Free to use
Put the ward lookup on your site
Turnout in Guelph's last municipal election was 27.96 per cent. Part of the reason is that the basics are annoying to find out — most people genuinely don't know which ward they live in, never mind who's on their ballot.
So the lookup is free for anyone to put on their own website. Other campaigns included — every ward, every candidate, no exceptions. More people voting is good for all of us.
The short version
Paste this wherever you want the lookup to appear. It works in Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, Webflow and plain HTML — anywhere you can add an embed or custom-code block.
<iframe src="https://jonchristensen.ca/widget/ward-lookup"
title="Guelph ward lookup" width="100%" height="560"
style="border:1px solid #d8d2c6;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0;max-width:640px;color:#4a4a4a">
Guelph ward lookup by <a href="https://jonchristensen.ca/what-ward-am-i-in">Jon Christensen</a>
</p>The tidier version
The basic embed uses a fixed height, so there may be a little empty space below the box before someone searches. This version grows and shrinks to fit its contents automatically. Use it if your site lets you add a script.
<iframe id="guelph-ward-lookup"
src="https://jonchristensen.ca/widget/ward-lookup"
title="Guelph ward lookup" width="100%" height="560"
style="border:1px solid #d8d2c6;max-width:640px;display:block"
loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0;max-width:640px;color:#4a4a4a">
Guelph ward lookup by <a href="https://jonchristensen.ca/what-ward-am-i-in">Jon Christensen</a>
</p>
<script>
window.addEventListener("message", function (e) {
if (e.origin !== "https://jonchristensen.ca") return;
if (!e.data || e.data.type !== "jc-ward-lookup:height") return;
var f = document.getElementById("guelph-ward-lookup");
if (f) f.style.height = e.data.height + "px";
});
</script>Fair questions
Does it cost anything?
No. There's nothing to sign up for and no limit on use.
I'm running against Jon. Can I still use it?
Yes, and you're welcome to. It lists every registered candidate in every ward alphabetically, with a link to each campaign's own website. It doesn't argue for anyone.
What's the credit line for?
The snippet includes one small visible line under the box saying where the tool came from, with a link back. That's the only thing asked in return for building and maintaining it. It's plain text you can see in the code before you paste it — there's nothing hidden in there.
What does it show visitors?
They type a street address. It tells them which of the six wards they're in, lists everyone running for council there, links to each of those campaigns, and points to the voting dates. There is one line of small print crediting where it came from.
Where does the data come from?
The City of Guelph's own open data — its published address list and official ward boundaries — plus the City's registered candidate list. Nominations close August 21, and the candidate list is checked against the City's regularly.
Does it collect anything about my visitors?
No. The embedded version does all its matching inside your visitor's own browser and sends nothing back — no accounts, no tracking pixel, nothing stored.
To be straight with you: on our own campaign page we do record the addresses people look up, to work out where to knock on doors. The embed deliberately doesn't, because it runs on your website rather than ours. You can confirm that yourself in your browser's network tab.
Something looks wrong. Who do I tell?
Please do — get in touch and it'll get fixed. Accuracy matters more here than anything else.
See it first
Have a go with it before you put it anywhere.
Know a group that should have this?
Neighbourhood associations, community groups, other campaigns — anyone with a Guelph audience. Pass it along.