BarrieVotes.ca 2026 municipal election · civic data and charts

Students: how to vote in Barrie, at school and at home

If you live in Barrie to go to college or university, you can vote in Barrie's October 2026 municipal election, and in your home municipality as well. You need to be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 on voting day, and on the voters' list at your Barrie address. Barrie votes online or by phone from 10 a.m. on October 16 to 8 p.m. on October 26.

Can I vote here and at home?

Yes. Normally the Municipal Elections Act gives a person one residence at a time. Students are the exception: a person may have residences in two municipalities at once if they live in one “in order to attend an educational institution, but not with the intention of changing his or her permanent lodging place”, and their permanent home is in the other (s. 2(2.1)). A residence makes you an elector in that municipality, so you can vote for mayor and council in Barrie and in your home town. The Act allows one vote for each municipality's offices (s. 51(2)), not two in the same place.

If Barrie is your permanent home and you have simply moved within the city, this rule does not apply: you vote once, at the address where you live now.

The other conditions are the same as for every voter: a Canadian citizen, at least 18 on voting day, and not prohibited by law (the exact wording). International students on a study permit cannot vote in Ontario municipal elections; neither can permanent residents.

Source: Municipal Elections Act, 1996, S.O. 1996, c.
32, Government of Ontario — e-Laws. Original document. The statute itself. Where this site restates a rule, it cites the Act rather than the Clerk's summary of it. Section 37(1) on acclamations is the clearest case, because it is a duty rather than a decision. Retrieved August 9, 2026.

How do I get a PIN at my Barrie address?

Your PIN comes in a Voter Information Letter, mailed only to people on the voters' list at that address. If you moved here for school, you may not be on the list here yet, so check, add or correct your record through the City's portal, by phone at (705) 728-VOTE (8683), or by email to Be.Counted@barrie.ca; the steps are on how to vote. Letters were mailed from the last week of September. If yours has not arrived by October 13, you can get a PIN at a Voter Assistance Centre with acceptable identification. On October 22, 23, 24 and 26 those six centres can also add you to the list and let you vote on the spot.

Sources: Voter information: "Look out for your voting PIN", City of Barrie.
Original document. Letters mailed from the last week of September; no PIN by October 13 means a Voter Assistance Centre with ID; a misplaced letter means calling or emailing at once, which deactivates the old PIN. Pasted from the live page (the City refuses automated fetches). Its "Attention Ward 10 voters" line confirms the misprinted letters. Voter information: "Voter Assistance Centres", City of Barrie. Original document. All six centres, including the Surface Water Treatment Plant added October 1, open the same four days: October 22 and 23, 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; Saturday October 24, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; October 26, 10 a.m.–8 p.m. The Clerk's procedures (§12.1(c)) print Saturday as 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; the City's current page is followed. Pasted from the live page. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

I'm from Barrie but study somewhere else

You can still vote in Barrie: voting is online or by touch-tone phone, so with your PIN you can vote from anywhere between October 16 and 26 (how it works). The letter goes to your address in Barrie. If you cannot get it, or it has gone missing, call (705) 728-VOTE (8683) or email Be.Counted@barrie.ca; a misplaced letter's PIN is deactivated when you report it. Where you study, you may be able to vote too, under the same student rule: that municipality's clerk runs its election and its voters' list.

Source: Voter information: "Look out for your voting PIN", City of Barrie.
Original document. Letters mailed from the last week of September; no PIN by October 13 means a Voter Assistance Centre with ID; a misplaced letter means calling or emailing at once, which deactivates the old PIN. Pasted from the live page (the City refuses automated fetches). Its "Attention Ward 10 voters" line confirms the misprinted letters. Retrieved October 7, 2026.

Which ward, and which school board?

Councillors are elected by ward, and 2026 uses new ward boundaries, so look up the address where you live in Barrie on find your ward, then see who is running. Your ballot also carries one school board trustee race, set by your school support rather than by any school you attend: which board is yours.

Is Student Vote running in Barrie schools?

Student Vote is a parallel election run by CIVIX in which students in grades 4 to 12 learn about the election and cast ballots for their official local candidates. CIVIX is running it alongside the 2026 Ontario municipal and school board elections; any school can take part, at no cost, with as many classes as it chooses, and the results are published after official voting closes on election day.

CIVIX has not yet published which Barrie schools have signed up or the date of Student Vote Day: as of October 15 its Ontario municipal site still shows the 2023 Toronto by-election. Teachers can register at studentvote.ca or 1-866-488-8775. This page will link the Barrie results once CIVIX posts them.

Source: Student Vote: Ontario municipal and school board elections (Current Programs), CIVIX.
Original document. A parallel election for grades 4 to 12, free to any Ontario school, in which students vote for their official local candidates; results published after voting closes on election day. As of October 15 the Ontario project site had not posted a 2026 Student Vote Day date or the schools taking part. Retrieved October 15, 2026.

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