On Monday, November 14, 2016, Town Council unanimously approved the addition of a new ward and new ward boundaries for Oakville to be in place for the 2018 municipal election. Council passed By-law 2016-109 to increase the town’s wards from six to seven, and By-law 2016-110 to increase the size of Council from its current composition of 13 members (12 councillors, plus Mayor) to 15 (14 councillors, plus Mayor). The additional seats for one local councillor and one local and regional councillor will represent Ward 7.
“Changing our ward system is needed to assure our residents have fair, effective representation at the town and region as Oakville’s population continues to grow,” Mayor Rob Burton said. “The work completed over the last several years through our review process has prepared us to move ahead and make these changes in time for the 2018 election.”
The new ward map for Oakville, Ontario is now available via an interactive application.The new ward map for Oakville, Ontario is now available via an interactive application.
To accommodate the new Ward 7, which captures neighbourhoods north of Dundas Street, adjustments will be made to all existing ward boundaries except Ward 3. The new boundaries ensure that the town’s population is redistributed to create more balanced wards, and reflects the federal standard of 25 per cent as an acceptable percentage variation in population size among wards.
Halton Regional Council recently approved an additional seat for the Town of Oakville, and two for the Town of Milton. Approval of this increase to regional representation has met the “triple majority” criteria outlined in the Municipal Act, meaning that a majority of Regional Council plus a majority of the lower-tier councils (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton) have passed a resolution in support of the changes.
Section 222(1) of the Municipal Act allows municipalities to establish ward boundaries and change existing ward boundaries. Residents who object to the new ward boundaries (By-law 2016-109) can make an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board which must be filed with Oakville’s Town Clerk by December 29, 2016. Visit the Ward boundary page at oakville.ca for more details on the appeal process, plus background information on the town’s ward boundary review and new ward boundary map.