Indian-origin Suhana Gill, 20, takes oath as Surrey’s youngest-ever councillor

SURREY (Canada): A Surrey-born woman of Punjabi descent, who finished high school at 15, is now the youngest member of the city council in Canada’s fast-growing Surrey city.

Suhana Gill, 20, took the oath of office at Surrey City Hall on Monday evening, Canada time. The 40-minute ceremony opened the council’s 2026–2030 term, led by Mayor Doug McCallum. McCallum was sworn in first, then Mandeep Nagra as deputy mayor, followed by the rest of the councillors together.

Gill won on Doug McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition ticket in the October 17 civic election. She polled 27,820 votes, the fifth-highest among the eight councillors elected.

Writing after her win, she said, “We didn’t just run a campaign — we made history.” She called herself the youngest candidate ever elected to Surrey City Council and said the win belonged to everyone who backed a fresh voice.

Fast-tracked through school

Gill’s rise has been quick. She finished high school at 15 and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at 19. She graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in June and had served as the Kwantlen Student Association’s women’s representative for 2024-25.

She has worked with Canada’s House of Commons, appeared as a CBC News panellist, worked in the non-profit sector, built a career in real estate and represented more than 22,000 university students. In 2024, she was among those honoured at the Surrey Now-Leader Community Leader Awards. As a teenager, she was also active in pageants and environmental campaigns, and had spoken of wanting to run for office.

Explaining why she ran, Gill said Surrey’s council needs “leadership that reflects our actual demographic reality.” She said her work as a real estate agent showed her how hard it is for young families to afford a home in the city.

What she promised voters

Her three main promises were SkyTrain along King George Boulevard to Newton, free swimming lessons for Surrey children aged three to 16, and a new pool and community centre for City Centre.

She has recalled spending an hour on a bus to reach class or work, and said Surrey’s youth are the city’s largest generation ever, yet “City Hall has planned nothing for them.”

During the campaign, McCallum told a mayoral debate that his slate deliberately included a young candidate, Suhana Gill, to bring a youth view to the team.

Four Punjabi-origin faces on council

Gill is one of four councillors of Punjabi origin elected this time: Harry Bains, Meera Gill, Mandeep Singh Nagra and Suhana Gill. She, Meera Gill and Cheney Cloke are the new faces on council. Five of the nine members are women.

The Safe Surrey Coalition swept the polls. McCallum beat outgoing mayor Brenda Locke by 42,741 votes to 30,886, and his party took seven of the eight council seats, giving it eight of nine seats including the mayor. Harry Bains of Surrey Connect is the only councillor from outside the ruling slate. More than 134,000 ballots were cast, over 15,500 more than four years ago.

The new council’s promises include a hospital and SkyTrain extension for Newton, no property tax hike for four years, a ward system for Surrey elections, new pools for Clayton Heights and City Centre, and pulling Surrey out of the Metro Vancouver Regional District.

McCallum, 82, has now won a fifth term as mayor, having led the city from 1996 to 2005 and from 2018 to 2022.