September 30, 2026 • By Joedy Burdett, Candidate for Niagara Falls City Council
Transparency includes helping residents understand the information candidates receive and the responsibilities that come with it. Election signs and campaign messages are visible across Niagara Falls, but much of the work behind a campaign involves forms, instructions, notices and election resources.
I am explaining that process using the City’s candidate correspondence. Residents deserve to understand what candidates receive, how access works and how personal information must be handled.
The information behind a campaign
The process begins with filing nomination papers. Filing and certification are separate steps: the Clerk reviews nominations before certifying candidates. Election materials help candidates understand the requirements and deadlines that apply to their campaigns.
On August 25, Mike Stewart, the City of Niagara Falls’ Municipal Elections Coordinator, advised candidates that the City had established a Candidate Resource Hub through SharePoint. His notice explained that it would contain electronic copies of candidate-package documents, a poll map and election forms, including Form 4 — Financial Statement, which is required after the election.
On September 1, the City advised that the voters’ list had been uploaded. On September 30, Mr. Stewart sent maximum campaign expense-limit certificates for mayor, city council and English public and separate school board trustees, and advised that these were also available in the Hub.
These are ordinary election administration resources. Explaining them helps residents see the preparation and obligations behind a campaign.
Spending limits are not spending reports
The four certificates, dated September 30 and signed by City Clerk and Returning Officer William G. Matson, state the following general campaign expense limits:
| Office | Certified general expense limit |
|---|---|
| Mayor | $75,379.30 |
| City Councillor | $72,879.30 |
| English Public School Board Trustee | $62,127.65 |
| English Separate School Board Trustee | $15,282.45 |
These amounts do not tell us what any individual candidate has raised or spent. They are limits for the applicable categories of campaign expenses. Separate rules apply to expenses outside the general limit, post-voting appreciation expenses and campaign contributions. Actual campaign financial activity is reported in financial statements.
What is the voters’ list?
The voters’ list records eligible electors for the election. It is prepared using Elections Ontario registration data and helps officials identify who is entitled to vote and in which contests.
It is not simply a directory of everyone who lives in Niagara Falls. Voting eligibility also extends to qualifying non-resident property owners, tenants and their spouses, subject to the other legal requirements, including Canadian citizenship and being at least 18.
The voters’ list is also different from the public list of candidates. One identifies electors; the other identifies the people running for office.
All certified candidates can request access
Access is available to every certified candidate under the same statutory rules. A candidate may request in writing the portion relating to the office they are seeking, with the required written acknowledgement of the restrictions on use and sharing. For a City Council candidate, this concerns electors entitled to vote for that office.
Niagara Falls’ correspondence confirms that it provided its candidates with a secure Resource Hub through which the list was made available. This is access for election purposes, accompanied by responsibilities to protect the information.
What information does it contain?
Names and qualifying addresses are basic elector information. The preliminary data Elections Ontario supplies to municipal election officials can also contain identifiers, dates of birth, mailing addresses, ward and poll information, school-board support and residence status.
That does not establish that candidates receive every one of those fields. The exact columns in Niagara Falls’ candidate copy have not been inspected for this article. I am therefore not claiming that candidates receive dates of birth, telephone numbers or email addresses. The distinction between officials’ underlying registration data and the copy supplied to candidates matters.
The list does not reveal which candidates someone selects on their ballot.
Election use comes with responsibilities
Candidates may use the list for electoral purposes, including campaign outreach, but not commercial purposes. Before sharing it, they must obtain written acknowledgements. Recipients cannot pass it on. Candidates must track recipients, recover paper copies, obtain confirmation that electronic copies were destroyed and destroy their own copies by the campaign’s end. Required acknowledgements and destruction confirmations must be retained through November 15, 2030.
The City’s September 1 notice specifically directed candidates to the Ontario Candidates’ Guide and its Proper Use of the Voters’ List document. It also asked candidates to review applicable requirements concerning AI when sharing or using list information with campaign teams or third-party tools. That reminder should not be read as permission to upload voter information to an AI service.
Commercial use means business use; lawful campaign fundraising remains subject to the separate campaign finance rules.
What can residents access?
Ontario’s guidance describes the voters’ list as a public document from September 1. Residents can contact the City Clerk about public inspection arrangements and checking or correcting their own registration. Public inspection is different from publishing everyone’s information online.
Where disclosure would endanger a person’s life, health or security, a person can request redaction through Elections Ontario. An approved redaction keeps the person eligible to vote while excluding their information from copies provided to candidates and for public inspection.
This article contains no actual voters’ list records, private Resource Hub links or private voter information.
Know the process. Protect privacy.
The accompanying eight-panel skit illustrates the process. Its scenes, dates on illustrated screens and sample names and addresses are fictional examples, not reproductions of voter records, actual City documents or conversations with staff. Filing nomination papers begins the process; certification follows the Clerk’s review.
Transparency means giving residents clear explanations while respecting the responsibilities attached to the information. That is the approach I will continue to bring to my campaign and to public business.
Joedy Burdett
Candidate for Niagara Falls City Council
Responsible Budgets. No Surprises.
Sources
- City of Niagara Falls candidate correspondence from Mike Stewart: August 25, September 1 and September 30, 2026; four September 30 expense certificates reviewed. This article summarizes their general election information without reproducing private access details.
- Ontario 2026 Candidates’ Guide — The voters’ list
- Ontario 2026 Candidates’ Guide — Nominations
- Ontario 2026 Candidates’ Guide — Campaign finance
- Ontario 2026 Voters’ Guide — Eligibility to vote
- Ontario 2026 Voters’ Guide — Voters’ list and identification
- Municipal Elections Act, 1996 — particularly sections 23 and 88
- Elections Ontario — Guidelines for the Use of Electoral Products, preliminary data for local electoral events
- Niagara Falls public election information