Chris Canales was elected to represent District 8 on the El Paso City Council in late 2022 and was sworn in to serve a first four-year term in January 2023.

 A native El Pasoan, Chris attended EPISD schools on the west side and graduated from Franklin High School. He holds a degree in Sustainable Development from Columbia University in New York City, and he worked in the fields of natural resources management and green sector consulting before returning to El Paso in 2017 with his wife Nora. They now reside in District 8 with their two rescue dogs Wyck and Q and frequent foster dogs. Since he returned to El Paso, Chris has worked in municipal government.

At the appointment of the Mayor, Chris now serves as the Chair of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee, as a Trustee on the Board of the City of El Paso Employees Retirement Trust, and on the Policy Board of the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (the governmental body for regional transportation planning that programs state and federal transportation funds for West Texas and Southern New Mexico). As the representative for Downtown, he is an ex officio board member of the El Paso Downtown Management District, and he is the City’s Manager’s designee to represent the City of El Paso on the board of the Continuum of Care (the local conduit for federal homelessness funding). In his personal capacity, he serves on the board of the Kelly Center for Hunger Relief.

Outside of his role on the City Council, Chris works as a referee of professional soccer, and is heavily involved in the soccer referees’ labor union Professional Soccer Referees Association.