On January 27, 2025, City Council directed staff to reconsider the findings of the Ward Boundary Review conducted in June 2021 based on available and updated population data, and to make recommendations on any appropriate adjustments to the ward boundaries set out in By-law 7875/21.
A Ward Boundary Review (WBR) is a task conducted on behalf of a municipality to assess whether the present wards constitute an effective and equitable system of representation and, if not, to propose alternatives. Pickering’s system of representation consists of a seven-member Council, composed of a Mayor and six Councillors, two representing each of the three wards, one a Regional Councillor and one a City Councillor.
On August 30, 2021, Council adopted new ward boundaries which are set out in By-law 7875/21. By-law 7875/21 was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and although the appeal was withdrawn, the deadline for the new ward boundaries to take effect for the 2022 Municipal Election was not met in accordance with the requirements under the Municipal Act. The new ward boundaries set out in By-law 7875/21 are to take effect for the 2026 Municipal Election unless otherwise amended by the prescribed timelines set out in the Municipal Act.
The purpose of the current ward boundary review is to determine whether the new 2026 boundaries are still relevant given that several years have passed since the prior Review was conducted and population growth patterns and projections that were used in the Consultant’s 2021 report may have changed.
How Did We Get Here?
Memorandum: Ward Boundary Petition (Related to CLK 03-21)
Date: August 30, 2021
Report Number: CLK 03-21
Date: June 7, 2021
Report Number: CLK 01-21
Date: January 4, 2021
Report Number: CLK 01-20
Date: July 27, 2020
Report Number: CLK 05-19
Date: December 2, 2019
Discussion Paper/Interim & Final Reports
A ward is a geographical division of a city or town for administrative or political purposes.
Pickering’s Council makes important decisions about the City that impact your daily life. The City is responsible for Fire Services, Community Centres, an Official Plan for land uses within the City, standards for property maintenance, the maintenance of playgrounds, boulevards and green space plus much more.
A successful ward system should ensure that all areas of the municipality are represented in such a way that your voice and needs are reflected fairly and accurately in council decision making on these and other important topics.
The City of Pickering was established under provincial legislation at the beginning of 1974. Prior to the 2021 Review, the ward boundaries had not been modified since 1982 with one minor exception that adjusted the boundaries in 2005. See the Interactive Ward Map.
Despite being familiar to many Pickering residents, the wards themselves should be seen as temporary, not permanent. Wards normally have a limited lifespan since they are designed to capture the distribution of population at a given time. When that population distribution changes, the wards should change, meaning that the collections of identifiable neighbourhoods and communities within the City should be regrouped to achieve a more equitable ward system.
When Pickering was created, the population was less than 40,000; in 2020 it was approximately 92,000 and is estimated to grow by a further 40,000 – 50,000 by 2030, primarily in the present Ward 3.
The objective of the WBR was to ensure that residents benefit from an effective and equitable system of representation.
The WBR began by evaluating the suitability of the 2021 wards using the guiding principles established in the Terms of Reference for Pickering’s Ward Boundary Review and applying the principles to all proposed alternatives.
1. Representation by Population
2. Protection of Communities of Interest
3. Current and Future Population Trends
4. Physical Features as Natural Boundaries
5. Effective Representation
The concept of “effective representation” has become an integral part of the evaluation of electoral systems in Canada.
To help ensure that a municipal council effectively represents the population of the community within the limits imposed by the social and natural environment, it is important to make voter parity (“representation by population”) a priority but also to consider other important factors, including geography, community history, community interests and minority representation. According to the Supreme Court of Canada, all these factors contribute to meaningful on-going representation which is captured in the overriding principle of effective representation. When a Councillor casts a vote around the council table, each one should be reflecting roughly the same number of the City’s residents.
The City retained Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. and Dr. Robert Williams to conduct a comprehensive and independent WBR through a process established by Council (see CLK 05-19.)
For the current Review, the City has once again retained Watson & Associates Economists Ltd.
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