Boundary election season begins as candidate nominations open Tuesday
Grand Forks City Hall. Candidate nominations for the 2026 local election open today, Sept. 1, with voters across the Boundary choosing municipal councillors, mayors, regional directors and school trustees this fall.
The 2026 local election field begins taking shape Tuesday as prospective candidates across the Boundary become eligible to file nomination papers for municipal councils, regional district seats and the School District 51 board.
The regular nomination period opens at 9 a.m. Sept. 1 and runs until 4 p.m. Sept. 11, ahead of general voting on Oct. 17.
Across Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway, the Boundary electoral areas of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary and School District 51, 27 elected positions are up this fall.
In Grand Forks, voters will elect one mayor and six councillors. The city begins accepting nomination papers at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and candidates must be nominated by two people who are qualified to vote in Grand Forks as either resident or non-resident property electors.
Advance voting in Grand Forks is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the Grand Forks Seniors' Society, while general voting will take place Oct. 17 at Dr. D.A. Perley Elementary School. Special voting opportunities are also planned that day at Phoenix Manor Retirement Home, Boundary Lodge Assisted Living, Boundary Hospital and Hardyview Lodge, and Silver Kettle Village.
Municipal races also open in Greenwood and Midway. Midway voters will elect one mayor and four councillors, while Greenwood voters will also choose one mayor and four councillors. Both communities are operating within the Sept. 1 to Sept. 11 regular nomination period.
Outside the municipalities, three RDKB electoral-area director positions are up for election in the Boundary: Area C/Christina Lake, Area D/Rural Grand Forks and Area E/West Boundary.
The regional district is electing five electoral-area directors overall, with nomination papers accepted from 9 a.m. Sept. 1 until 4 p.m. Sept. 11. If the number of qualified candidates for an office does not exceed the number of positions available, those candidates are elected by acclamation. Otherwise, voters choose among the candidates on Oct. 17.
School District 51 voters will also select all seven members of the Boundary Board of Education.
Two trustees represent the City of Grand Forks, while the other five represent Christina Lake, Rural Grand Forks and three Kettle Valley trustee areas.
Kettle Valley West includes Midway, Rock Creek, Bridesville and Kettle Valley. Kettle Valley North includes Westbridge, Beaverdell, Christian Valley, Idabel Lake and Big White, while Kettle Valley East includes Greenwood and rural areas around Greenwood and Midway.
The school district's regular nomination period also runs from Sept. 1 through Sept. 11.
One of the first scheduled public election events will take place later this month in Grand Forks. The RDKB has announced a Grand Forks all-candidates meeting for Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Grand Forks Secondary School auditorium, covering municipal, regional and school-district elections.
Doors are scheduled to open at 5:45 p.m., with the meeting running from 6 to approximately 8 p.m.
The regular candidate-withdrawal deadline is Sept. 18, and the formal campaign period begins Sept. 19.
The Sept. 11 nomination deadline may also be extended in a race where too few candidates have been nominated to fill all available positions. Under B.C.'s Local Government Act, an additional nomination period applies in that circumstance.
Advance voting is scheduled for Oct. 7 in local jurisdictions, with general voting throughout British Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 17.
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