By-Election Timeline
- Nomination Period: September 14 – September 23, 2026
- Campaign Period: September 28 – October 8, 2026
- Voting Period: October 6 (opens at 9:00AM) – October 8, 2026 (closes at 11:59PM)
Positions Available
Board of Directors:
- Division 1 (Humanities) Director (5 positions available )
Please note that UTM and UTSC students may also seek candidacy for divisional directors and are not limited to run for their campus based director position.
The General Elections for all positions (Executives and Board of Directors) is regularly held in February and March.
Candidate Registration & Important Documents
Nominations are open, click the Candidate Registration Form to get your Nomination Form.
| Task | Deadline |
| Complete Candidate Registration Form | September 23 (note: 4 hour processing time) |
| Collect Required Nominations | September 23 | 11:59PM |
| Attend Candidate Election Training Session | September 25 | 12:00PM |
| Complete Candidate Declaration Form (PDF) | September 27 | 11:59PM |
| Submit Candidate Statement and Photo Form | September 27 | 11:59PM |
| Recommended: Submit Campaign Budget for approval | Ongoing |
| Recommended: Submit Campaign Materials for approval | Ongoing |
| Submit Candidate Expenses & Reimbursements | October 11 | 11:59PM |
Information Session
An information session will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 5:30PM – 6:30PM on Zoom. RSVP or join below.
Division One: Humanities
- Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (Collaborative Studies)
- Art History
- Book History and Print Culture (Collaborative Studies)
- Cinema Studies
- Classics
- Comparative Literature
- Diaspora and Transnational Studies (Collaborative Studies)
- Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies
- East Asian Studies
- Editing Ancient and Medieval Texts (Collaborative Studies)
- English
- French Language and Literature
- Germanic Languages and Literatures
- History
- History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
- Italian and Spanish Studies
- Jewish Studies (Collaborative Studies)
- Linguistics
- Medieval Studies
- Mediterranean Archaeology (Collaborative Studies)
- Museum Studies
- Music
- Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
- Philosophy
- Religion
- Slavic Languages and Literatures
- South Asian Studies (Collaborative Studies)
- Visual Studies
- Women and Gender Studies
- Women and Gender Studies (Collaborative Studies)
Important Documents
Election Complaints and Concerns
Please complete the following form to record a complaint recording the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union 2026 By-Elections. You can find the Election and Referenda policies here .
Please note that complaints related to specific events should be submitted in a timely manner (within five days of the issue/event occurring). You can learn more about the complaints process in Policy E1.8 Violation of Rules (or see below). If you need to submit addition details via email, please contact cro@utgsu.ca. This is the first level of complaint as per E1.8.1. and E1.8.2.
Rulings
The Chief Returning Officer and Elections & Referenda Committee adjudicate complaints and breaches of the policies and bylaws related to elections. View the rulings in the folder below.
Last updated: August 20, 2026
Appeal a Decision of the CRO
Candidates and Complainants may appeal the decision of the Chief Returning Officer to the Elections & Referenda Committee within five days of the CRO ruling. The appeal must address why the CRO made the wrong interpretation of the bylaws, policies and rules, and should not appeal simply because the Appellant disagrees with the ruling. Appeals can be submitted to erc@utgsu.ca via the following PDF form.
Questions
Email the CRO, Shana Alexander, at cro@utgsu.ca if you have any questions or concerns about the election.
- Nomination Period: September 14 – September 23, 2026
- Campaign Period: September 28 – October 8, 2026
- Voting Period: October 6 – October 8, 2026
Directors sit on committees, participate in working groups and oversee the work of the Executive Committee. Directors can typically work between 2-5 hours per week depending on their project and committee assignments. Both Executives and Directors are elected in annual General Elections in March. You can find a description of each position in the UTGSU By-Laws see sections 4 and 7.l
The UTGSU Election Rules can be found in the UTGSU Policy Handbook under Election Policy 1 (E1), starting on page 44.
All candidates in the UTGSU by-elections must first be successfully nominated during the Nomination Period from September 14 to September 23, 2026. This includes filling out the required personal information and consent forms, and collecting the minimum required number of nominators for the position they are running for via the assigned Microsoft Form. You may only seek nomination for one position at a time.
- Board of Director Candidates are required to collect at least 5 nominations.
Nomination forms will include: Name, Student Number, Academic Program, the University of Toronto Email and a Digital Consent Waiver.
Yes, you can sign as many nomination forms as you would like – as long as you are a currently enrolled graduate student at the University of Toronto. You may also sign your own nomination form. A nomination is not a vote or endorsement in the election. Nominations give permission for candidates to seek to run in an election.
The complete candidate list with their candidate statements will be uploaded at the start of campaigning on September 28, 2026. All candidates must be successfully nominated during the Nomination Period.
Voting will open on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 9:00AM and ends on Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 11:59PM.
Only Graduate Students at the University of Toronto are allowed to vote in this election. Undergraduate Students are not permitted to vote. You will require your UTORID and password to vote. The voting website will be https://utgsu.simplyvoting.com.
For Director Elections, voters will be able to select up to seven (5) candidates from that division.
You can submit elections complaints and concerns through the Election Complaint Form. This form goes to the CRO for investigations and judgment, which may result in warnings, demerit points or other penaltie
SimplyVoting links will only be sent out at the start of the Voting Period. The contact information is directly sent from the university to SimplyVoting. You may have marked previous emails as Spam or Unsubscribed from the list. Electors that unsubscribed or reported an email blast message as spam may resubscribe by simply sending an email message to resubscribe@simplyvoting.com. If you continue to have issues, please contact cro@utgsu.ca.
Regardless, you should be able to access the voting platform at https://utgsu.simplyvoting.com
If you are unable to vote, please contact cro@utgsu.ca.
As a reminder, graduate students in the Toronto School of Theology and all undergraduate students are not eligible to vote in UTGSU By-Elections.
Email the CRO, Shana Alexander, at cro@utgsu.ca if you have any questions or concerns about the elections.