The City of Ottawa is reporting it will have to change the way it does the election ballot.

"For the first time ever we've been forced to go to a legal-sized election ballot to accommodate the large number of candidates," said Ottawa elections manager Catherine Bergeron. "Not only will residents have more candidate choices on the ballot, we have 556 voting places, 26 more than the last election, and a total of 2,500 residents hired to work over the three voting days.

Nominations closed Friday with 203 candidates meeting the deadline. There are only 24 spots on council and 37 for school trustees.

The breakdown:

  • 130 candidates for Ottawa City Council
    20 for mayor
    110 for ward councillor
  • 73 candidates for School Board Trustee
    19 for Ottawa Catholic School Board
    29 for Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
    11 for Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est
    14 for Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario

Ottawa residents cast their ballots on Oct. 25.