Employees and volunteers

People interested in running for local government office in general local elections or by-elections must meet certain eligibility requirements to be a candidate (including not being disqualified from seeking or holding elected office). There are additional requirements that people who work or volunteer for a local government (municipality, regional district) must also follow.

On this page: 

• Local government employees
• Local government volunteers
• B.C. public service employees
• Federal government employees

Local government employees

Local government staff (e.g., officers and employees), who wish to run for office in the local government where they work must take a leave of absence in order to run and they must resign if elected.

A person may be considered a local government employee under any of the following conditions, if they are, a:

• Salaried full-time employee
• Salaried part-time employee
• Volunteer who receives monetary compensation (e.g., an hourly wage or call-out pay) for services provided to a local government, including a volunteer fire fighter

Leave of absence – employee

The requirement for a salaried employee or volunteer who receives monetary compensation (including a volunteer firefighter) to take a leave of absence and resign if successfully elected will likely apply in the following circumstances, a:

• Municipal employee running for elected office in the municipality in which they are employed
• Municipal employee seeking to be elected as an electoral area director for the regional district of which their municipal employer is a member
• Regional district employee seeking to be elected as a member of the board of the regional district in which they are employed 
• Regional district employee seeking to be elected as the mayor or councillor of a municipality that is a member of the regional district

An employee who was not successful in their bid for local elected office would then return to the job from which they took the required leave of absence.

Local government volunteers

Generally, volunteers who do not receive monetary compensation (such as an hourly wage or call-out pay) for services provided to a local government are not “employees” for election purposes and would not be required to take a leave of absence or resign if elected.

A volunteer for a local government is not considered to have received monetary compensation if compensation is of the sort identified in s.1(2) of the Volunteer Eligibility for Office Regulation, including:

• Reimbursement of reasonable and necessary expenses
• Provision of insurance coverage
• Workers compensation coverage
• Personal clothing
• Equipment or training related to the volunteer position
• Gifts and awards connected to their volunteer service

A person may still be considered a volunteer if they are compensated monetarily as defined in the Volunteer Eligibility for Office Regulation.

An unpaid municipal or regional district volunteer is not required to take a leave of absence (or resign when elected) in order to run for and hold office in the local government where they are volunteering.

B.C. public service employees

B.C. Public Service employees may seek nomination as a candidate in local government elections. The duties of elected office must not affect the person’s normal working hours and there must not be a conflict of interest between the employee’s duties as an elected official and their duties as a B.C. Public Service employee.

Federal government employees

Federal government employees require prior approval from the Public Service Commission of Canada to run for local government office. The Commission may grant permission when it is satisfied that being a candidate will not impair or be perceived to impair an employee’s ability to perform their job-related duties in a politically impartial manner.