Municipal elections are just over a month away and as people prepare to head to the polls, ward boundaries will look different. Since the last election in 2022, Barrie has undergone significant growth in terms of population and city limits. There were 102,379 eligible voters in 2022 with 31,604 people casting their ballots, a 30.87 per cent voter turnout. Barrie’s 2024 growth report estimates 164,202 residents, and as of Jan. 1, 2026 annexed land from Springwater and Oro-Medonte. Ward 4 is on the move to the south end of Barrie, Wards 3 and 5 will take up where Ward 4 once was and Wards 7 and 10 decrease in size. Wendy Cook, clerk with the City of Barrie said the changes are due to the growing population. “Representation by population so that it’s more scaled across the city as opposed to like one having like 10,000 versus one having 2000,” said Cook. “So it was just to kind of equalize the representation across the wards.” Barrie residents will soon see voter notices in their mailboxes. “In the voter notices is a copy of the new word map and there’s a scan code, so you can go and scan to our website,” said Cook. “And it will direct you to the right board to ensure that you’re voting for the right candidates in the election.” Despite the boundary changes, Cook said the election process will be the same as the previous one in 2022. “We are still doing internet and telephone voting, ten days of continuous voting starting October 16th,” said Cook. “We will have call centers here at City Hall available during voting time and we’ve extended our hours. The extended hours will be on the on the voters notices.” Here is the breakdown: Ward 1: Ward 1 is located in the northeast area of the city: St. Vincent Street from Cundles Road East to Penetanguishene Road and some area to Line 1 South. Ward 2: Ward 2 remains mostly unchanged on the east side of Highway 400 west of St. Vincent Street and north of Tiffin Street. Ward 3: Ward 3 is now significantly larger than the election in 2022, taking over half of the previous Ward 4, expanding west to Anne Street North and south to Highway 400. Ward 4: Ward 4 is in an entirely new location beginning at the northeast corner of Allandale Station Park and Kempenfelt Bay moving east to the boundary line with Innisfil. It also is north of Big Bay Point Road and west of Huronia Road. Ward 5: Ward 5 also increases in size thanks to Ward 4 moving to the south end of the city. Ward 5 consists of the area west of Anne Street North and north of Tiffin Street. Ward 6: Ward 6 looks similar in size to most and covers west of Highway 400 between Tiffin Street and Mapleton Avenue. Ward 7: Ward 7 saw its boundaries get slashed to almost half of what it used to be. Ward 7 remains west of Highway 400 beginning at Essa Road and south of Mapleton Avenue, between County Road 27 and just west of Veteran’s Drive. Ward 8: Ward 8 encroaches on what used to be Ward 7. It begins at the intersection of Highway 400 and Tiffin Street and moves east along Lakeshore Drive. It then goes south predominately on Huronia Road to the city limits and west towards McKay Road West. Ward 9: Ward 9 remains unchanged from previous elections. Ward 10: Parts of Ward 10 from 2022 are now known as Ward 4. Ward 10 now stretches north of Lockhart Road between 20th Sideroad and just west of the area known as St. Paul’s. You can find an updated map of the changes here.
