Action in Time

Presentation to Vancouver City Council by Adriane Carr – Oct 29, 2025

Vancouver’s Unique Opportunity

The Vancouver Charter provides Vancouver the unique opportunity to be a leader and become the first municipality in Canada to change the voting age from 18 to 16. It requires Vancouver City Council requesting that the Province of BC make the Charter change, and the Province complying. To be in effect for the next municipal elections scheduled for October 17, 2026, the Vancouver Charter change must be enacted in the spring of 2026. The Province must also tweak the Election Act so Elections BC can include 16-17-year-olds in list extracts. Elections BC has collected this data since 2019.

Expanding the Right to Vote is a Work in Progress and Strengthens Democracy

Expanding the franchise makes democracy more representative and legitimate. It can lead to better policy decisions. The right to vote in Canada has been expanded many times to include the following:

Women  – in 1918
Chinese Canadians, South Asian Canadians, Japanese-Canadians – in 1948
Inuit – in 1950
First Nations (status Indians) (without giving up their treaty rights or Indian status) – in 1960
18-20 Year-Olds –  in 1970

Youth Are Directly Impacted by City Policy and Their Input is Needed

• Vancouver School Board, Board of Parks and Recreation and City Council all make decisions and investments that profoundly impact youth.
• The health of our local economy, housing affordability, and climate change, amongst many other key areas of local decision-making, disproportionately shape their future.
• They deserve democratic representation on decisions that will affect their future.

16-Year-Olds Already Carry Major Responsibilities

• They pay taxes, can work, drive, and can be tried as adults in court for serious offences.
• 17-year-olds can join our national armed forces to serve and protect our country.
• At 16, they are already making important life decisions in terms of education and careers.

Early Voting is Habit Forming for Life

• Many studies show turnout is stronger among first-time voters who are still in stable environments (school, home) compared to those facing transitions at 18-20.
• Studies also affirm that if individuals start voting earlier, they are more likely to become lifelong voters.

Alignment with School Education on Civics is Beneficial

• Most civic education occurs around ages 15-17. Schools support informed voting in a structured and engaging environment. Many elected officials have experienced this when invited to participate in school “mock elections”.
• Allowing students to vote while still in school means they can learn civics and practice democratic participation at the same time.

Local and International Precedent

• Jurisdictions including Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Estonia, European Union Germany, Malta, Nicaragua, Scotland, and Wales already allow voting at 16.
• Studies from these places show:
  • high youth voter turnout (often higher than 18-20 year-olds)
  • informed voting choices (independent of parents, based on personal values)

Naysayers’ Arguments Against Lowering Voting Age to 16 plus Rebuttals

Concerns About Maturity and Low Turnout Expectations

Opponents argue that most 16-year-olds lack the life experience and emotional maturity to make informed political choices, may be more easily influenced by peers, parents, or teachers rather than forming independent judgments, and won’t bother to vote.

Rebuttal: Studies in Austria, Scotland and Wales show that 16 and 17-year-olds vote at equal to or higher rates than 18-20-year-olds, demonstrate political knowledge and reasoning comparable to older voters, and vote consistent with their own political views.

Administrative and Logistical Concerns

Elections BC would need to update registration systems which may increase costs and create youth-focused outreach.

Rebuttal: Elections BC has been collecting data on 16 and 17-year-old potential voters since 2019, and could include this in the voters’ lists it supplies to local governments including Vancouver. Schools are already teaching civics, including about elections and voting, starting in elementary schools and required in grades 10 and 11 for high school students.

Vancouver lowering the voting age to 16 is ground-breaking

• If Vancouver did this for its municipal elections, it would be the first in Canada and join a small number of cities in North America that have done something similar at the municipal level.

Click here for Councillor Pete Fry’s motion to Vancouver City Council.

Paul George weighed in on it, too.