Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
TL;DR: Surrey is picking a mayor on Saturday, October 17, 2026. Seven candidates are on the ballot, including the sitting mayor, a former mayor trying to take his old job back, and a lawyer who lost a provincial race by 22 votes and decided to go bigger. Taxes, cops, and transit are the whole election. Here is every candidate, what they are actually promising, and where the fights are.
When and how to vote
Election day is Saturday, October 17, 2026, polls open 8 am to 8 pm. Advance voting runs October 7, 10, 14 and 15. You are voting for one mayor, eight councillors and six school trustees. If you live in Surrey and you are 18 or older and a Canadian citizen, you are in.
1. Brenda Locke, Surrey Connect (the incumbent)
Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
Locke has been mayor since October 2022, when she beat Doug McCallum by 973 votes. Before that she was a councillor who broke with McCallum's slate to start her own.
She just dropped the biggest platform of the race. On October 1, flanked by her slate and fresh off an endorsement from the Surrey Fire Fighters Association, she unveiled a $1.496 billion capital plan: $625 million for recreation and culture, $484.5 million for public safety, $211.5 million for parks and $175 million for streets and transportation. Taxes stay at or below inflation, she says.
Her pitch is basically "look at the receipts." Her campaign points to 140 new police officers hired in 2025, a $250,000 reward fund to fight extortion, 80 new firefighters, and housing permit times cut dramatically from the McCallum era.
The headache she cannot shake: ousted Surrey police chief Norm Lipinski is suing over his firing, with allegations that reach into the mayor's office. McCallum is demanding an independent investigation. That file is not going away before election day.
2. Doug McCallum, Safe Surrey Coalition (the comeback)
McCallum ran this city for 13 years across two stints (1996 to 2005, 2018 to 2022) and he wants it back. He announced his return on April 13, 2026 under the slogan "Doug Gets It Done."
His headline promise is the boldest tax pledge in the race: zero percent property tax increases for four years. On crime he is talking zero tolerance on extortion, more boots on the ground, and a Surrey police helicopter within 90 days of taking office. He also wants SkyTrain extended to Newton, a new pool for Clayton Heights and heritage protection for Crescent Beach and Ocean Park.
You remember the "toe gate" saga from 2021, the parking lot incident that led to a public mischief charge. He was found not guilty in November 2022. His supporters call it old news. His opponents will not let it stay that way.
3. Honveer Singh Randhawa, Conservative (the 22-vote candidate)
Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
Randhawa's origin story is the wildest on this ballot. In October 2024 he ran for the BC Conservatives in Surrey-Guildford and lost to the NDP's Garry Begg by 22 votes after a judicial recount. He spent nearly a year fighting the result in court and at Elections BC, a fight reported to cost over $200,000. Elections BC eventually found no deliberate wrongdoing and he walked away. Months later he announced for mayor.
He is a Surrey kid, QE Secondary class of 2005, nursing and law degrees from the University of Manitoba, called to the BC bar in 2015, and founder of the Randhawa Law Centre on 80th Avenue.
His platform is built for sticker shock. $600 off every residential property tax bill, then a four year freeze. City funded water meters he says will cut water bills in half. On safety: hiring past the 860 officer target, a tactical training centre, a school liaison officer in every high school cluster, and police drones with footage wiped after 24 hours. His newest release, on September 24, named a firm site for a Surrey-Newton hospital at 6965 King George Boulevard and promised a public task force reporting every quarter.
The flashpoint: at his launch he proposed a parent committee to review library materials and removing SOGI materials from classrooms, without naming any specific material. The Surrey Citizen framed it as a possible book ban. Watch how he handles that at the forums.
4. Linda Annis, Surrey First (the councillor)
Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
Annis has been on council since 2018 and topped the polls in 2022. By day she runs Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers. She announced her mayoral run in September 2025.
She is running on what she calls a "contract with the community." The big items: finish the police transition, hire an independent auditor general to review every city program, cut permit wait times, free rec admission for kids and youth, a public question period at every council meeting, and no more school portables.
She has picked two fights that define her campaign. She wants light rail connecting neighbourhoods, which got her nicknamed "Light Rail Linda" by rival Mike Starchuk. And she wants to kill the proposed 10,000 seat City Centre arena, questioning its financing after the mayor described it as a public private partnership at a September 16 debate. Full disclosure: we covered that debate moment ourselves.
5. Mike Starchuk, Imagine Surrey (the fire chief turned MLA)
Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
Starchuk spent 32 years with Surrey Fire Services, served on council from 2014 to 2018, then sat as the NDP MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale from 2020 to 2024. He founded Imagine Surrey in December 2025.
His five commitments: safe streets, fast commutes, smart investments, lower costs, strong services. "Crushing extortion" is his number one. He wants the police transition finished, three rapid bus routes plus future SkyTrain toward South Surrey, tax hikes capped at inflation, rec fees cut in half for seniors, free swim lessons for kids five and under, and three new community centres. He supports an arena but not the current deal.
He is also the race's most aggressive debater so far. At his April launch he went after Annis, Locke and McCallum all at once. In September he floated a Senakw style partnership offering city land for First Nations led rental housing. He is running like someone with nothing to lose.
6. Troy Van-Vliet, Surrey Now (the builder)
Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
Van-Vliet is a South Surrey builder and business owner, principal of the Tavan development group, and founder of St. John Paul II Academy, the area's newest school. He announced April 19, 2026 and launched his campaign at the school campus on May 2. By most accounts he is a first time candidate.
His "12 Commitments" cover community policing, lighting and park safety, action on encampments, housing with a rent to own path to ownership, schools keeping up with growth, city hall transparency, and faster permitting. He is selling himself as the guy who has spent 30 years literally building Surrey and wants to run it the same way.
No scandals, no viral moments so far. In a race this loud, quiet might be a strategy.
7. Igal Ammons-II, New Surrey+ (the wildcard)
Photo credit: City of Surrey. Official source.
Ammons is a family counsellor, author and educator, and easily the least known name on the ballot. His party, New Surrey+, only registered with Elections BC in May 2026.
His platform has 12 points and one genuinely unusual promise: he will serve a single self imposed term, fix what he calls city hall's core issues, and hand leadership over. The platform includes tackling extortion at its root, homeownership paths for students, a staffed clinic in each of Surrey's six neighbourhoods, no overcrowded schools, and one flat transit fare from West Vancouver to Abbotsford.
He showed up at the September 23 Cloverdale mayoral forum with the rest of the field, pitching "outside the box" ideas. Whether voters reward the outsider energy remains to be seen.
The issues that will decide this
Taxes: McCallum says freeze them at zero for four years. Randhawa says cut $600 then freeze. Locke and Starchuk say cap hikes at inflation. Somebody's math is wrong, and the debates should expose whose.
Policing and extortion: literally every candidate is talking about it. The difference is in the toys. McCallum wants a helicopter in 90 days. Randhawa wants drones. Locke points to 140 officers already hired. Starchuk says finish the transition and crush it.
Transit: SkyTrain to Langley is under construction. After that it splits. McCallum wants it to Newton. Annis wants light rail. Starchuk wants rapid buses and eventually SkyTrain south.
The arena: Locke is pushing the 10,000 seat City Centre arena as a public private partnership. Annis wants it dead. Starchuk wants a better deal. This is the sleeper fight of the election.
What happens next
The Board of Trade hosts a mayoral forum on October 7. Advance polls open the same day. Spending disclosures will land after the campaign, and that is when the real story of who funded what gets told.
At Apna News we are tracking all seven campaigns through election day: the coverage, the interviews, the languages, the money. We have asked every candidate to sit down with us. If you have a question for any of them, send it in and we will put it to them.
See you at the polls on October 17.