Changing ward boundaries to shift the balance of power at city hall after 2026 election

Redrawing the boundaries of London's wards Shifting population numbers have resulted in some councillors having more constituents, CTV London's Daryl Newcombe breaks it down.

A council committee will consider redrawing electoral lines to redistribute London’s population more evenly across the 14 wards.

“It's just not fair in a democratic system to have that much disparity,” said Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, who also represents Ward 2 as its councillor.

Lewis’ ward is the smallest by population, containing just 27,299 residents.

In northwest London, Ward 7 is the largest with a population of 49,914.

A consultant has completed a Ward Boundary Review that includes two options for redrawing the ward map.

“We have to balance it so that councilors have a fair workload, and so that the votes of residents count roughly in the same way when council votes,” Lewis told CTV News.

The deputy mayor added that councillors with larger constituencies do not receive additional resources.

A ward boundary review seeks to bring each ward’s population closer to the average (35,524) and account for anticipated growth until 2035.

In fast-growing northwest London, Coun. Corrine Rahman said Ward 7 will have better representation by population if it is reduced in size by shifting some of the neighbourhood into adjacent wards.

“I do think having additional voices to advocate on behalf of residents, [and] to share that workload and share that advocacy is important – but how we do that is really key,” Rahman said.

According to the report, the consultant considered five factors:

But Rahman believes wards also benefit from containing a mix of constituents from various socio-economic backgrounds.

“One of the concerns I have with the recommendations that have come back to us is do they account for socio-economic conditions within each of the wards?” she questioned.

The consultant has developed two options for council consideration.

Both maps expand Ward 14 to include all lands south of Highway 401.

Ward 13 (Downtown/Woodfield/SOHO/Blackfriars) does not change.

There is a small expansion to Ward 11 (Old South/Coves) in Option #2, but no change in Option #1.

Other wards undergo significant changes to reduce population in the fast-growing west parts of the city and add population to wards with established neighbourhoods.

“I'm leaning pretty heavily towards Option #1,” explained Lewis. “I think it does a better job of maintaining the communities of interest, particularly for the folks along the Hamilton Road corridor, as well as for the folks in Lambeth.”

A public survey was completed by just 643 people, most of whom responded that communities of interest should not be divided between wards.

Rahman believes the small amount of feedback was the result of “survey fatigue” after city hall reached out to the public about a number of significant initiatives this year.

She would like to see additional time for people to respond to the latest options before council makes a final choice, “I do feel like we have work to do and I feel we may have the time to do it. I think maybe there’s an opportunity to go out and get some more consultation on this.”

Lewis suggests that a decision is required soon, “We have to finalize this so that it can go forward for approval, and to hear any appeals [to the Ontario Land Tribunal] and have it in place for 2026.”

On Tuesday, the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee could seek more public input, maintain the status quo, adjust and approve one of the options, or approve an option as-is.