Rhonda Nordlander is the next candidate to throw her hat in the ring to become the next Mayor of Brantford.
Nordlander joins current councillors Richard Carpenter, Dan McCreary, Mandy Samwell and Rose Sicoli in the race to become mayor when the municipal election comes around on Monday, October 26, 2026.
Nordlander, a community advocate, entrepreneur, and now mayoral candidate, is bringing a platform of lived experience, housing reform, accountability, and social justice to the people of Brantford. Drawing on decades of frontline work, business experience, advocacy, and personal resilience, Nordlander said the city needs leadership that understands the real struggles facing residents today.
Originally from Thunder Bay and raised in the Greater Toronto Area by a hardworking single mother, Nordlander began working at age 16 and built experience across hospitality, housing development, customer service, skilled trades, information technology, and small business ownership. In her twenties, she spent four years living in Southern Europe and the Middle East, gaining experience in international trade, importing, exporting, shipping, and entrepreneurship.
Her background also includes working with Tridel on innovative housing development systems while gaining hands-on experience in construction, maintenance, and property improvement. Coming from a family deeply involved in housing, renovation, and real estate, Nordlander said she developed an early understanding of responsible development, home ownership, and community investment.
After returning to school during a lengthy family court battle, Nordlander graduated from Sheridan College in Brampton and went on to build a career focused on poverty law, housing advocacy, mental health, disability supports, and tenant rights. In 2015, while serving as Office Manager at North Peel and Dufferin Community Legal Services, she created and implemented a program training frontline social service workers to assist vulnerable individuals facing eviction, housing instability, addiction, and mental health challenges. The program improved support for underfunded legal clinics and became a model noticed and adopted by other clinics.
Nordlander said her own experiences navigating family court, housing insecurity, displacement, and access-to-justice barriers strengthened her belief that governments must focus more on accountability, fairness, transparency, and practical support systems for residents.
“Leadership should come from lived experience, compassion, resilience, and accountability,” said Nordlander. “People are struggling with housing affordability, mental health, addiction, rising costs, and a system that too often feels disconnected from everyday reality. Brantford deserves leadership that listens, acts, and invests directly in people and communities.”
Having lived and worked in communities across Ontario, including Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Barrie, Orangeville, and now Brantford, Nordlander said she wants to help build a city focused on stronger support systems, practical housing solutions, public accountability, and long-term community stability.
Her campaign is centered on the belief that resilient communities are built when governments invest directly in people, housing, recovery, fairness, and future generations.
