Ottawa’s new city council starts today: who’s in and what changed
TL;DR · 30 seconds
- Ottawa’s new city council term begins today, November 15, 2026, and runs to 2030.
- Mark Sutcliffe was re-elected mayor on October 26 with about 44.6% of the vote, ahead of Jeff Leiper at about 33.9%.
- Three new councillors join: Erin Coffin (Kanata South), Joanne Chianello (Kitchissippi) and Chelsea Walton (Stittsville).
Ottawa’s 2026–2030 city council term officially begins today, November 15. Here’s a quick look at who will be around the table for the next four years.
The mayor
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe won a second term in the October 26 municipal election. According to unofficial results, he received about 44.6% of the vote (139,354 votes), ahead of former Kitchissippi councillor Jeff Leiper at about 33.9% (105,819 votes). Neil Saravanamuttoo and Alex Lawson followed.
Who’s new on council
Most incumbents kept their seats, with 21 councillors re-elected. There are three new faces:
- Kanata South: Erin Coffin, who defeated longtime councillor Allan Hubley.
- Kitchissippi: Joanne Chianello, replacing Jeff Leiper, who gave up the seat to run for mayor.
- Stittsville: Chelsea Walton, replacing Glen Gower, who kept his promise to serve no more than two terms.
With those changes, women now hold a majority of seats on council.
Turnout
Turnout was low. Unofficial results show about 314,000 of roughly 867,000 eligible voters cast a ballot for mayor, a turnout of about 36%.
Sources: CBC News Ottawa; CTV News Ottawa; Yahoo News Canada. Vote totals are unofficial results reported on election night.
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