Kareem Allam

Kareem Allam (born 1979) is a Canadian political consultant, political strategist, and politician. He served as Ken Sim's campaign manager before the 2022 Vancouver municipal election and served as Sim's first chief of staff for a three-month period. He had previously worked for Kevin Falcon's campaigns to obtain the leadership of the BC Liberals.

Allam is the mayoral candidate for the Vancouver Liberals, a party he founded, in the 2026 Vancouver municipal election.

Early life

Allam stated he was born in Vancouver to Egyptian parents in 1979 and grew up moving between Cairo and Vancouver before settling in Richmond. He studied history at Simon Fraser University.

Career

Allam has worked as a consultant and strategist for First Nations and other organizations. He is a partner at Richardson Strategy Group. He has previously worked for FortisBC and TransCanada Corporation. He was formerly on the board of the Fraser Health Authority.

Campaign management

Allam served as deputy campaign manager for Kevin Falcon's failed run for BC Liberal leadership in 2011. He later served as campaign manager in 2022 for Falcon's successful leadership run. He also ran Erin O'Toole's 2020 federal Conservative Party leadership campaign.

ABC Vancouver and Ken Sim

Allam worked as campaign manager for ABC Vancouver before becoming Ken Sim's chief of staff following the 2022 Vancouver municipal election. ABC Vancouver achieved strong gains in that election, gaining 7 seats of the 10-person city council and 6 seats of the park board. He left after three months in February 2023.

Suit from Ken Sim

In May 2025, Sim sued Allam and real estate developer George Tsakumis on the grounds of defamation. Sim alleges that Allam falsely told "Tsakumis and others" that Sim was caught drunk driving but was let off without citation. Tsakumis posted about the purported event on social media months after it occurred. Allam claims he received a phone call from one of Sim's staffers about the mayor being stopped while intoxicated in Februrary 2023 and spoke to Tsakumis about it but did not say anything that could be deemed defamatory. None of the claims have been tested in court.

Mayoral campaign with the Vancouver Liberals

Allam founded the Vancouver Liberals in July 2025. He announced his bid for the mayoralty in October 2025. In an interview with the Vancouver Sun, he stated the Vancouver Liberals aimed "to create a fiscal and social platform that attracts young people back to the city" by reducing regulations on home building and increasing funding for parks, community centres, and libraries. He also stated that he wanted the Vancouver Liberals to run a full slate of candidates for city council, park board, and the school board. In January 2026, Allam recruited park board commissioner Scott Jensen and school board member Victoria Jung to the Vancouver Liberals.

Views

Allam supported the BC Liberals until 2024, when he voted for the BC NDP instead. He voted for the federal Liberal Party due to his support of Mark Carney in the 2025 Canadian general election. Allam told CBC News that he named the Vancouver Liberals "The Liberals" because he believed it was the best way of indicating his desire to stay in the centre of politics. He supports merging Vancouver's housing code with the provincial building code.

Personal life

Allam is married and currently lives in Yaletown.