Jake Vandendool is Haldimand County born and raised.

He lives in Caledonia, is a proud father of two school-aged children, and has experienced Haldimand from different perspectives, from rural life near York to community life in Caledonia.

Jake attended local schools, including Oneida Public School, River Heights, and McKinnon Park Secondary School. Like many families in Haldimand, his childhood was shaped by local schools, local sports, and local volunteering.

He is an entrepreneur and business leader who built his career from the ground up, a former Ontario Provincial Police Special Constable, longtime OPP Auxiliary volunteer, and local resident with a practical, real-world track record of stepping forward, solving problems, and delivering results.

Jake started his first business at age twelve, cutting grass and maintaining neighbours’ yards with friends.

That entrepreneurial drive continued through the early days of the Internet, when he founded technology and Internet service companies before later building Metro Loop into a provider serving residential and business customers across Canada. His experience also reaches beyond Haldimand, including founding, building, and leading international telecommunications operations, software and IT consulting companies, and a telecommunications manufacturing business.

Metro Loop operated nationally, but its local impact was personal. Under Jake’s leadership, the company invested tens of millions of dollars in private infrastructure across Haldimand County, delivering modern fibre-optic Internet, TV, and telephone service to underserved homes, farms, businesses, and communities.

Jake understands infrastructure, operations, investment, customer service, budgets, and accountability because he has carried those responsibilities in the real world. He has built from the ground up, led teams, operated critical infrastructure carrying billions of dollars in commerce annually, solved complex problems, and consistently delivered results.

Now, with that chapter complete, Jake is ready to put his experience to work for Haldimand.

Service has always been a constant in Jake’s life.

He has volunteered for more than 30 years with the Caledonia Agricultural Society and served 16 years with the Ontario Provincial Police Auxiliary, retiring as an Auxiliary Sergeant in 2018.

For more than a decade, Jake organized the annual Operation Good Neighbour food drive on behalf of the Burlington OPP Auxiliary Unit and Hamilton Paramedic Service, helping support families across the region.

Jake has also served on several corporate and volunteer boards, including his current role as a volunteer board member with a local non-profit business centre, where he supports local business by applying practical entrepreneurial experience.

For Jake, service is not a convenient campaign slogan. It is how he has shown up for his community, and it is the same approach he will bring to the mayor’s office.

When Jake sees something that can be improved, he has a hard time looking the other way.

That has been true throughout his life, in business, volunteering, community service, and public life. Jake believes that if you have the ability to help, and the experience to make a difference, you have a responsibility to step forward.

That sense of responsibility is at the heart of why Jake is running for mayor.

This campaign is not about personal ambition. It is about Haldimand, and about bringing honest, experienced leadership to the mayor’s office with the work ethic, judgment, and follow-through needed to get things done.

This campaign is not about empty promises.

It is about doing better.

Growth and change are part of life. Haldimand is not immune to either, and we should not be afraid of progress. Growth can bring opportunity, but without balance, it puts pressure on our roads, farmland, services, and the character of the communities we call home.

Jake has said it consistently: Haldimand needs Communities not Subdivisions. That means growth that fits, infrastructure that keeps up, services that work, more green space, recreation opportunities, health-care access, respect for taxpayers, and a municipal government that puts existing residents and local businesses first.

It also means reshaping the approach and culture within our municipal government.

Residents, businesses, volunteers, and community organizations should not run into a default “no” when they are trying to build, improve, invest, or bring forward a good idea. Jake believes municipal government should be clear, fair, responsive, professional, and focused on finding a responsible path to “yes.”

Putting Haldimand first also means taking care of the basics: roads, parks, trails, public spaces, streetlights, signage, and community facilities. Clean, well-maintained communities reflect civic pride in where we live. They also feel safer, more welcoming, and less inviting for criminal activity.

Jake brings practical, experienced leadership with a track record of delivering.

For Haldimand, that means real accountability, better service, responsible growth, and a mayor focused on getting things done.

Copyright © 2026 Jake Vandendool