Muhammad Ahmad is the biggest underdog of Vancouver’s 2026 municipal elections. The 34-year-old permanent resident from Lahore, Pakistan, is running for mayor with Bright Future Vancouver (BFV), a new party that registered with Elections BC in 2026.
Ahmad, who describes himself as a “die-hard union guy,” told Vancity Lookout that BFV was born on the front lines of the BC General Employees’ Union strikes in 2025.
“I was the picket-line captain … and I was talking to people who are working like two or three jobs, working in the government,” Ahmad said, questioning why workers have to fight for a livable wage.
Ahmad currently works as a communications officer for the provincial government. Since moving to Canada in 2017, he’s worked for Elections BC, BC Ferries, Air Canada, and sat on the Board of Directors of Dunbar Memorial Preschool.
“One of the biggest flexes [other] politicians [use] is ‘I was born here,’” Ahmad observed. “For me, I chose this city … I’ve travelled all around the world, and I chose this city to raise my family,” he said, calling Vancouver “heaven on earth.”
Ahmad spent time working in communications for non-profit organizations doing humanitarian work in Pakistan and Brazil. That work fundamentally changed his trajectory and perspective on life, Ahmed said.
“It’s not about building wealth, it’s about serving,” he said, adding that he would bring that mentality of service to the Mayor’s Office.
Ahmad frequently namechecks young leftist politicians like New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. He considered running with COPE as its mayoral candidate, but ultimately didn’t feel he’d have enough control over staffing and policy if elected.
Before launching BFV, Ahmad said he felt it would be easier to “take charge” of an established party that shares his values, like COPE. However, during the interview process with COPE, Ahmad said he was told the party would decide which policies and motions he would bring forward, and they would pick his chief of staff.
Ahmad didn’t want to be a “dummy mayor,” as he called it. “I want to be a mayor that does what people ask me to do,” he said.
When asked where he falls on the political spectrum, Ahmad said that’s the wrong question. “It's not about the political spectrum anymore … it's about the rich versus everyone else,” he said.
“I want to serve everyone,” he said, but he’d specifically focus on serving low-income residents and people who have to work multiple jobs to get by in Vancouver.
But Ahmad also has his contradictions. At one point in our interview, he told Vancity Lookout that he’s “not too flashy [and] doesn’t come from money.” However, he also said he received a loan from his father at 15 to start a shoe manufacturing business and wore a glittering gold watch to our interview.
When asked about his watch, Ahmad said it was a gift from a Dubai-based oil and gas company where he worked as a communications manager for several years. “I embrace it. I work really hard for it, and I deserve it,” he said.
“Money is important to survive in the world that we live in. But that's not the only thing. You’ve got to give back,” Ahmad said, bringing it back to his view of government as a public service.
In terms of policy, Bright Future Vancouver is proposing a housing plan it calls the Roots Project, which includes a rent-to-own program that would divert 20 per cent of rent payments for housing at select city-owned sites or partnered projects, and put those funds into a trust benefiting renters when they want to buy a home.
Ahmad wants to create 500 of these rent-to-own units in his first term, as well as an additional 1,500 units, which would be a mix of ownership and below-market rentals. BFV’s housing plan would also include purpose-built housing for nurses, seniors, and military veterans.
“I want to build you equity. I want to build you a house. I want you to stay in Vancouver,” Ahmad said of his housing plan for Vancouverites.
Ahmad’s other priorities include bringing back the Living Wage requirement for city employees, creating 500 childcare spaces with extended hours for parents who work night shifts, opening a publicly-owned grocery store that sources food from local farmers, and establishing a free transit pass, paid for by the city, for people under the age of 18 and over the age of 55.
“We are so programmed to think that everything has to be about numbers. We can bring in money. We can ask the federal government for help. We can go to the province. We just don't have the will to do it,” Ahmad said, stressing that the city “cannot live” without support from the federal and provincial governments.
In terms of specific actions, Ahmad said BFV would try to amend the Vancouver Charter to secure more power for the civic government, including the ability to create new taxes.
On some files, Ahmad’s optimism seems unrealistic, like his proposal to build an 80-kilometre train network to serve every neighbourhood in the city. While a map of the proposed train network, which he showed Vancity Lookout, would be a transit user’s dream, the reality is that the current 5.7-kilometre Broadway Subway project is expected to cost nearly $3 billion, while the long-awaited train extension to UBC is still in early planning stages.
“People will say it’s unrealistic [but] I am setting the bar so high and I'm going to meet it,” Ahmad said, adding that, at the very least, he would get these transit projects started and in the proverbial pipeline. “It’s good to dream,” he said.
BFV is more measured about its transit platform in its online materials, focusing on policies directly in the city’s control, such as approving zoning and permitting for the UBC extension and advancing dedicated rapid bus lanes on seven arterial streets.
For his caucus, Ahmad said his party plans to run a full slate of candidates, including ten city councillors, seven park board commissioners, and nine school board trustees. So far, the party has announced six council candidates, including Andy Lin, Bilal Khan, Mohadeseh GP Arasi, and Judith Kasiama. BFV has yet to announce any of its park and school board candidates.
“I'm not bringing politicians aboard. I'm not bringing in big names. I am bringing in people who are ordinary Vancouverites,” Ahmad said, adding that he’s put an emphasis on youth and diversity.
“We want to give equal opportunities to every single Vancouverite.”
