Council seats in Kitchener are spread thin, 29,450 residents each, more than in 98% of Ontario municipalities

Who to ask

Green: municipal. Gold: provincial. Grey: federal.

Waterloo Region is the upper tier over Kitchener, a lower-tier municipality.

1. 1

   Kitchener councilelected October 2022
   Berry Vrbanovic
2. 2

   Legislative Assembly of OntarioKitchener—Conestoga
3. 3

   House of CommonsKitchener—Conestoga
   Tim Louis

Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. MPs: Wikidata (CC0), 45th Parliament statements, read 7 November 2026; ridings: 2023 Representation Order, Statistics Canada

11 members and how they were elected

Berry Vrbanovic won 80% of the votes cast for mayor. Seats on Kitchener council are tied to wards, apart from the mayor, whom every voter helps choose.

Councils: Ontario 2022 Municipal Election data, MMAH (OGL-Ontario)

20% of those on the list cast a ballot for Kitchener council on 24 October 2022, fewer than in a typical municipality.

How Highland West voted: same source as Councillors, above.

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario was last elected on 27 February 2025, and the House of Commons on 28 April 2025. Under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, Kitchener’s next municipal vote is on 28 October 2030, the fourth Monday in October every four years. The 2025 results are left out because elections.ca’s terms forbid commercial reproduction; the open catalogue’s latest is 2021.

Election dates: the legislatures, MMAH and MAMH

By law (the Representation Act, 2015), southern Ontario’s provincial ridings follow the 2013 federal boundaries, so each place is located from those. Kitchener—Conestoga takes in Highland West and elects its MPP to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Southern Ontario ridings: the 2013 federal boundaries (Representation Act, 2015), Statistics Canada

Tim Louis is one of 71 Liberal Party of Canada MPs among the 122 from Ontario.

The MP’s record

First elected in 2019, Tim Louis is serving the 3rd term of a Commons career. Had the 2021 ballots been cast in today’s Kitchener—Conestoga, the Liberal Party of Canada would have led with 38%; Tim Louis held it for them in 2025.

MPs: Wikidata (CC0), 45th Parliament statements, read 7 November 2026; ridings: 2023 Representation Order, Statistics Canada · MPs’ records: Wikidata (CC0), positions held and party memberships, read 8 November 2026

In 2021, 68% of electors cast a ballot in Kitchener—Conestoga, more than the national 63%. Kitchener—Conestoga elected Tim Louis (Liberal Party of Canada) in 2021: 39% of the vote, a lead of 577 over Carlene Hawley (Conservative Party of Canada). In 2019, Tim Louis had won the same riding with 40%.

Federal results: Elections Canada, 43rd and 44th general elections and the 44th’s transposition to the 2023 ridings, via open.canada.ca. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada

Kitchener council carried $79.3M of long-term debt, $270 per resident against a typical $440. Local taxpayers carry a smaller share than elsewhere: 27% of revenue, where the province’s returns show 42%. It employs the equivalent of 1,386 full-time positions, or 4.7 for each thousand people. At 26% of spending ($416 a resident), water, sewers and waste leads the budget. At $1,612 for every resident in 2024, Kitchener council sits below the $1,901 median of Ontario’s lower-tier municipalities. Waterloo Region, the upper tier, spent another $2,285 per resident of its whole area, most of it on social services and child care.

Money: Financial Information Return 2024, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.

How Kitchener council compares is at the top of the page; here it stands beside its neighbours.

Residents: 2021 Census; seats: the province’s council list