Are you ready to vote?

You’re reading the October 22, 2026 edition of the Peterborough Currents email newsletter. To receive our email newsletters straight to your inbox, sign up here.

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Greetings, 

It’s Currents co-editors Alex Karn and Gabe Pollock here with an Election Special edition of the weekly Peterborough Currents newsletter. The municipal election is coming up this Monday, October 26, and we thought we would make this newsletter a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about the candidates and how to vote. 

Let’s get into it!

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Are you ready to vote?

Here is a run-down of local voting information and news coverage as the Peterborough municipal election approaches.

Peterborough Currents Election Special zines

We’ll start with Currents’ own contribution to the election conversation, the Peterborough Currents Election Special zines. Instead of delving into the candidates and their positions (see below for lots of ways to find out about that), we decided to focus on an exploration of the most important issues of the day. 

These five one-page zines focus on five topics that are shaping the conversation this election season: homelessness, addictions, downtown vitality, democracy & council culture, and climate change. What’s the situation on the ground? What have we been doing over the past four years? What are the challenges and opportunities that face the next council?

These zines are intended as tools to help voters make sense of the conversations and platforms that have taken shape throughout this election season.

Print copies of all five zines are available as a bundle in an envelope for FREE from Sadleir House, The Food Shop, Dreams of Beans, and Take Cover Books, or you can download digital copies of the zines from our website.

How and where to vote

Election Day for the City of Peterborough Municipal and School Board Election is Monday, October 26, 2026. In-person voting is available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

In-person voting locations are based the Ward you reside in:

Ward 1 – Otonabee: Healthy Planet Arena, 911 Monaghan Rd.
Ward 2 – Monaghan: Westdale United Church, 1509 Sherbrooke St.
Ward 3 – Town: McDonnel Street Community Centre, 577 McDonnel St.
Ward 4 – Ashburnham: Peterborough Lions Community Centre, 347 Burnham St.
Ward 5 – Northcrest: Northview Community Church, 1000 Fairbairn St. 

Those who need additional support or accessible voting equipment to place their vote can do so at City Hall, 500 George St. N., through Friday, October 23, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or on Election Day, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The City Hall location is available to eligible voters from all wards.

Free transit is available to and from in-person voting locations with a valid voter notification card. 

If you prefer to stay home, online voting is available now until polls close on election day.

For more information about how to vote, visit the Peterborough Votes website.

The candidates and their positions

The Peterborough Votes website includes a full list of the candidates running for mayor, councillor, and school board trustee, with links to their websites and social media pages, where you can hear more from them.

KawarthaNOW’s Vote Tracker is a useful tool for exploring the candidates’ priorities and how they line up with your own.

Candidates meetings and surveys

There have been a number of all-candidates meetings during this election cycle. Only two of them are still available to watch – the yourVote City of Peterborough Mayoral Debate broadcast by Cogeco and the climate change debate hosted by For Our Grandchildren (4RG). You can also listen to the audio of the ArtsVote Peterborough meeting about arts and culture issues.

There is also a written report based on the social issues debate, which was hosted by a group of local organizations, led by United Way Peterborough.

Several local organizations have also sent out surveys to the mayoral and council candidates about the issues. Read the responses to the DBIA’s survey about downtown, Heads Up for Inclusion’s survey about inclusion and disability issues, Reimagine Peterborough’s survey about environment, planning, and Indigenous relations, and For Our Grandchildren’s survey about climate change.

Other media coverage

The Peterborough Examiner has interviews with pretty much all the candidates for mayor and council.

KawarthaNOW has been interviewing and profiling candidates, not only in Peterborough but also across the county. You can find links to all their coverage here. We particularly recommend their breakdown of the school board trustee race, which is too often overlooked during election season.

Trent Arthur presents a collection of longform audio interviews with each of the mayoral candidates in their Arthur Votes 2026 series, and we also recommend their ongoing coverage of the election and municipal politics.

Trent Radio has posted a series of audio interviews with most of the ward candidates.

Global News produced a series of videos profiling the municipal election race across each of Peterborough’s five wards: Otonabee, Monaghan, Town, Ashburnham, and Northcrest.

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