Springwater residents who want to have a say on how the township’s ward boundaries are determined will have that opportunity Oct. 8.
The municipality is hosting two public open houses — at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. — next Tuesday at the Springwater Township Administration Centre, located at 2231 Nursery Rd., where members of the public can learn more about the ward boundary review that's underway and provide input.
“The township is completing a ward boundary review to ensure that electoral wards are balanced and provide residents with equitable and responsive representation,” says a township news release announcing the open houses. “By occasionally reviewing and, if necessary, adjusting ward boundaries, the municipality aims to achieve a more balanced distribution of population among wards.
“This helps to ensure that each councillor represents a similar number of constituents, thus promoting equitable representation and responsiveness to community needs," the release adds.
At a May presentation to council on the ward boundary review process, Jack Ammendolia, managing partner at Watson and Associates Economists and lead on the review, said wards should have relatively equal populations. He said it’s generally accepted that variations of up to 25 per cent above or below the average size are considered reasonable and are consistent with legislated federal distribution provisions, precedents and past decisions and best practices in municipalities.
In Springwater, there are currently 17,506 eligible voters in the township, including:
- 2,973 in Ward 1
- 3,204 in Ward 2
- 3,674 in Ward 3
- 4,357 in Ward 4
- 3,298 in Ward 5
Those numbers are anticipated to change dramatically over the next 20 years as the township's population is expected to grow to almost 50,000, according to another Watson and Associates report called Long-Term Fiscal Impact Assessment of Growth, 2021-2041.
Springwater’s current ward boundaries have been in place since 2014, but with the growth in Ward 4 and the population expected to rise in Ward 5, a boundary review was required prior to the 2026 municipal election.
The justification report that accompanied the budget request said the review should take place in 2024, to ensure there's adequate public consultation and ample time to meet legislative requirements.
The review should take about a year to complete, which would ensure the project, council's decision and any appeals are dealt with prior to the legislative deadline on Dec. 31, 2025.
According to Ammendolia’s associate on the ward boundary review, Dr. Robert Williams, a public affairs consultant and municipal electoral systems expert who has conducted or advised on ward boundary and electoral system reviews in 30 Ontario municipalities, municipal councils don’t have many legislative requirements to meet.
“The Municipal Act authorizes a lower-tier municipality, like Springwater, to do basically three things,” Williams said at the May session. “It can change the size of its council as long as there are a minimum of five members. One of those members has to be the head of council.”
He also said that decision cannot be appealed.
“Second is how the council is elected, except for the head of council, who must be elected by general vote or an at-large system,” Williams added.
Other members can be elected by an at-large system or by wards, or by some combination of the two.
That decision cannot be appealed, either.
The last thing council can do is divide or redivide the municipality into wards or dissolve the existing wards.
“A bylaw under that revision is open to appeal,” Williams said. “Any member of the community, or council also, I suppose, could appeal that bylaw and the Ontario Land Tribunal would be required to examine the bylaw to see if it can stand.
“Our goal is to make sure no appeal is needed,” he added.
Any appeals must be fully resolved by the Dec. 31, 2025 deadline in order for the ward boundary changes to take effect for the 2026 municipal election, if that’s the direction council wishes to go.
At next week’s open house, Watson & Associates will have preliminary ward configurations for review and comment.
Based on the input received during next week’s consultations, the consultants will draft final recommendations for council’s consideration in December.
For those unable to attend, materials such as optional ward boundary maps and reports will be made available online by clicking here.
