Encampment removals, strong mayor powers and a housing push in a mid-sized city.
Core issues
What this election is actually about
Housing growth and affordability
Barrie is building more, but affordability remains a major problem. The City's own recent assessment says housing costs continue to outpace wages, and almost none of the ownership housing types examined were affordable to most Barrie households. In 2024, 184 affordable units were approved, but only 12 were registered, compared with 3,207 market units approved.
Transportation and congestion
Congestion remains a key challenge, while Barrie continues to experience significant population growth. The City is pursuing additional transportation infrastructure and a new transportation plan, suggesting the problem has not been solved by the current approach.
705 people homeless
Homelessness and encampments
This is the clearest evidence of worsening conditions. Barrie had 632 people experiencing homelessness in September 2025 and 643 in February 2026. By August 4, 2026, the number of people identified as homeless was still 705.
The incumbent
The record you are voting on
Alex Nuttall INCUMBENT
Running for Mayor of Barrie · in office since 2022
Keep growing, build housing and infrastructure, and take a tougher approach to public safety and encampments.
Family developer donation Homelessness kept rising Strong-mayor powers criticized
Key votes and spending
Council decisions that shaped the issues above
| Decision | Result | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23,000-home housing pledge (Feb 2023) | Council committed Barrie to facilitating 23,000 new homes by 2031 | 23,000 units by 2031 | |
| $25.68M Housing Accelerator Fund + housing reforms (2024) | Faster approvals, four units as-of-right in many areas, incentives for affordable housing | $25.68M | |
| $53M+ infrastructure investment (Mar 2025) | Council approved advancing infrastructure projects to service new housing and employment growth | $53M+ | |
| Homelessness funding motion (Jan 2025) | Nuttall sponsored a motion supporting Simcoe County's application for provincial shelter funding | — | |
| State of Emergency over encampments (Sept 9, 2025) | Declared as encampments grew; 632 homeless and ~111 people in 26 encampments at the time | — |
The other candidates
Drawn from published platforms and public statements
Kay Sayer
Running for Mayor of Barrie
Push harder for transparency and government action on homelessness, housing and broader social problems.
- AI data centres
- Unclear
- Environment
- Unclear
- Housing
- Housing tied to lived experience
Russell Tighe
Running for Mayor of Barrie
Put affordable housing and mental-health/addiction treatment at the centre of the homelessness problem.
- AI data centres
- Unclear
- Environment
- Unclear
- Housing
- Low-income wait list is his top issue
Tanya Saari
Running for Mayor of Barrie
Keep growing, but make growth affordable, properly serviced and more community-focused.
- AI data centres
- Unclear
- Environment
- Unclear
- Housing
- Growth needs to pay for itself
Side by side
Pick who you want next to each other
“Unclear” means we could not find a documented position, not that none exists.
| Issue | Alex Nuttall INC | Kay Sayer | Russell Tighe | Tanya Saari |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI data centres | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Environment | Pro-development | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Housing | Missing middle | Housing tied to lived experience | Low-income wait list is his top issue | Growth needs to pay for itself |
| Land use | Four units as-of-right | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Policing | Zero tolerance | Unclear | Health-focused, not enforcement-first | Community-focused, not enforcement-first |
| Public funds | $53M+ infrastructure investment | Unclear | Unclear | Taxes up 16% in four years |
| Transit | Growth + infrastructure | Unclear | Unclear | Infrastructure must keep pace |
| Transparency | Strong-mayor powers, U-turn | Central campaign theme | Unclear | Major campaign emphasis |
Documented position Opposes Unclear or partial
Money and donors
- Nuttall's donor network
- Nuttall's official 2022 campaign statement reports approximately $93,422 in contributions from 85 people, most at or around the then-maximum individual contribution of $1,200. Stanton is a real-estate/student-housing developer, and Nuttall's father-in-law is Ray Stanton. This isn't evidence of an outside developer buying political influence; rather, it's a family/business connection that voters should know about when evaluating a mayor whose platform strongly emphasizes housing development. The donation itself was legal and disclosed. Another cluster is Jaswant Dass and members of the Dass family, with contributions around the $1,000–$1,200 range; Jaswant Dass is associated with the hotel business, including the Dass Hotel trademark.
- 2026 disclosures not yet public
- As of August 2026, there are four mayoral candidates: Alex Nuttall, Tanya Saari, Kay Sayer and Russell Tighe. None has publicly filed 2026 fundraising figures.
Local coverage
Reporting we drew on
BARRIETODAY
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