Abbotsford School District By-election

Voters

To be eligible to vote, you must be:
- 18 years of age
- A Canadian citizen
- A resident of BC for the last 6 months
- A resident of the City of Abbotsford
Note: If you are a non-resident property owner, please see the "Non-Resident Property Elector" tab below.

Identification Requirements

Electors must submit 2 pieces of identification that, together, provide evidence of your residency and identity. One item must contain your signature. Please note that your voter card cannot be used as identification.

Examples of acceptable identification:
- Government ID (Care Card, Driver’s licence, SIN, BC ID, Passport)
- Utility Bill
- Credit Card
- Property tax notice
- BC Property Assessment Notice
Voters may view the full voter list at City Hall between August 26 and September 5, provided that they sign a Statement to View the Elector List. If a person would like to have their name not visible to the public, please complete the Request to Obscure or Remove Name Form and send it to ElectionOffice@abbotsford.ca. If a person wishes to challenge an elector who is registered on the voter list, please complete the Objection to Registration of an Elector and send it to ElectionOffice@ abbotsford.ca.

Forms
If you own property in the City of Abbotsford but you live elsewhere in BC, you are eligible to vote if you meet all the following qualifications to vote:
- 18 years of age or older on election day
- a Canadian citizen
- a resident of British Columbia for at least 6 months prior to voting
- an owner of real property in the City of Abbotsford for at least 30 days prior to voting
- an individual not holding the real property in trust for a corporation or any other trust
- not entitled to vote as a resident elector in the City of Abbotsford
- not voting as a non-resident property elector in relation to any other parcel of real property in the City of Abbotsford
- if there is more than one individual who is the registered owner, only one individual may register and vote in relation to the real property and the person doing so must have received the written consent of the majority of individuals registered as owners of the real property
- not disqualified by law from voting
Vote in Person as a non-resident property elector:

Non-resident electors must vote in-person (see the "Vote in Person" section in the next tab).

If the property is owned by multiple individuals, please ensure you complete the consent form which needs to signed by the majority of owners.

Identification Requirements

Electors must submit 2 pieces of identification that, together, provide evidence of your residency and identity. One item must contain your signature. In addition, the non-resident elector must provide proof of ownership.

Examples of acceptable identification:
- Government ID (Care Card, Driver’s licence, SIN, BC ID, Passport)
- Utility Bill
- Credit Card
- Property tax notice
- Land Title Office Title Search
- BC Property Assessment Notice
Forms
- NRPE Application Form
- NRPE Consent Form
Advanced Voting Days:
Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and Saturday, October 4, 2025, from 8 am to 8 pm
- Legacy Sports Centre at Abbotsford Exhibition Park (3270 Trethewey Street)
General Voting Day:
Saturday, October 11, 2025, from 8 am to 8 pm at any of the following locations:
- Eugene Reimer Middle School (3433 Firhill Drive)
- Yale Secondary School (34620 Old Yale Road)
- Aberdeen Elementary School (2975 Bradner Road)
- Semá:th Elementary School (36321 Vye Road)

Candidates

View the 2025 School District By-Election Official Results
View the 2025 School District By-Election Unofficial Results
View the Notice of Nomination
View the Declaration of Election By Voting

Declaration of Candidate
A person may view the unredacted nomination documents at City Hall.

Declaration of Candidates

Election Workers

Do you enjoy making a positive impact in your community? Are you interested in seeing democracy in action? The City of Abbotsford is looking for people to join our elections team for a fun and rewarding experience. We have a variety of positions to suit different skills sets and interests.

Workers will be hired for the following positions for October 1, 4 and October 11, 2025 from 7 am - 9 pm:
- Presiding Election Official (PEO) – Supervise a Voting Location
- Assistant Presiding Election Official (APEO) – Assist with supervising the Voting Location
- Election Official (EO) – Assist voters by confirming identification, completing appropriate forms, and tracking ballots with an electronic voting list, greeting, assisting with curbside voting, assisting with the voting machine
Our team members must be:
- 18 years old or older
- Friendly and enjoy working with the public
- Comfortable working on a computer or laptop
- Fluent in English, other languages welcomed

Elector Q&A

A resident elector is an individual who meets the following criteria:
- Canadian citizen;
- 18 years or older on the date of the registration to be an elector;
- A resident of B.C. at least 6 months before the date you are registered to vote (if you are not already on the voters’ list); and
- A person who lives in the City of Abbotsford;
- Not be disqualified under the School Act or any other enactment from being nominated for, being elected to or holding office as a trustee, or be otherwise disqualified by law.
A corporation cannot be a resident elector.
A non-resident property owner elector is a person who does not live in the City of Abbotsford but does own property in the City of Abbotsford. To be eligible as a non-resident property elector, a person must meet the following criteria:
- Not entitled to be registered as a resident elector of the City;
- Canadian citizen;
- 18 years or older on the date of the by-election;
- A resident of B.C. at least 6 months before the date you are registered to vote (if you are not already on the voters’ list);
- Has been a registered owner of real property in the City for at least 30 days immediately before the day of registration; and
- Not be disqualified under the School Act or any other enactment from being nominated for, being elected to or holding office as a trustee, or be otherwise disqualified by law.
If there are more than one person who are registered owners of the real property in the City of Abbotsford (either as joint tenants or tenants in common), then a majority of the registered owners must indicate which among them will be the person who is eligible to vote. (For example, if there are only 2 property owners, then both must sign the consent form. If there are 3 property owners, then 2 out of 3 must sign the consent form.).

You may only register as a non-resident property elector in relation to one (1) parcel of real property in the City of Abbotsford. No corporation is entitled to be registered as an elector or have a representative registered as an elector and no corporation is entitled to vote.

Please contact the Elections Office to obtain the necessary forms to register as a non-resident property elector with the consent of the other registered property owners.
You may request a mail ballot package between Monday August 18 and Friday September 19. Then once the ballots are ready, you can pick up the mail ballot package or you can have someone else pick it up on your behalf (with your authorization). It is possible to send the mail package to you; however, there is no guarantee that you will receive it in sufficient time. Contact the Elections Office to make your request for a mail ballot package.
You can contact the Elections Office as follows:
- Phone number - 604-851-VOTE (8683)
- Email - ElectionOffice@abbotsford.ca

Candidate Q & A

To be a candidate in the upcoming by-election, you need to meet the following criteria to be nominated:
- Canadian citizen;
- 18 years or older on the date of the by-election;
- A resident of B.C. at least 6 months before the date you submit the nomination papers; and
- Not be disqualified under the School Act or any other enactment from being nominated for, being elected to or holding office as a trustee, or be otherwise disqualified by law.
You need to submit a complete nomination package which includes the following items:
- CS2 – Nomination Documents
  
  Page 1 – signed by the 2 nominators and signed by the nominee;
  
  Page 3 – solemn declaration signed by the nominee and witnessed by a commissioner for taking affidavits in BC (if not the Chief Election Officer);
  
  Page 2 – is not needed because you do not need more than 2 nominators.
- C3 – Other Information provided by the nominee; and
- Financial Disclosure Act – Statement of Disclosure Form.
Remember that it is your responsibility to submit a completed, error-free nomination package. The Chief Election Officer is not responsible for making corrections to your nomination package. We recommend you book an appointment to submit your nomination papers early in the nomination period. This way, you will have sufficient time to re-submit if there are any problems with your nomination papers.
You only need to submit the following documents at the same time as you submit nomination papers or at the latest before the close of the nomination period (4 pm on Friday, September 5), if applicable to your situation:
- CS4 – Appointment of Financial Agent (This is the person who is responsible for your campaign finances and expenses. If you do not appoint a financial agent, then you will be your own financial agent. Then you do not need to complete the form.); and
- CS5 – Appointment of Candidate Official Agent (This is the person who may act on your behalf for dealing with elections matters. If you do not appoint a candidate official agent, then you will be your own official agent. Then, you do not need to complete the form.)
  
  You may submit the following documents at any time during the election, if applicable to your situation:
- Form 8-6 – Candidate Information Release Authorization (This form allows the Chief Election Officer to share your contact information with anyone who requests it.); and
- CS6 – Appointment of Candidate Scrutineers (This is the person who will be your representative at the voting places to observe the proceedings. You can have as many scrutineers as there are voting places but there can only 1 scrutineer per voting place at any time. Each candidate scrutineer must have their own appointment form so you may make as many copies of this form as you like.)
You need two (2) people who are qualified to be electors in the City of Abbotsford School District. They can be residents of the City, or they can be non-residents who own property within the electoral boundaries. You are responsible for ensuring that they are eligible to nominate you. They can check with the Election Office to see if they are on Voter’s List to help ensure that they meet the qualifications.
No but it is highly recommended that you do book an appointment with the Chief Election Officer or the Deputy Chief Election Officer. The appointment will not take long – about 10 to 15 minutes. During that time, the Election Officer will review the nomination package to ensure that there are no errors on the nomination papers and to witness the signing of the declaration of your intention to run for office. At that time, the Election Officer can identify if anything what needs to be changed to submit the nomination papers properly. There is no charge for witnessing the declaration.
Yes, you can so long as the nomination papers are submitted by the deadline and as long as the declaration on page 3 of Form CS2 has been witnessed by a commissioner for taking oaths in BC (usually a lawyer or a notary public, if not an Election Officer). You then have an additional responsibility to provide the original signed nomination papers to the Chief Election Officer by 4 pm on Friday, September 12, 2025.

Just remember that if there are any problems with the nomination package, you may not have sufficient time in which to fix the errors and to re-submit the nomination package before the deadline.
At 4 pm on Friday, September 5, the Chief Election Officer will declare all nominees who have submitted complete and error-free nomination packages as candidates in the by-election.

Then, there is a waiting period between Friday, September 5 and 4 pm on Tuesday, September 9 during which anyone may challenge the nomination of any of the candidates. A challenge may be made only by an elector, another nominee, or the chief election officer. The challenge may only be made for one or more of the following grounds:
1. The nominee is not qualified to be nominated or to be elected;
2. The nomination was not properly made in accordance with the legislation; or
3. The usual name given in the nomination documents is not the person’s usual name.
The last important deadline is 4 p.m. on Friday, September 12, prior to there being a declaration of election by voting. First, any candidate who submitted their nomination documents by fax or by email must submit to the Chief Election Officer the originals signed nomination documents. Second, any nominee who wishes to withdraw from the election process must submit their written request to withdraw by that time.
At 4 pm on Monday, September 15, the Chief Election Officer will see how many candidates there are whose nominations are not challenged. If there is only one candidate, then the Chief Election Officer will declare that the candidate is elected by acclamation and there will be no election on October 11. If there is more than one candidate, then the Chief Election Officer will declare that there will be an election by voting and there will be an election on October 11.

Curbside Collection for Flood-Damaged Properties on January 3