FAQs
Will the wards stay at 14 wards?
Yes - the 2024 Ward Boundary Review will be reviewing the existing 14 ward boundaries. No changes to the existing number of wards is being investigated at this time.
How do you balance established neighbourhoods and communities?
A combination of data gathering, feedback and public engagement from those communities will inform the evaluation of the population distribution and proposed options in the ward boundary review this fall. The team will use this data to do their best to incorporate feedback from neighbourhood and community groups while ensuring the proposed solutions meet the guiding principles for the ward boundary review established by the City of London.
How will you be taking into account the student population?
Post-secondary students will be included as part of the population analysis of the Ward Boundary Review and will be added to the Census populations when analysis population distributions. As presented in Population, Housing and Employment Growth Projection Study, 2021-2051 by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd., October 17, 2022, the post-secondary student population not captured within the 2021 Census was estimated to total 24,400. The Census population for the City of London in 2021 was estimated at 422,320 excluding post-secondary students for a total population estimated at 446,750 as of 2021 and will be used as the basis for this study. Due to recent policy changes relating to international student enrolments across the county, the Consultant team will not be accounting for further post-secondary population growth through the Ward Boundary Review study and will hold that number stable through the next two election cycles at 24,400.
How do possible changes in ward boundaries affect the municipal election timeline? Would changes happen before the next election resulting in residents possibly having councillors they did not elect?
Ward boundary changes do not come into effect until November 15, 2026. Your current ward boundary and councillor will remain the same until then. However, residents will vote using the new wards for the 2026 Municipal Election. The entire review process, including receipt of the decision of the OLT regarding any appeals, must be completed no later than January 1, 2026 in order for the revised ward boundaries to be in place for the 2026 City of London Municipal Election.