MA Michael Agueci Ward 5 · Guelph · Municipal Election 2026

Michael Agueci

A city we can stay in.

Guelph is the easiest city in Ontario to fall in love with. It's becoming one of the hardest to stay in. Seniors, young families and students deserve better, and I'm running with three priorities: Convenience. Cost of living. Careers.

Questions? Reach out directly:  · 

How to help

There's a stretch of calendar left before voting day, and Michael's planning to spend most of it outside: knocking on doors, chatting on driveways and porches, swinging by the farmers market, showing up wherever Ward 5 already gathers. More listening and learning than talking, the kind of conversations you just don't get from a flyer or a follow request.

If you want to help, here's where to start: join the campaign, grab a lawn sign, or just stay in the loop. Every bit helps get us closer to a city we can actually stick around in.

-- days left

to build a ward we can stay in.

Your vote in the 2026 Municipal Election.

Check that you live in Ward 5

Not sure? Enter your Guelph address below to confirm you're in the right ward.

Students
Living in Ward 5? You can vote here.

On campus or off, you're eligible. You just need ID that shows your Ward 5 address: your residence occupancy letter from the university works, and most students have it saved in their student portal or email. A lease or bank statement works too. No pre-registration needed.

Vote in advance: October 16, 17 or 18

Can't make it October 26? Advance polls are open at Guelph City Hall (1 Carden St) and one location in each ward:

  • Friday, Oct 16 · 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
  • Saturday, Oct 17 · 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
  • Sunday, Oct 18 · 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

You can vote at any advance location in the city. You don't have to go to the Ward 5 site. The specific Ward 5 address will be posted at guelph.ca closer to October.

Vote on election day: Monday, October 26

Polls are open 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM. Your polling place depends on your address. The City of Guelph will publish a polling location finder at guelph.ca closer to the election.

The City also offers vote by mail, vote from home, and accessibility accommodations at all polling locations.

More voting information →

A student finishing a degree built for exactly this job.

Michael Agueci
Photographed Spring 2026.

The first time Michael visited Guelph, he was made to feel welcome immediately: a weekend with a friend in a campus townhouse, and he felt like a Guelphite from day one. That hospitality is what brought him here to study. Now Michael is not leaving.

Michael is finishing a BCom at the University of Guelph's Lang School of Business in Government, Economics and Management, a degree built for exactly this job. He's lived in three different corners of Ward 5: on campus, on Kortright where three bus routes stopped at his front door, and where he lives now, a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest bus stop. Same student, same city. The difference is zoning: rules a council can change without spending a single dollar.

He signed a lease and watched his rent climb thirty percent. He's stood at a bus stop while a full 99 rolled past without opening its doors. He knows what it feels like to wonder whether anyone at the council table is looking out for people who'll live longest with today's decisions. He's done wondering, and unlike almost everyone he's graduating with, he's not leaving Guelph.

Three priorities for a city we can stay in.

Michael Agueci at the Guelph sign, downtown

Convenience

Convenience is about where people actually want to live, and right now, zoning makes that harder than it needs to be. Along transit corridors and near commercial activity, more density means more people can live close to where they already go. Mixed-use zoning in walkable areas brings the corner café, the

Cost of living

A constrained housing supply is the root cause of unaffordable rent, rising tax bills, and surging homelessness. Here's why: a long approval process means small developers can't make a modest project pencil, so they consolidate into large-scale developments that recoup the wait through economies of scale.

Careers

Keeping our graduates here should be a priority. Our students have already built something valuable in this city, a knowledgeable network of like-minded classmates, friends, and collaborators. Our city breaks this agglomeration of knowledge every year when thousands leave. Talent is scattered to other cities,

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Jane Jacobs · Urbanist & Author

A few reasons to love where we live.

Guelph

  • 🏦 The only city in Canada that has never gone bankrupt, fiscally responsible since before Canada was even a country.
  • 🍺 Just so many craft breweries that finding a bad pint is genuinely difficult.
  • 🇨🇦 Consistently ranked one of the best places to live in Canada, the secret is getting out.
  • 👑 Founded in 1827 and still going strong, Guelph was cool before cool was a thing.
  • 🌳 Just so many trees that other Ontario cities are starting to feel insecure.

Ward 5

  • 🐄🐾 Home to the U of G, where Canada's best vets learn to save animals big and small.
  • ☕ Has more coffee shops per block than should be legally allowed.
  • 🎓🏘️ Where town meets gown, and somehow it actually works.
  • 🥬🍺🥾 Just the kind of ward where you can walk to a farmers market, a brewery, and a hiking trail in the same afternoon.
  • 💪 Home to more passionate, opinionated, community-obsessed residents per square kilometre than anywhere else in Guelph.

People who believe in this campaign.

Endorsements from community members, local organizations, and Ward 5 neighbours will be posted here as the campaign builds momentum. Stay tuned.