The 2026 Ontario municipal elections may seem far away, however, it is important to begin planning early and what better way to start than by reviewing key findings and data from the last 2022 municipal elections cycle.
Following the 2022 elections, we asked for your support in collecting important election administration and operational information through a survey – we thank all those who took the time to complete this survey to provide us with key trends and operational statistics. This data has now been compiled and analyzed to provide a big-picture look at some of the 2022 general elections trends, and can be used to assist with municipal benchmarking and reviews of election programs within your community. Some of this information will also be included as part of our forthcoming submission for the province to review the Municipal Elections Act (MEA) as we know from our members, and from the data, that legislative changes are needed to help facilitate a smoother elections process.
Survey Changes
Our post-elections survey has been an AMCTO tradition for a number of years, with only slight changes to questions year-over-year in order to provide a more comprehensive cyclical comparison of the data. However, given the trends surrounding the increased use of internet voting, in the 2022 post-elections survey, we asked additional questions pertaining to internet voting to gain further understanding of the adoption of this practice in Ontario municipalities.
This is also the second municipal elections cycle since third-party advertising rules were changed significantly. We wanted to hear more about our members’ experiences with the new rules. For these reasons, you will find spotlights on internet voting and third-party advertising in the report.
Key Findings
Some key findings outlined in the report include:
- Voter turnout declined for most municipalities between 2018 and 2022; however, voter turnout increased in municipalities with populations under 2,500.
- Several municipalities reported needing to make significant changes to their voters list. At least 32 reported needing to make changes to the voters list including for records equal to or exceeding 10% of their population.
- More municipalities used internet voting in 2022 than 2018. Overall, more than half of municipalities used internet voting in 2022, but the uptake of internet voting varies significantly across the province.
- Satisfaction with internet voting increased.
- 14% of municipalities reported having registered third-party advertisers. Generally, larger municipalities were more likely to have registered third-party advertisers.
See more details, quantitative and qualitative data in the report* below, and stay tuned for more information to come regarding our submission to review the Municipal Elections Act.
*Note: This report is only available to AMCTO members and is to be used as a resource for preliminary 2026 elections planning. Not a member yet? Join today and take advantage of 20% off your first year.