Mayoral candidate receives critical endorsement ahead of 2026 Vancouver municipal election. No progressive Mayor has won without a VDLC endorsement in modern history
VANCOUVER (Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territories) - OneCity Vancouver mayoral candidate William Azaroff today proudly accepted the endorsement of the Vancouver and District Labour Council (VDLC) in the 2026 Vancouver Mayoral election.
“I am proud to accept the endorsement of the Vancouver and District Labour Council,” said Azaroff. “Every single Vancouverite deserves an affordable home, strong public services, a good job, and a living wage. We’ll return respect for workers to City Hall when we retake the Mayor’s Office on October 17.”
The endorsement is critical recognition of OneCity’s strategic position as the organization best placed to defeat Ken Sim and ABC. With nearly 4,700 members, it is the largest municipal organization in Vancouver. It ran the only contested mayoral nomination, raised over $325,000 in 2025, and is presently running a fully-staffed campaign.
Every progressive Mayor who has won an election in Vancouver in modern history has done so with the support of the VDLC, and the City’s workers.
Since coming to office, Ken Sim and ABC have run roughshod over workers’ priorities. At both the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver School Board, they have ended Living Wage policies that have led to pay cuts for janitors, security guards and bus drivers. They killed the Social Housing Initiative after years of work, keeping barriers in place to building housing workers can actually afford. And their performative, chaotic “zero means zero” budget will lead to hundreds of jobs cut - including unionized jobs.
The return of the Living Wage is a long-standing OneCity priority, and William Azaroff has pledged to pass the Social Housing Initiative as one of his first motions.
“Vancouver was built by workers, and it can be a workers’ city again,” continued Azaroff. “Together, we need to end Ken Sim’s chaotic and casually cruel tenure at City Hall and elect a OneCity majority that builds a city where we can all belong.”
The Vancouver and District Labour Council represents approximately 60,000 workers from over 90 affiliated unions across Metro Vancouver. It has organized and represented labour for 137 years.
William Azaroff and OneCity Vancouver are running to win a principled and practical progressive majority on Council, Park, and School Boards in the Vancouver Municipals Elections on October 17, 2026.
For more information:
OneCity Vancouver communications committee
