Council composition and ward boundary review

Ward numbering changes may be required depending on the ward boundaries approved by City Council, especially if the number of wards change.

The ward boundary review is focused on population, not electors. As a result, the work that has been done as part of this review looks at population metrics. We don’t have voter metrics available for existing or proposed wards. Existing population metrics per ward are available in the preliminary options report and projected population metrics are available in the final options detail guides posted in the document library.

The terms of reference for this project specifically asked to look at population and growth projections over a period of three municipal elections, which takes us through a ten-year time horizon to 2030. It also becomes more difficult to make granular growth projections over a longer time horizon. Conducting a ward boundary review every ten years also allows for wards to stay in sync with the community.

There are two Council meetings planned for this project. On June 21, 2021 the consultant team will be presenting the final options and there will be an opportunity for delegations and members of Council to ask questions. We’ll come back on June 23, 2021 for Council to debate and make a final decision. The final reports will be made public on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

Staff are not directing this work. The terms of reference were set out in an RFP. The consultant team submitted a proposal and were selected to complete the work. The consultant team works with staff to coordinate aspects of the work, such as deadlines and meetings, but the content of the review is an independent process.

The graph on page 3 of the engagement summary for round two shows the four options in the middle as the options that were most voted on by the public in the last round of consultation. The final four options presented today are based on these preferred options with some slight modifications.

There is no official neighbourhood map or list per se. We used our general knowledge and desktop review of online resources (e.g. realtor.ca, guelphheritage.ca) to sketch out neighbourhoods in the city and identify qualitatively their groupings within the proposed wards under each option.

While post-secondary students are captured in the population metrics, it is difficult to isolate permanent versus non-permanent student populations. A large share of post-secondary students are already captured in standard census population metrics (permanent) with the non-permanent population layered on to generate the total population metrics used in this review. As a result, we don’t have that level of data available to release.

There is no precise answer to this question and depends on what the residents of Guelph want to get out of this review. Some residents may feel that their community is better represented in a particular grouping of neighbourhoods that give that part of the city a distinctive voice. Others may have the goal of having as many voices as possible around the table. There is no specific formula and while the consultants can provide some guidance, it is up to the residents of Guelph to make the final analysis about what is right for their community.

Councillor representation may change depending on whether a new ward boundary configuration is approved by Council. If approved, the new configuration will be in effect for the 2022 municipal election. The ward you’re in as well as the number of councillors per ward could change. These changes would be communicated well in advance of the next election.