The 2003 City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada mayoral, City Council, and school trustee elections were held November 10, 2003. The elections were held simultanuously with most other municipalities in Ontario.

The mayoral election was won by popular incumbent and former Liberal MPP Bob Chiarelli. His main competition was that of the right-winged Terry Kilrea. The only other candidate to get over 5,000 votes was Carleton University student Ike Awgu who had a similar platform as Chiarelli but who also stressed voter apathy. The race was also marked by controversy with candidate Donna Upson who was supported by the KKK and who also supported racial segregation. She was mostly inactive during the campaign, and she was also wanted for charges in Nova Scotia.

Issues

The main issues of the race were a controversial Smoking ban, the expansion of the O-Train (Ottawa's light rail system), official bilingualism and the recent amalgamation. Chiarelli was in favour of the smoking ban, which had been implemented by the last city council. The ban was on smoking in all public places, which angered many bar and retraunt owners. Kilrea was against the smoking ban. He was also against putting money into expanding the O-Train, and official bilingualism in the city. Chiarelli was in favour of the O-Train expansion along with Awgu, while most of the other candidates were against. Awgu and perennial candidate John C. Turmel were the only candidates in favour of bilingualism.

Turnout

Turnout for the election was low, at 33%. The highest turnouts were in the rural areas, specifically in Goulbourn, Rideau and the highest West Carleton (45%). The lowest turnout was in Somerset ward at 25% turnout.

Results for mayor

(percentage change since 2000 where applicable)

1. Bob Chiarelli 104,595 (56.53%) (+0.21%)
2. Terry Kilrea 66,634 (36.02%)
3. Ike Awgu 5,394 (2.92%)
4. Ron Bruke 2,698 (1.46%)
5. John A. Bell 2,027 (1.10%)
6. Donna Upson 1,312 (0.71%)
7. Paula Nemchin 1,191 (0.64%) (+0.36%)
8. John C. Turmel 1,166 (0.63%) (+0.36%)

Chiarelli won all but three wards and had his strongest strength in the city core region. Kilrea won three wards, all in the rural south and west.

Council results

No incumbents lost any races, and infact only two councillors had a decrease in the popular vote percentage from the 2000 election.

Orleans Ward

1. Herb Kreling 7,182 (72.89%) (+31.93%)
2. Louise Malloy 2,671 (27.11%)

Innes Ward

1. Rainer Bloess 5,925 (59.26%) (+7.25%)
2. J.-F. Claude 4,073 (40.74%)

Bell-South Nepean Ward

1. Jan Harder 11,678 (86.75%) (+25.86%)
2. John R. Palmer 1,784 (13.25%)

Kanata Ward

1. Peggy Feltmate 12,260 (70.58%)
2. Richard Rutkowski 4,166 (23.98%)
3. Donald Leafloor 561 (3.23%)
4. Grant Johnston 384 (2.21%)

West Carleton Ward

1. Eli El-Chantiry 2,738 (44.61%)
2. Adele Muldoon 2,709 (44.14%)
3. Daryl W. Craig 480 (7.82%)
4. Jim Jenkins 210 (3.42%)

Goulbourn Ward

1. Janet Stavinga 5,076 (64.15%) (+19.14%)
2. Michael P. O'Rourke 2,837 (35.85%)

Bay Ward

1. Alex Cullen 6,713 (56.74%) (+8.72%)
2. John Blatherwick 4,477 (37.84%)
3. Don Rivington 394 (3.33%)
4. Didar Mohamed 248 (2.10%)

Baseline Ward

1. Rick Chiarelli (acclaimed)

Knoxdale-Merivale Ward

1. Gord Hunter 7,029 (84.79%) (+13.17%)
2. Phillip Unhola 637 (7.68%)
3. Al Speyers 624 (7.53%) (-20.85%)

Gloucester-Southgate Ward

1. Diane Deans 6,166 (59.34%) (+10.64%)
2. Harold G. Keenan 3,917 (37.70%)
3. David Lamothe 308 (2.96%)

Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward

1. Michel Bellemare 4,613 (61.04%) (+3.17%)
2. Frank Reid 2,812 (37.21%)
3. Osman Abdi 132 (1.75%)

Rideau-Vanier Ward

1. Georges Bédard 3,631 (41.52%)
2. Bruce McConville 2,355 (26.93%)
3. Angela Rickman 1,829 (20.91%)
4. Giacomo Vigna 582 (6.66%)
5. Abdillahi Omar Bouh 211 (2.41%)
6. Natasha Duckworth 137 (1.57%)

Rideau-Rockliffe Ward

1. Jacques Legendre 6,070 (79.17%) (+15.29%)
2. James Parker 934 (12.18%)
3. Michel Binda 663 (8.65%)

Somerset Ward

1. Diane Holmes 4,105 (61.62%)
2. Dawn Pickering 1,195 (17.94%)
3. David MacDonald 567 (8.51%)
4. William A. Ostapyk 366 (5.49%)
5. Steve Sweeney 189 (2.84%)
6. Sotos Petrides 132 (1.98%)
7. Bill Driver 55 (0.83%)
8. Mike Jung 53 (0.80%)

Kitchissippi Ward

1. Shawn Little 2,907 (27.12%) (-19.92%)
2. Kris Klein 2,330 (21.74%)
3. Gary Ludington 2,217 (20.68%)
4. Linda Davis 1,540 (14.37%) (-26.07%)
5. Daniel Stringer 1,058 (9.87%)
6. David McConnell 625 (5.83%)
7. Les Gangé 42 (0.39%)

River Ward

1. Maria McRae 5,600 (63.11%)
2. Todd Mattila-Hartman 1,654 (18.64%)
3. Richard Smith 1,619 (18.25%)

Capital Ward

1. Clive Doucet 5,785 (80.06%) (+9.67%)
2. C. R. L. Erickson 1,024 (14.17%)
3. Mike Salmon 417 (5.77%)

Alta Vista Ward

1. Peter Hume (acclaimed)

Cumberland Ward

1. Rob Jellett 2,957 (54.37%)
2. Garry Lowe 1,871 (34.40%)
3. Pierre E. Doucette 552 (10.15%)
4. David Whissell 59 (1.08%)

Osgoode Ward

1. Doug Thompson (acclaimed)

Rideau Ward

1. Glenn Brooks 2,765 (62.68%) (-2.42%)
2. Paul Paton 1,646 (37.32%)

See also: List of Ottawa mayors for previous election results