Esquimalt is governed by a Mayor and six Councillors.
The Reeves and Mayors elected to office since Esquimalt's incorporation are listed below:
| 1912 - 1913 | Reeve Charles H. Lugrin |
| 1913 - 1914 | Reeve John Raffell Saunders |
| 1915 | Reeve James Stuart McAdam |
| 1916 - 1919 | Reeve Arthur Coles |
| 1919 - 1924 | Reeve Alexander Lockley |
| 1925 - 1926 | Reeve Robert P. Matheson |
| 1927 - 1931 | Reeve James Elrick |
| 1932 - 1933 | Reeve Albert Heald |
| 1934 - 1944 | Reeve A. Lockley (died 1944) |
| 1944 - 1946 | Reeve Thomas Hadfield |
| 1947 | Reeve E. J. Read (died 1947) |
| 1947 - 1951 | Reeve Albert I. Thomas |
| 1952 - 1965 | Reeve Alfred C. Wurtele |
| 1966 - 1969 | Reeve/Mayor Ray Thomas Bryant |
| 1970 - 1979 | Mayor Arthur George Young |
| 1979 - 1987 | Mayor Kenneth A. S. Hill |
| 1987 - 1990 | Mayor W. Ronald Warder |
| 1990 - 1996 | Mayor Christopher J. E. Clement |
| 1996 - 2003 | Mayor Ray Rice |
| 2003 - 2005 | Mayor Darwin Robinson |
| 2005 - 2008 | Mayor Christopher J. E. Clement |
| 2008 - 2026 | Mayor Barbara Desjardins |
| 2026 - | Mayor Duncan Cavens |