Ontario 2026 municipal elections: 22 Tamil-linked candidates across Markham, Pickering, Ajax and Toronto

Illustration supplied for the article · Traces of Eelam Soil

Illustration supplied for the article · Traces of Eelam Soil · Image source

Source published Oct 8, 2026 · Toronto

What to know

A newly published overview counts 22 candidates with known connections to the Tamil community, or who may have a Tamil background based on their names and other publicly available information, contesting the Ontario municipal and school board elections on October 26, 2026 — 14 men and 8 women, all confirmed on official candidate lists. Unlike provincial and federal contests, Ontario municipal candidates run as individuals, without party banners on the ballot.

The breakdown: five candidates in Markham (Thamiraa Ragikaran for Ward 5 and Killi Chelliah for Ward 7 on city council; Rukshan Para, Garishan Ravishankar and Hemamalini Venkataraman for York Region District School Board Trustee in Wards 5 and 7), three in Pickering (Rajkumar Nada for Ward 3 and Priya Vadivel for Ward 1 city council; Sinthuja Kanageswaran for Durham District School Board Trustee), two in Ajax (Ranjith Paranivasagam for Ward 2 Regional Councillor; Mayoorey Murugathasan for Durham District School Board Trustee), and twelve in Toronto — including incumbents Parthi Kandavel in Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest and Neethan Shan in Ward 25 Scarborough-Rouge Park.

Background: four of the 22 are returning candidates. Killi Chelliah ran in the 2025 Markham Ward 7 by-election; Rukshan Para ran in a 2022 school board election; Parthi Kandavel contested Ward 20 in 2022 before winning the 2023 by-election and becoming a Toronto city councillor; and Neethan Shan won the 2025 Scarborough-Rouge Park by-election. Voters cast ballots on Monday, October 26, with municipalities setting their own advance and online voting arrangements.