Calgary's long list of candidates for municipal election is now official

It's official: There are a lot of candidates running in the upcoming Calgary election.

The cutoff for candidates to withdraw their names was noon on Tuesday, leaving 27 mayoral hopefuls and 100 would-be councillors.

The numbers are not surprising given how many incumbents are not seeking re-election this year — a record number of open seats since council was first expanded to 15 in 1977.

Nine current councillors are not running for re-election, but three of them hope to be mayor. One of the departing councillors, Ward 5's George Chahal, is projected as the Liberal Party winner in the riding of Skyview in Monday's federal election.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi also isn't returning, leaving a vacancy that has attracted a large pool of candidates for his soon-to-be former job.

In addition to the council seats, there are 37 public school board trustee candidates and 18 separate school board trustee hopefuls.

Calgarians will head to the polls on Oct. 18, with advance voting taking place from Oct. 4 to Oct. 10.

There will also be a non-binding federal senate vote, provincial referendum questions around daylight saving time and equalization, and a city-initiated ballot question on whether to once again add fluoride to Calgary's drinking water.

Information on candidates as well as details on how to vote can be found on the Elections Calgary site.