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The quick read: Kelowna votes tomorrow, October 17, choosing one mayor, eight councillors, and four school trustees for the next four years. Today is your last shot at advance voting, with polls open until 8 p.m. at Parkinson Recreation Centre and MNP Place. Incumbent Tom Dyas faces challengers Ron Cannan and Andrew Uitvlugt in a race shaped by homelessness, public disorder, and a council that just locked in $2.9 billion in infrastructure spending. Whoever wins will spend it, so show up and have your say.

The talking is over.

After weeks of debates, forums, and lawn signs, Kelowna's 2026 municipal election comes down to Saturday, October 17.

On the ballot: one mayor, eight city councillors, and four school trustees, all serving four-year terms.

If you haven't voted yet, today's your final chance to skip the Saturday lines.

Advance polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at Parkinson Recreation Centre and MNP Place, according to the City of Kelowna.

Turnout so far has been respectable: the city says nearly 7,000 residents cast ballots in the first two days of advance voting, with 2,811 voting on October 7 and another 4,167 on October 10.

The marquee race is the mayor's chair.

Incumbent Tom Dyas is defending his seat against former MP and sitting councillor Ron Cannan, plus a third challenger, Andrew Uitvlugt.

Thirty-seven candidates are chasing the eight council seats, and six are running for the four school board spots.

The campaign has revolved around the issues Kelowna residents actually feel: street disorder, homelessness and addiction, traffic, and taxes.

Cannan has run as the change candidate, pitching a "campus of care" model for homelessness and addiction based on the Project Nexus site in Red Deer, a regional approach with Lake Country, Peachland and West Kelowna, an external core review of city services, and an end to what he calls "gold-plated parks," as reported by KelownaNow from the October 10 all-candidates forum.

Dyas has run on his record.

That record includes a council that, just twelve days before the vote, adopted a 2027–2036 capital plan forecasting roughly $2.9 billion in infrastructure investment.

Supporters call that planning.

Skeptics call it a blank cheque written days before the people who wrote it have to face the voters.

The outgoing council also handed itself pay raises during a tough economy and kept approving spending while many residents feel the basics — roads, safety, affordability — have gone backward.

That's the frustration the challengers are channeling.

Chief Election Officer Michael Jud put the stakes plainly: local government has a direct impact on everyday life, and everyone eligible should take the time to vote.

He's right.

Provincial and federal politics get the drama, but city hall sets your property tax, polices your streets, paves your roads, and decides what gets built in your neighbourhood.

You can complain about the results for four years, or you can pick the people who'll produce them tomorrow.

Get it done.