spouse is a property owner or tenant here. You must be a Canadian citizen and 18 years old or older on election day.  

Until August 31 you can check your voter information using VoterLookup.

After August 31 you can contact the Election Office by emailing thunderbayvotes@thunderbay.ca or calling 807-625-2230.

If a member of your household is a new voter, until August 31 they can be added to the voters list using VoterLookup.

After August 31, new voters can be added to the voters list several ways, including:

• Visit election staff at a pop up Revision Days location in the community.  More information will be available in mid-September on the Voters page.
• Bring your identification to the Office of the City Clerk at City Hall.
• Bring your identification to an advance poll or Election Day poll.

Eligible voters who are without a permanent home or fixed address, can still vote. Their qualifying address will be the location to which they most frequently returned to sleep or eat during the five weeks prior to the election. If a person returns with equal frequency to one place to sleep and to another to eat, the place to which they return to sleep shall be considered their residence.

A person serving a sentence of imprisonment, a person acting as executor or trustee for someone, and corporations are all prohibited from voting.

No. You must be a Canadian citizen.

If you are voting in person, you must provide proof of your identity and where you live. Even if you have your Voter Information Letter, you must still provide identification showing your name and qualifying address.

If you do not have identification, you must complete a prescribed form to make a statutory declaration, swearing or affirming that you are the elector shown on the voters list.

To run for Mayor or City Councillor, on the day the nomination paper is filed, a person must be:

• a Canadian citizen
• at least 18 years old
• a resident of the City of Thunder Bay, or an owner or tenant of land in the City of Thunder Bay, or the spouse of such person
• not legally prohibited from voting
• not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office

To run for School Board Trustee, on the day the nomination paper is filed, a person must be:

• a Canadian citizen
• at least 18 years of age
• a resident in the area of jurisdiction of the board
• not legally prohibited from voting
• not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office

If you wish to run for School Board Trustee for one of the following boards, you must live within the jurisdiction of that board. 

• Lakehead District School Board
• Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
• Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario
• Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales

The following people are disqualified from being elected or holding office as Mayor or City Councillor: 

• a judge of any court
• a Senator, Member of Parliament or Member of Provincial Parliament who has not resigned from their office by the close of nominations. 
• a candidate who failed to file the necessary financial statement or exceeded the prescribed spending limit in the 2018 municipal election
• City of Thunder Bay employees, unless the candidate takes an unpaid leave of absence before filing a nomination paper

The following people are disqualified from being elected or holding office as a School Board Trustee:

• a clerk, treasurer, deputy-clerk or deputy-treasurer of any municipality within the area of jurisdiction of the school board except those on an unpaid leave of absence
• a Senator, Member of Parliament or Member of Provincial Parliament who has not resigned from their office by the close of nominations 
• a candidate who failed to file the necessary financial statement or exceeded the prescribed spending limit in 2018 municipal election
• employees of any school board, unless the candidate takes a leave of absence before filing a nomination paper

To be elected or hold office as a school board trustee, the potential candidate must be qualified to vote for members of that school board. Therefore, they must be a supporter of the school board for which they wish to run. (s. 219 (1) of the Education Act)

To become a candidate for Mayor, City Councillor or School Board Trustee you must file a nomination paper with the City Clerk, in person, on the first floor of City Hall, 500 Donald Street East. Nomination papers may be filed from Monday, May 2, 2022 to Friday, August 19, 2022, by appointment only. Walk-in appointments will not be guaranteed. Book your appointment online or call the Office of the City Clerk at 807-625-2230.

Your nomination must be filed in person and include:

• Form 1 - Nomination Paper, it is the responsibility of the person being nominated to make sure their nomination paper is complete and accurate.
• Form 2 - Endorsement of Nomination, endorsed by at least 25 people who are eligible to vote in our municipal election. Endorsements are required only if running for Mayor or City Councillor, not School Board Trustee
• Declaration of qualifications
• Consent to release personal information
• Identification showing name, qualifying address and signature
• Applicable filing fee, $200 for Mayor, $100 for all others. The fee must be paid in cash, debit card, certified cheque or money order.

Nomination packages may be picked up from the Office of the City Clerk on the first floor of City Hall, 500 Donald Street East, or you can download and print your nomination package using the links, below.

Nomination package for Councillor and Mayor candidates

Nomination package for School Board Trustee candidates

The nomination fee is considered to be a personal expense, not a campaign expense.

Your nomination fee will be refunded if you file your campaign financial statement by the filing deadline, March 31, 2023.

If a candidate wishes to withdraw, they must file a written withdrawal of their candidacy in person in the City Clerk's office. The deadline to withdraw is 2:00 p.m. on Nomination Day, August 19, 2022.

If the candidate wishes and the clerk agrees, another name that the candidate also uses may appear on the ballot instead of or in addition to their legal name. (s. 41(2) 3 of the Municipal Elections Act)

You may change the office you are running for any time before the end of the nomination period, which is 2 p.m. on August 19, 2022.  You must file nomination papers for the new position. A candidate may run for only one office at a time. When a candidate files a second nomination, the first nomination is deemed to be withdrawn.

If a candidate was running for a Councillor or Trustee position and decided to run for Mayor, the nomination filling fee would need to be topped up to $200.

View our candidate information page to learn about becoming a candidate. 

Anyone who filed a nomination form must file a financial statement, including candidates who withdrew their nomination, candidates who were not certified, and candidates who were acclaimed.

Yes, but you are only required to fill out the first page.

Yes.  You can continue to collect contributions and pay expenses until the campaign period ends on January 3, 2023.

If you have a surplus, you can withdraw any contributions that you or your spouse made. Refunding eligible contributions from anyone other than yourself or your spouse is not permitted.  If you still have a surplus once you have withdrawn your own contributions, the remaining surplus must be turned over to the Clerk.

You are required to keep all of your campaign financial records until November 15, 2026 when the next council or school board takes office.

No. Contributions to municipal and school board campaigns cannot be credited against provincial or federal income taxes.

Only individuals who live in Ontario can contribute to a municipal election campaign. If your spouse is not a resident of Ontario, they are permitted to make contributions to your campaign, but not to any other candidate’s campaign.  Corporations and trade unions are not permitted to make contributions.

You are required to return any ineligible contribution as soon as you learn that it was ineligible. If you cannot return the contribution, you must turn it over to the Clerk.  Ineligible contributions include those that were:

• received before your campaign began or after the campaign period,
• received from an anonymous source (except for donations of $25 or less at a fundraising event),
• received from an ineligible source (someone who doesn’t live in Ontario, a corporation, etc.)
• greater than the individual $1,200 limit or the $5,000 total limit per jurisdiction,
• a cash contribution greater than $25 (contributions over $25 must be made by cheque, money order or by another method that clearly shows where the funds came from),
• funds that do not belong to the contributor who gave them to you.

If you have inventory such as signs left over from a previous municipal campaign and you use them again, the current market value of the signs is considered to be a contribution that you make to your own campaign.

Any taxes such as HST paid on purchases should be included in the amount of the expense.