2022 Niagara Falls Municipal Election

Niagara Falls held its municipal election on October 24, 2022, with voters choosing a mayor, eight city councillors, and three regional councillors to represent the city on Niagara Regional Council. Unlike most Ontario municipalities, Niagara Falls elects its entire council at large — there are no wards, making it reportedly the largest municipality in the province to use a fully at-large system, with a population of 94,415 as of the 2021 census. Turnout was 27.5%, with 18,773 of the city's 68,201 registered voters casting ballots.

Mayoral Race

Incumbent Jim Diodati won a fourth consecutive term in a commanding victory, receiving 12,055 votes (66.7%) against six challengers. Sandra Marie MacKinnon placed second with 1,676 votes (9.3%), followed closely by Connie Topolinsky with 1,648 votes (9.1%). Four other candidates — Muhammad Shafique, Joe White, Roland Weeks, and Grant Hall — each received less than 5%. Diodati's margin of more than 10,000 votes over his nearest competitor underscored the absence of a serious challenge to his continued leadership of the tourism-dependent city.

Mayor Jim Diodati

Jim Diodati has led Niagara Falls since 2010, when he defeated incumbent Ted Salci after serving two terms on city council. He was re-elected with approximately 84% of the vote in 2014 and was acclaimed for a third term in 2018 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and undergoing chemotherapy that year. A lifelong Niagara Falls resident, Diodati owned and operated several businesses before entering politics, including a health and wellness direct marketing company. He is known for his self-described "politainment" approach to the mayoral office — blending promotional stunts and media appearances with tourism advocacy. In 2004, while still a councillor, he founded the Sleep Cheap, Charities Reap fundraiser, which offers discounted hotel stays to Niagara Region residents and has raised more than $2.3 million for nearly 100 local charities. During his third term, Diodati championed bringing the University of Niagara Falls campus to the downtown core as a revitalization initiative.

Campaign Issues

The post-pandemic recovery of Niagara Falls' tourism economy was the overriding concern heading into the election. The city, which draws more than 13 million visitors annually and supports roughly 40,000 jobs in the tourism sector, was hit harder by COVID-19 than almost any community in Ontario. Hotel occupancy had fallen to 32.5% in 2021, well below the provincial average, and the hospitality industry was still rebuilding by election day. Diodati's tourism promotion efforts and his relationships with the provincial government were central to his pitch for a fourth term.

Casino revenue and development strategy also featured in the local debate. The city and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation disagreed over the direction of casino operations — with city leaders favouring operators willing to invest in non-gaming amenities to broaden the tourism appeal, while the OLG prioritized maximizing gaming revenue from existing facilities like Fallsview Casino and Casino Niagara.

Housing affordability and development pressures, common across the Niagara Region, added a further dimension to the campaign, alongside ongoing questions about the structure and size of the two-tier regional government that governs services like police, public health, water, and waste management across the region's 12 lower-tier municipalities.

City Council Results

Twenty-six candidates competed for eight at-large council seats. Five incumbents were returned: Mike Strange led the poll with 9,788 votes, followed by Lori Lococo with 9,667, Victor Pietrangelo with 7,239, Wayne Campbell with 6,609, and Wayne Thomson with 6,294. Three newcomers joined council: Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg finished third overall with 8,642 votes, Tony Baldinelli placed fourth with 7,333, and Mona Patel secured the seventh seat with 6,433 votes. The margin between the last elected candidate, Thomson, and ninth-place finisher Chris Dabrowski was just 398 votes — illustrating how tight the at-large system can be at the cut line.

Regional Council Results

Eight candidates vied for three seats representing Niagara Falls on Niagara Regional Council. Former three-term provincial Liberal MPP Kim Craitor topped the poll with 9,197 votes, followed by former city councillor Joyce Morocco with 7,974 and incumbent Bob Gale, who won a third regional term with 6,434 votes. The closest contest in the entire election came in this race: Gale edged out incumbent regional councillor Barbara Greenwood by just 114 votes for the final seat. Long-serving city councillor Carolynn Ioannoni, a 23-year council veteran, finished fifth with 5,199 votes in her bid to move to the regional level.