Ahead of Ontario’s October municipal elections, the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario is urging candidates and voters to focus on what local councils can actually do: build more housing inside existing communities, protect food and water systems, and make it easier to get around without depending on a car.
By Staff Writer
As Richmond Hill heads toward the 2026 municipal election, a provincial advocacy alliance is asking voters and candidates to widen the conversation beyond signs, slogans and campaign promises.
The Alliance for a Liveable Ontario has released its “Building a Liveable Ontario Roadmap for Municipalities,” a 10-point guide aimed at shaping municipal election debates across the province. The roadmap was published April 23 and is intended to inform discussions before residents elect new councils in October.
For Richmond Hill voters, the document touches on several issues already central to local debate: where new housing should go, whether growth should happen through outward expansion or existing neighbourhoods, how cities should pay for infrastructure, and whether transportation planning should keep prioritizing car dependency.
The first section of the roadmap calls on municipalities to “build liveable neighbourhoods” by supporting housing within existing communities, opposing municipal boundary expansions for new development, prioritizing missing-middle and midrise housing, and making walking, cycling and public transit more practical options.
That message lands directly in Richmond Hill, where much of the election conversation is expected to revolve around growth, intensification, traffic, parking, and neighbourhood change. The roadmap’s emphasis is not simply “more housing,” but more housing in places where services, roads, parks, schools, sewers and transit already exist or can be upgraded efficiently.
It also asks municipalities to ensure new development comes with the social and physical infrastructure communities need. In practical terms, that means voters can ask candidates not only whether they support housing, but whether they have a plan for the parks, sidewalks, libraries, community spaces, water systems and safe streets that should come with growth.
The roadmap’s second theme is food and water security. The Alliance urges municipalities to preserve farmland and buffer lands, protect natural areas and watersheds, and support protection and expansion of the Greenbelt.
That point matters in York Region, where debates about growth often include pressure to open new land for development. The roadmap takes a clear position: communities should first make better use of existing urban areas before expanding outward into farmland or natural systems.
A third section focuses on affordable housing. The Alliance calls on municipalities to prioritize affordable housing operated by non-profit housing providers, request that provincial and federal governments make public land available at no cost for non-profit housing, and join initiatives that pair municipal land with non-profit providers ready to create permanent non-market housing.
For Richmond Hill, where many residents are feeling squeezed by housing costs, the roadmap offers a way to push candidates beyond general statements about “affordability.” Voters can ask whether candidates support using public land, partnerships and local planning tools to create homes that remain affordable over time.
The Alliance is also encouraging residents to share the roadmap, talk to candidates about it, and use it as part of local election discussions.
Richmond Hill’s municipal election will be held on October 26, 2026. Voters will elect a mayor, up to two regional councillors, a local councillor and school board trustees. Candidate nominations opened May 1 and close at 2 p.m. on August 21.
Online voting in Richmond Hill is scheduled to run from October 20 at 10 a.m. until Voting Day on October 26 at 8 p.m. In-person voting will also be available October 24, October 25 and on Voting Day.
As the campaign develops, the roadmap gives voters a simple test: does a candidate’s platform make Richmond Hill more financially sustainable, more walkable, more housing-ready and better protected from costly outward sprawl?
For residents who want the election to be about more than name recognition, it may offer a useful starting point.