With municipal elections fewer than two weeks away, women represent only a quarter of the candidates in Prince Edward Island's five largest municipalities, local officials say — a gap they fear could shape council agendas and everyday life in communities across the Island.
Voters will head to the polls on Nov. 2 in most municipalities. In the province's five largest centres — Charlottetown, Cornwall, Stratford, Summerside and Three Rivers — just 20 of 78 candidates are women, roughly 25 per cent, according to a count of nominations.
Barriers named by local leaders
Deputy Mayor of Charlottetown Alanna Jankov said the low numbers reflect a mix of practical and cultural barriers: the demands of time, family responsibilities and the heightened scrutiny that comes with public office.
"Maybe stop simply asking why women aren't running, and start asking: 'What can we do to encourage more women to put their names forward?'"
Jankov urged a shift from diagnosis to action, suggesting changes such as childcare provisions and more flexible schedules to make municipal service accessible to a broader group of Islanders. The financial realities of municipal service also came up repeatedly.
"Municipal politics can be a full-time job without the full-time pay," said Summerside Coun. Carrie Adams, pointing to compensation as a deterrent for people who cannot afford to reduce paid work to serve on council.
Community impact and practical hurdles
Lower representation of women on councils carries consequences for local decision-making. Councils set priorities for services that affect daily life — from recreation schedules and transit to childcare spaces and winter maintenance — areas where different perspectives can shape outcomes for households across the Island.
Officials and community groups have long discussed strategies to improve diversity among candidates. The measures cited most often by councillors and advocates include:
- Providing childcare or childcare subsidies during meetings and campaign events;
- Adjusting meeting times and council schedules to be more predictable and family-friendly;
- Reviewing compensation and supports for councillors to reduce economic barriers;
- Offering mentorship and training to prospective candidates to help with campaigning and public-facing responsibilities.
Those suggestions reflect an effort to remove structural obstacles rather than simply encouraging more women to step forward without changing the conditions of service.
Numbers at a glance
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Candidates in five largest municipalities | 78 |
| Women candidates | 20 (approximately 25%) |
Those figures capture the broad imbalance but do not show how representation varies by ward, role or municipality; further detail will emerge as communities count ballots on Nov. 2.
Moving from discussion to action
Some municipal councils and community organisations have already begun experimenting with supports to make elected office more accessible. Where such pilot efforts exist, councillors say they can help normalise different working patterns and reduce the trade-offs that often discourage people — particularly women — from running.
Jankov said the conversation needs to be pragmatic and rooted in local realities: "It's either trending slightly down or trending slightly up. We never seem to be able to get those numbers higher," she said, noting incremental change has been the pattern.
As voters prepare to cast ballots next month, the question for many Islanders will be whether the newly elected councils reflect the diversity of the communities they serve — and what steps municipalities will take in the months ahead to address the gap in representation.
Reporting from Charlottetown, this coverage will continue through the election and in the weeks after Nov. 2 to follow how councils respond to these concerns.
