What to know as city council eyes rejig of London’s ward boundaries

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For the first time in seven years, London is looking at changing its local electoral boundaries. Now that public consultations have concluded, politicians will have to decide on one of two options for new wards, with some tweaks and some drastic changes. LFP’s Jack Moulton breaks it down.

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WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH THE WARDS NOW?

London’s ward boundaries are relatively old and population growth has not happened equally in all of them.

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Populations of each ward according to 2021 census data vary by several thousand. Ward 7 saw the most population growth between 2011 and 2021 when it was home to more than 40,000 people. Half of London’s wards had more than 30,000 residents, with the other half falling below that threshold.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, chair of council’s strategic priorities and policy committee, which will hear the new boundary options, said too big of a population disparity can lead to some voters’ voices being diminished.

“Not only is each of those voters’ voices being diminished individually, because they don’t have as much of the councillor’s time each, and the councillor doesn’t get an extra vote for the population, so their voting power is reduced, but also just in terms of the ability to communicate with your residents,” he said.

WHAT DID RESIDENTS THINK?

According to several surveys and public consultations run by the consulting firm Watson and Associates Economists Ltd., the majority of Londoners most valued keeping established neighbourhoods and communities together within new boundaries.

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That was more important to respondent than a better balance for present and future populations, a view that is understandable to Lewis.

“When you think about our business improvement areas, our community association groups . . . they want to have a single point of contact with city council,” he said. “They don’t want to have to be talking to two or three councillors, in some cases, because their neighborhood was being divided up.”

OPTION 1

Compared to some preliminary options that promised to overhaul London’s 14-ward system almost entirely to better balance population, both options before council build on existing wards.

Common among both options is the expansion of Ward 14 to all city land south of Highway 401, shrinking Ward 7 by moving Ward 5 west to between Wonderland Road and Adelaide Street, and moving Ward 4 north, having Ward 1 swallow Old East Village.

Ward 12 will be cut in half. Ward 4 will be boxed in by Fanshawe Park Road, Oxford Street, Highbury Avenue and Adelaide Street. Ward 3 would take over the remainder of what is now Ward 5 east of Adelaide north to the city boundary.

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No change would be made to Ward 8, while Wards 6, 10, 11, and 13 would only see marginal changes.

OPTION 2

In the second option, Ward 4 would be pushed north even further by Ward 3, bounded by Huron Street, Adelaide and Highbury, and the city boundary. Ward 1 would lose the Gore area to Ward 14, and Ward 11 would take a chunk of Ward 10 between Sprinbank Drive, Commissioners Road, and Wonderland.

Both wards 10 and 12 would push further west into Ward 9, to Colonel Talbot Road, and Ward 8 would take the southwest corner of Ward 6. Ward 6’s north boundary would be Windermere and Gainsborough roads, rather than the Medway Valley.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The options will be debated by politicians at Tuesday’s strategic priorities and policy committee meeting, before being approved at council later this month.

Politicians will have to choose between the two options, or to take no action and leave the boundaries as they are, which the consultant does not recommend. Even if a new bylaw dictating the wards is approved at the Dec. 17 council meeting, there is a chance it could be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

According to the consultants, council must pass a bylaw with the changes by Dec. 31, 2025, to take effect for the next election on Oct. 26, 2026. 

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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