Here are five developments shaping Ottawa and the National Capital Region today, with context on why they matter.
Albertans vote decisively to stay in Canada
Albertans voted by a wide margin to remain in Canada in Monday’s referendum, with early unofficial Elections Alberta figures showing about 77 per cent backing staying and 23 per cent supporting a process toward separation, The Associated Press reports. The Canadian Press put the early split at about 76 to 24 per cent and said more than 1.3 million ballots were cast by mail and at advance polls. Premier Danielle Smith, who voted to stay, said Albertans chose “a stronger Alberta in a united Canada” and is scheduled to address the province on television tonight. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Albertans “chose unity,” while Jeff Rath of the Alberta Prosperity Project said separatists would keep pushing their case. Counts on the nine other questions, on immigration and the Constitution, were slower and showed closer margins. The result eases the most immediate threat to national unity, but pressure on Smith continues, with two UCP constituency associations reportedly backing an early leadership review before the party’s November annual meeting, according to The Canadian Press. Sources: The Canadian Press via The Chronicle Journal and AP/AAP via SBS News.
Ottawa mayoral race enters final week as candidates pitch transit, policing and tax plans
Ottawa voters go to the polls on Monday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and 14 candidates are running for mayor, according to CTV News Ottawa. The Ottawa Citizen identifies four leading contenders: incumbent Mark Sutcliffe, Neil Saravanamuttoo, Jeff Leiper and Alex Lawson. Last week Sutcliffe released a 25-year platform that would cut monthly transit passes to $95 from $138.50, hire 350 more police officers, paramedics and firefighters, and hold property tax increases to 2 to 2.5 per cent in the first two years of a second term. Lawson pledged to raise the minimum number of police patrol cars from 42 to 64, which he estimated would add about 110 officers at roughly $20 million a year, while Leiper proposed a recreation centre and community health hub in Kanata. The Citizen reports 27,553 electors voted in the first advance period. With cost of living the main issue at last week’s CTV News Ottawa debate, the next council’s choices on taxes, fares and policing will land directly on household budgets. Sources: Ottawa Citizen via Yahoo News, CTV News Ottawa (election guide), CTV News Ottawa (candidates) and CTV News Ottawa (debate).
Inflation climbs to 3.1% on gas prices, but grocery inflation cools
Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.1 per cent in September from 3 per cent in August, Statistics Canada reported Monday, slightly below the 3.2 per cent economists polled by Reuters had expected. Gasoline prices were up 27.8 per cent from a year earlier, and with gasoline excluded, inflation eased to 2.2 per cent from 2.4 per cent. Prices for food bought in stores rose 1.7 per cent, the smallest annual increase since May 2024, according to Reuters, while shelter costs rose 1.8 per cent. Inflation is now back above the Bank of Canada’s 3 per cent upper limit for the first time in three months, though the core measures CPI-median and CPI-trim came in at 1.9 and 1.8 per cent. Money markets expect the bank to hold its 2.25 per cent policy rate at its Oct. 28 decision but are pricing in a quarter-point hike in December, Reuters reports. That leaves energy prices as the key risk to borrowing costs for Ottawa households and businesses heading into winter. Sources: Statistics Canada and Reuters via WTAQ.
Fifty investigators probe Wainwright fire as military lawyer calls for coroner’s inquest
About 50 investigators are on the ground at CFB Wainwright, Alberta, examining Saturday’s fire that killed four soldiers during live-fire training, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the House of Commons on Monday. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service is leading the probe with RCMP support, and Carney said the original cause of the fire is not yet known. Military lawyer Col. Michel Drapeau is calling for a coroner’s inquest instead, arguing the Armed Forces lack the impartiality to investigate themselves and that public, sworn testimony would build trust in the findings, CTV News reports. Asked whether he trusts the military to investigate itself, Carney answered “Absolutely.” Thirty-nine military members were hospitalized, 19 of them in critical condition, according to CTV News, and liaison officers are supporting families at hospitals in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Wainwright. The soldiers were due to deploy to Latvia next year, and how the investigation is handled will shape public confidence in the safety of military training. Sources: Prime Minister’s Office and CTV News via CP24.
Canada’s two-year measles outbreak declared over
The Public Health Agency of Canada declared the country’s two-year measles outbreak over on Monday, more than two months after the last linked case was reported, according to Global News. The outbreak began in New Brunswick in October 2024 and grew to 6,417 cases across 10 provinces and territories, with Ontario recording the most at 2,390, followed by Alberta and Manitoba. PHAC says most of those who became ill were unvaccinated. Canada lost its measles elimination status in November 2025, and under Pan American Health Organization criteria it can regain it only after at least 12 months without the strain, along with stronger surveillance and faster outbreak response. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Joss Reimer warned that measles “continues to circulate globally” and that travel-related cases are expected. For Ontario, the hardest-hit province, the milestone is welcome, but federal officials say work to raise vaccination rates continues. Source: Global News.
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