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Islanders across more than 50 communities will be voting in the municipal election on Nov. 2, but for residents in the Town of Souris, it will be a regular day.
The town’s entire council — including its mayor — has already been elected by acclamation, which is when a candidate wins because no one ran against them.
Souris is just one example of the many communities across the province that are seeing no competition among municipal candidates.
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There are 400 positions up for grabs across 56 municipalities, but many of those positions have already been acclaimed. According to P.E.I.’s unofficial election results, all positions in 27 municipalities have been acclaimed.
Satya Sen, executive director of the Federation of P.E.I. Municipalities, said in order to attract more people to run for local office, the best start is through reform.
“Most of these smaller municipalities do not adequately pay or councillors are not remunerated well,” he said.
“People are not politicians in the sense of provincial politics or federal politics. They’re community leaders in many ways.”
“These are voluntary positions but sometimes the work is beyond what is described in the black letters of law,” he added, referring to smaller, rural communities.
“You’re taking calls from residents at odd hours. [Hearing out] their complaints about things in the municipality that they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis, constituency work, ward work.”
Sen also said that there needs to be an improved understanding of how local governments work so potential candidates know what they’re signing up for — in regards to both the workload and the challenges.
“There are barriers for people of colour and women politicians, [there is] the constant harassment of local officials in different issues, so that’s something that needs to be addressed,” he said.
Confusion in the general public about the different responsibilities of the three levels of government often leads municipal officials to face great amounts of harassment, Sen said, noting that even their “family’s not spared.”
“It’s a lot of work [and] there is no incentive for people to run unless you create those incentives,” Sen said.
‘I think if you’re going to do a good job as a councillor or mayor, that there’s a lot of time that you have to spend [working],’ says Debbie Johnson, the current mayor of Three Rivers. (Ken Linton/CBC)
Debbie Johnson, the current mayor of Three Rivers, is not seeking re-election this year. She said to run for office, at any government level, having thick skin is a must.
“It’s not unique to P.E.I., but it is a syndrome all across Canada maybe since COVID [that] social media has just been much more active in regards to political figures,” she said.
“Some people can endure that and some can’t.”
According to 2025 data collected by the Canadian Municipal Barometer, increased harassment is a major reason local officials either resign or decide not to re-offer. Specifically, 63 per cent of municipal politicians surveyed stated they had experienced some form of harassment, whether verbal, physical, online or another kind.
In December 2025, the P.E.I. government launched the Municipal Leaders Talk program, in which mayors, councillors and chief administrative officers could seek counselling services.
Johnson said her advice to those who want to run is to prepare for the workload and “be ready to take criticism.”
“I think if you’re going to do a good job as a councillor or mayor, that there’s a lot of time that you have to spend [working],” she said.
“I’ve been in the office almost every day as the mayor, and I think that’s important to keep track of everything that’s going on in the town.”
Sen said he thinks keeping an eye on voter turnout, how many people run for office, and even organizing a post-election orientation for newly elected and returning officials would be helpful to increase civic engagement overall.
“Get yourself informed and participate in democracy like it’s yours because you are part of it,” he said.
“You have a stake in this democracy and your vote matters a lot.”