Pete Fry Elected Vancouver's First Green Mayor, Topples Ken Sim in Progressive Sweep

Vancouver has never seen a night quite like Saturday. When the final unofficial tally landed, Pete Fry — a two-term city councillor, former punk rocker, and the first Green Party candidate ever to run for Vancouver mayor — had beaten one-term incumbent Ken Sim by more than 31,000 votes. Fry's 98,494 votes to Sim's 67,467 make him the first Green mayor of Vancouver — and the first Green to lead a major Canadian city.

It was more than a change of mayor. It was a sweep. ABC Vancouver collapsed from seven council seats in 2022 to just one — incumbent Mike Klassen. The Greens took four, COPE took four, and OneCity's Lucy Maloney took the ninth. All but one of the ten council seats now sit left of centre, and progressives also captured every Park Board seat and every school trustee spot.

"I love this city," Fry told CBC News shortly after his victory speech. "I want to see us celebrate it, and really enjoy it."

Pete Fry Vancouver mayor: how the Green breakthrough happened

Fry's win was years in the making and weeks in the locking. The Greens had never run a mayoral candidate before — in the party's relatively short Vancouver history, the mayor's chair was uncharted territory. What changed was the progressive field clearing around him: COPE's Stephanie Allen and OneCity's William Azaroff ended their mayoral campaigns in early September after the three parties struck a deal to limit the number of candidates between them, avoiding a split progressive vote.

"In order to get Ken Sim out, we have to unite behind a single progressive mayoral candidate," Azaroff said when he withdrew, according to CBC reporting.

That made Fry the unity candidate — and the one in the best mood. Fry ran an optimistic campaign: quirky videos about his punk-rock days, a pledge to fight for the little guy, and a promise to fix the toxic tone at city hall. Sim framed his re-election around safety and warnings about his rivals. Voters chose the smile.

What Fry promised Vancouver

Community safety is where Fry says he'll start. On the campaign trail he pledged to create an office of community safety to coordinate police, fire, community services and land use — plus a 24/7 non-police mobile response team for non-emergency calls. The Greens also promised to lift the moratorium Sim imposed on new supportive housing projects.

"We hear loud and clear from folks that they are struggling with quality of life in the city," Fry said in a Sunday interview with The Globe and Mail. "A really big priority is community safety and dealing with this sort of visible manifestation of poverty and homelessness on our streets."

Fry's resume is not a typical politician's. Born in Dublin to Anglo-Trinidadian parents, he moved to Vancouver at age two, studied arts and business at Simon Fraser University, then ran a publishing house and a clothing import business before more than 30 years as a graphic artist. A councillor since 2018, he lives in the Downtown Eastside. And yes — his mother is long-serving Liberal MP Hedy Fry, who hugged him on stage on election night.

The bigger picture: a progressive wave and a looming provincial vote

More than 209,000 Vancouverites voted — up 36 per cent from 2022, with turnout over 43 per cent. Results become official this week; the inauguration is set for November 2.

The vote came exactly one week before British Columbians cast ballots in a snap provincial election. Fry has drawn a careful line between his civic team and the provincial Greens. "Where we share a lot of values, we're not aligned on political ideologies necessarily, or mandates," he said. "My priority and my team's priority is to govern Vancouver."

Fifteen years ago, Vancouver elected its first Green councillor — itself a national first. On Saturday night, the party that never ran a mayoral candidate took the mayor's chair and most of the rest of city hall with it. Love the result or hate it, that's the kind of weekend that redraws a city's politics.

CBC News projects Pete Fry elected Vancouver's first Green mayor, defeating incumbent Ken Sim (Oct. 17, 2026).

The Canadian Press on Pete Fry's historic election as Vancouver's next mayor (Oct. 18, 2026).

Sources

• The Canadian Press via Fraser Valley News Network — "Vancouver Progressives Take Power as Green's Pete Fry is Elected Mayor" (Oct 18, 2026) — fraservalleynewsnetwork.com
• SpikeToday — "Vancouver Election Results 2026: Pete Fry Elected Mayor" (updated Oct 18, 2026; cites City of Vancouver unofficial results) — spiketoday.com
• The Globe and Mail (via europesays.com reprint) — "Vancouver elects Canada's first Green mayor" (Oct 19, 2026)
• CBC News / Vancouver Sun figures cited via the above outlets; City of Vancouver 2026 Vancouver municipal election results page