Running For Office

Running For Office

Candidate Eligibility

A person is qualified to be nominated, elected, and to hold office as a member of local government if they meet the following criteria:
  • Canadian citizen; and
  • 18 years of age or older on general voting day: Saturday, November 15, 2014; and
  • resident of British Columbia for at least 6 months immediately before the day nomination papers are filed; and
  • not disqualified under the Local Government Act or any other enactment from being nominated for, being elected to or holding the office, or be otherwise disqualified by law.
A person is specifically disqualified as a candidate for office they fall within any of the following categories:
  • are a Judge of the Provincial Court, Supreme Court or Court of Appeal; or
  • are an employee or salaried officer of the local government [unless a leave of absence is taken to run for office and agrees to resign if elected]; including if you are running as a regional district electoral area director when employed by a municipality which is a member of that regional district; or
  • are under sentence for an indictable offence and are in custody or in prison; or
  • are disqualified from candidacy under any law or enactment (ie failure to file a candidate disclosure statement in the previous election, not making an oath of office, etc)
For further information on disqualification due to financing disclosure requirements, please see the Inspector of Municipalities' List of Disqualified Candidates.

To become a candidate for any local government office, a person must be nominated by two people who are qualified to vote - either as a resident or non-resident property elector in the Elector Area that the candidate is running for office. [Any person who is entitled to make a nomination may sign as many nomination documents as there are offices to be filled]. A candidate should be prepared to have additional nominators in the event one or both of the two original people are not eligible to be a nominator."

Nomination Papers

Candidates may file nomination papers with the Chief Election Officer at the RDN Administration Office during the Nomination Period, 9:00 am Tuesday, September 30, 2014 and ending at 4:00 pm Friday, October 10, 2014. Those persons unable to deliver nominations in person may swear the documents before a commissioner for taking affidavits in BC and mail, deliver or fax documents to the attention of the Chief Election Officer by the deadline; however, if sent by facsimile, the CEO must receive the originals by 4:30 pm on Friday, October 17, 2014. From the time of receipt, the nomination documents are available to the public for inspection at the RDN Administration Office.

Nominations packages are now available for pick up at the RDN Administration Office. Nomination packages for Islands Trust Trustee are also available for pick up at the Islands Trust office on Gabriola Island.

Term of Office

Please note, in May 2014 the Province approved changing the terms of office for local government elected officials from three years to four years, commencing with the 2014 General Local Elections. For additional information please see Local Government Elections Reform.

Additional Resources and Guides

For additional information please see Resources and FAQ for Voters and Candidates.