Compare candidates

Horwath says she is building more housing, attracting investment and securing senior-government support.

• Says 'We are building Hamilton: building more housing, attracting investment and finally securing the support from other levels of government our city deserves.'
• Is running for re-election to 'build on that momentum,' citing knowledge of the job and a record of results.

Confidence:High

This candidate has spoken about this issue more than once. Each statement is shown with its own source.

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Reduce homelessness with measurable results: stable housing and retention tracked publicly.

• Measure how many people move into stable housing and remain there
• Work with housing providers, health and social services, province

Confidence:High

Cooper set a goal of zero homelessness within four years.

• Frames homelessness as mental health, drug addiction, trauma and violent crime.
• Sets a goal of zero homelessness in four years, with details on his campaign website.

Confidence:High

Transition rehabilitated participants from healthcare hubs into permanent supportive housing.

• Repurpose abandoned buildings into healthcare hubs
• Move participants into permanent supportive housing

Confidence:High

Gillespie centres her platform on affordable housing, tenant protections and community-led safety.

• As mayor would prioritize community-led safety initiatives, affordable housing, and a thriving arts sector.
• Has fought for tenant protections and infrastructure maintenance at CityHousing Hamilton.
• Platform priorities include housing, tenant protections, climate justice, transparency at city hall, community-led initiatives and strengthening the arts sector.

Confidence:High

Horwath proposed a 4.25% 2026 tax increase, framed as holding the line on affordability while funding roads, infrastructure and transit.

• Set a proposed 2026 tax budget increase of 4.25%, framed as 'holding the line on affordability.'
• Says the budget focuses on fixing roads, renewing aging infrastructure, investing in transit and supporting community safety.
• Says the city must work smarter, find efficiencies and ensure tax dollars are used wisely.

Confidence:High

This candidate has spoken about this issue more than once. Each statement is shown with its own source.

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Push disciplined spending with transparent, timely financial reporting.

• Timely financial reporting and stronger oversight
• Disciplined approach to spending

Confidence:High

Cooper would cap tax increases at the rate of inflation, arguing past tax hikes delivered worse services.

• His plan is to cap property tax increases at the rate of inflation: never higher, sometimes lower.
• Cites a 23% tax increase over the last four years alongside worse roads, violent crime and homelessness, arguing 'throwing money against problems' made life worse.
• Criticizes city budgeting as having 'no actuals, no benchmarks, no peer data' and service levels from 2014, calling the budget 'a guess.'
• Says he decided to run for mayor after being ruled out of order for trying to cap taxes as a councillor, being told only the mayor can set the tax rate under strong mayor powers.

Confidence:High

Cut taxes by restructuring redundant city hall positions and tracking every dollar publicly.

• Restructure redundant city hall positions
• Track every dollar spent on a live database

Confidence:High

Cut pragmatic spending; scrutinize procurement, consultants and cost overruns for measurable outcomes.

• Publish clearer performance and spending information
• Scrutinize procurement, consultants and cost overruns

Confidence:High

Horwath: downtown safety beyond policing — Jackson Square substation, more patrols, a behaviour code, cleaner streets.

• Downtown safety plan includes a Jackson Square police substation and increased downtown patrols.
• A downtown code of behaviour setting shared expectations, plus stepped-up cleaning and maintenance.
• Neighbourhood watch and seniors watch programs so communities look out for each other.

Confidence:High

Target high-crime areas with the police chief and community leaders to make Hamilton safer.

• Work with Hamilton police chief and community leaders
• Target high-crime areas for all citizens' safety

Confidence:High

Address open drug use and the mental health crisis as a top priority.

• Tackle open drug use and the mental health crisis

Confidence:High

This candidate has spoken about this issue more than once. Each statement is shown with its own source.

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Fromm (CAFE, Aug 2026): police must preserve order, not censor opinion; taxpayers deserve politically neutral policing.

• Responding to Hamilton Police's outreach about a Dominion Society venue booking, says police should preserve order, not censor opinion.
• Says taxpayers have the right to expect politically neutral policing that upholds free speech.

Confidence:High

Cooper names violent crime a top priority and wants Hamilton to be the safest city in Ontario.

• Names violent crime as a top priority alongside taxes, citing indiscriminate gun violence including stray bullets killing bystanders.
• Says Hamilton is 'unsafe and dangerous' and argues the problem must be defined before it can be fixed.
• Wants Hamilton to be the safest place in Ontario.

Confidence:High

Make reducing crime one of three top mayoral priorities.

• Eliminate homelessness, decrease taxes and reduce crime

Confidence:High

Gillespie: police can't be the only response to emergencies; invest in community-led crisis response and prevention instead.

• Strengthen community-based crisis response and prevention programs.
• Expand violence interruption and youth support initiatives.
• Expand access to mental health, addiction and housing supports.

Confidence:High

Horwath says she is making transit more affordable and moving forward with the LRT.

• Make transit more affordable
• Move forward with the LRT while improving transit options citywide

Confidence:High

Would cancel the LRT and instead prioritize reliable, frequent bus service, protected bike lanes and faster boarding.

• Cancel the LRT, which he says will hurt businesses and be expensive to repair
• Prioritize bus service in key corridors, protected bike lanes, better sidewalk connections and faster boarding

Confidence:High

Fully implement HSR Next and improve sidewalks and active transportation.

• Fully implement HSR Next
• Improve sidewalks and active transportation

Confidence:High

This candidate has spoken about this issue more than once. Each statement is shown with its own source.

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Loomis's 100-day agenda starts with hiring the city manager and passing a budget.

• Top items of his first 100-day agenda: hire the next city manager (calls it the most important and first decision), get the first budget passed, and make an appreciable downtown impact on homelessness.
• Says he cannot yet say what the tax rate will be because he would 'inherit your mess' from the current administration.

Confidence:High

Fix financial accountability so residents see where money goes and who is responsible.

• Public reporting of spending, costs and results
• Greater transparency and oversight

Confidence:High

Cooper prefers collaborative governance but would use strong mayor powers on taxes.

• Prefers a collaborative model with councillors, with a mayor's-office staffer responsible for the mayor-council relationship.
• Would use strong mayor powers on the tax rate if council pushed increases he opposed.
• Would hire a 'transformational' city manager and, as a key hire, a Chief Human Resources Officer to fix culture, succession and compensation issues.
• Wants neutral, trained chairs for council committees instead of the current rotating-chair model he calls dysfunctional.

Confidence:High

Build an accountable, affordable city hall with clearer budgets and project oversight.

• Clearer budgets and local procurement
• Measurable outcomes and core infrastructure maintenance

Confidence:High

This candidate has spoken about this issue more than once. Each statement is shown with its own source.

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Loomis would coordinate infrastructure work via 'Dig Once Hamilton' and add a rural infrastructure strategy.

• 'Getting Hamilton Moving Again': every Hamiltonian should get where they need to go safely, reliably and efficiently.
• Would introduce 'Dig Once Hamilton,' a city-wide approach to coordinate infrastructure work, reduce disruption and get better value from road investments.
• Would introduce a Rural Hamilton Infrastructure Strategy for rural roads, bridges, culverts and drainage, prioritized by safety, condition and community needs.
• Would launch 'Routes to Opportunity' to improve connections between HSR, LRT and GO and address transportation gaps for residents facing barriers.

Confidence:High

Maintain existing roads, bridges, water and sewer before pursuing expensive new initiatives.

• Prioritize existing infrastructure by condition, urgency and risk
• Require long-term asset plans for roads, bridges, water, sewer

Confidence:High

Fix roads and reduce congestion via a master road improvement plan.

• Implement a master road improvement plan
• Upload LINC and Red Hill Valley Parkway to the province, add lanes

Confidence:High

Gillespie: infrastructure must be safe, accessible and maintained year-round — sidewalks, crossings, snow clearing, potholes.

• Improve sidewalk repair and maintenance timelines.
• Prioritise accessible pathways, curb cuts, crossings and public spaces.
• Strengthen snow and ice removal standards for sidewalks, bus stops and pedestrian routes.
• Improve road maintenance and pothole response times.

Confidence:High

Horwath is running on a seven-point tariff response plan and downtown revitalization, citing the $300M TD Coliseum deal.

• Named fighting Trump tariffs a top platform priority: she put out a seven-point plan and circulated a motion to council (passed unanimously) to protect Hamilton businesses, workers and community.
• Named downtown revitalization another top plank, calling downtown 'the front door' and 'heartbeat' of the city.
• Cited getting the TD Coliseum deal over the finish line, growing its investment from $50M to $300M.

Confidence:High

Create more job and economic growth opportunities; mental health is his top priority.

• More opportunities for jobs and economic growth
• Mental health his top priority after son's death

Confidence:High

Revitalize downtown as a top mayoral priority.

• Revitalize downtown Hamilton

Confidence:High

Build conditions for economic growth: investment, jobs and a stronger assessment base.

• Coordinate infrastructure and keep Hamilton moving
• Strengthen industrial assessment base to ease residential taxes

Confidence:High

This candidate has spoken about this issue more than once. Each statement is shown with its own source.

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Austin is running on a promise of urgent city revival centred on safety, affordability and prosperity.

• Describes her candidacy as 'an extreme intervention to execute the revival of our city.'
• Says she would expedite safety, affordability and prosperity for citizens citywide.
• Presents herself as the only candidate with a lifetime of frontline service in healthcare, outreach, public administration, social services, governance and fiscal watchdog work.

Confidence:High

Backs the proposed not-for-profit public AI data centre: sovereign data, brownfield reuse, closed-loop cooling.

• Not-for-profit public data centre keeping sovereign data in Canada
• Brownfield reuse, existing power, closed-loop cooling

Confidence:High

Take a cautious approach to data centres until environmental questions are answered transparently.

• Cautious approach until questions addressed transparently
• More municipal authority to regulate data centres

Confidence:High

Reject data centre development in Hamilton, including at the waterfront.

• Reject data centre development in Hamilton
• No AI data centre at the waterfront

Confidence:High

Loomis pledged to oppose AI data centres lacking stringent, enforceable regulations.

• At the televised debate, when challenged by Gillespie on AI data centres, Loomis answered 'yes, absolutely' to opposing any data centre without appropriately stringent and enforceable regulations.

Confidence:High

Manage data centres via evidence-based municipal framework; developers pay their own costs.

• Evidence-based framework, no automatic approval or rejection
• Developer responsible for infrastructure costs it creates

Confidence:High

Evaluate data centres individually with safeguards; taxpayers must not subsidize them.

• Assess proposals on evidence: benefits, water, power, environment, safety
• Evidence-based municipal measures where gaps exist

Confidence:High

Ban AI data centres: pass a strict by-law so none are ever built in Hamilton.

• Strict by-law preventing any AI data centre in Hamilton

Confidence:High

Gillespie advocates for climate justice and transparency in local government.

• Advocates for climate justice as part of her platform.
• Links climate advocacy with transparency in local government.

Confidence:High

Loomis would grow the City Enrichment Fund with demand and pilot 'meanwhile leases' for vacant spaces.

• Calls arts and culture 'one of Hamilton's biggest competitive advantages' and an integral part of his economic development strategy.
• Would commit to reviewing and strengthening the City Enrichment Fund in collaboration with the sector, growing it alongside demand once finances are back on track.
• Would explore a 'meanwhile lease' approach letting artists temporarily use vacant spaces, and cut City Hall fees, red tape and permit delays for cultural venues.
• As mayor would keep a direct line to artists and organizations, work with HACC as the city-wide convening body, and bring the sector in early on funding, cultural space and downtown planning.

Confidence:High

Yan would grow the City Enrichment Fund and protect affordable cultural space in downtown planning.

• Calls arts and culture essential economic and social infrastructure, citing $1.29B in GDP and 15,000+ jobs.
• Would commit to reviewing and strengthening the City Enrichment Fund via a transparent review of funding levels, application processes and unmet demand, growing it as the fiscal position permits and seeking private-sector and senior-government partnerships.
• Would protect and create affordable studio, rehearsal, performance and exhibition space as part of downtown planning, with city-owned space kept accessible and cost-recovery or below-market rates.
• Would establish regular dialogue with artists, arts organizations and HACC, with early involvement in policies and transparent follow-up on recommendations.

Confidence:High

Gillespie would treat arts as civic infrastructure, review the City Enrichment Fund for inflation, and protect affordable cultural space.

• Calls arts and culture 'essential civic infrastructure,' part of economic development, downtown revitalization, neighbourhood planning and community wellbeing - not an optional expense.
• Would request a comprehensive early-term review of the City Enrichment Fund with artists and sector representatives, supporting inflationary adjustments and sustainable supplementary revenues (including Municipal Accommodation Tax revenues).
• Would create a citywide inventory of at-risk cultural spaces including underused city-owned properties, review municipal venue rental rates, and explore long-term affordable leases and shared cultural hubs.
• Would establish a regular ongoing arts-and-culture roundtable with HACC, independent artists and grassroots organizations, with early consultation before major decisions and public reporting of what was heard.

Confidence:High