Jeromy Farkas sets sights on city hall, this time as mayor

By Jill Reeves, March 26 2025—

Jeromy Farkas, nonprofit CEO and former City Councillor of Ward 11, is making his mark in the 2025 Calgary mayoral election.

Farkas, one of the youngest elected city councillors, has already begun making strides within his political career. Notably, he is the only councillor to have opted out of the offered city council pension plan and refused the standard transition payment following his term. 

As the son of a refugee father, Farkas was motivated to engage politically, in a sense of paying it forward, contributing to the community, and making a difference. He mentions his grandmother being a large part of his inspiration. 

“She was a big mentor and friend to me, and she always had this saying that Calgary means being part of something bigger,” he said. 

In 2021, Farkas had campaigned for mayor, securing 29 per cent of the votes and placing second to Jyoti Gondek. Following his loss, Farkas walked the Pacific Crest Trail, raising roughly a quarter of a million dollars for Big Brothers Big Sisters Calgary, and took on a campaign to protect parkland in northwestern Calgary. In his perspective, the 2021 loss had been a positive outcome. 

“I learned a couple of key lessons. From that I learned leadership means owning your mistakes, it means attacking the problem and not the person, and it means, most of all, not having to be the smartest person in the room,” he said. 

While education is a provincial responsibility, Farkas highlights the role of the city in terms of supporting post-secondary students and education. He refers to a recent response he had published on social media regarding his take on the most recent provincial budget, in which he highlighted the insufficiency of financial support for post-secondary institutions from the government. During his time as Ward 11’s Councillor, Farkas stated that he was an advocate for the summer student hiring program offered by the city, insinuating this as a key support that Calgary can offer its students. 

“I see working more closely with post-secondaries, both the students and faculty administration, to be a really key goal for this next mayor and council,” he said. 

Farkas also highlights the work of the Students Union (SU) and ensures his election would value the voices and ideas of students. 

“A lot of the work and advocacy that’s being done by the University of Calgary’s Student Association has been really transformative,” he said. “They definitely have the ear of the mayor and council, and they are a group that I would definitely want to be able to help pull in, to have a seat at the table when it comes to making some of these decisions, say the transit system, safe housing policy, and all of the rest.” 

As one of several platform points, Farkas’s campaign emphasizes the housing shortage facing many residents of Calgary and promises to provide diverse and affordable housing options within the city.

“I think to be able to solve the housing affordability crisis, we need to be able to enable that choice so that Calgarians can pick what works best for them,” Farkas said. “It is also going to require a big focus on the services and infrastructure to support that.” 

Alongside affordable housing, Farkas’s campaign promotes improving safety and reliability on the streets of Calgary. This includes both tackling road safety issues such as potholes and lighting, but also spans to investing in crime reduction measures, such as community policing and mental health and addiction services. 

“I think safe streets for our kids are really important as an issue. And I think that right now we’ve been taking a bit of a polarized approach, either through focusing solely on the social side through harm reduction and prevention, or solely through just addressing the symptoms of crime and social disorder,” he said. “I think we need to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time.”

The municipal election in which Farkas is running will occur on October 20th, 2025. This is an opportunity for residents of Calgary to elect both a mayor and city council representatives. 

“I would say right now, city hall is stuck, but we have what it takes to be able to get unstuck, to be able to build a Calgary that moves forward for everyone to be able to prosper, to solve the world’s toughest problems, and to be at the center of a strong and united team Canada, and most of all, to build a city that has your back,” Farkas said.