Category: Council Post-view

This Week at Council: That One Tower and the Housing Report

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It was a big meeting for big projects at the March planning meeting for Guelph City Council this week. From a proposed tower on the downtown core to the zoning for the Guelph Innovation District, these were perhaps the two biggest files that council has seen in the last couple of months. But bigger than any individual housing project is the entirety of the housing file, and council got an update on that too. Let’s review what went down in the meeting in this recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: That One Tower and the Housing Report” →

This Week at Council: The Centre of the Universe

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It was all Sleeman Centre all the time at this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting. Well, almost. First though, the committee had a discussion about development fees and whether or not they’re an impediment to new home construction, and there was really no final resolution there, but coincidentally that was also where they left the Sleeman Centre construction. For all the details, check out the recap below… Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Centre of the Universe” →

This Week at Council: Mo’ Money Motion, Mo’ Problems in March

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Just when you thought it was safe to talk about council pay and benefits… After a contentious conversation about the subject at Committee of the Whole earlier this month, city council re-opened the debate for further discussion, and then they decided that they want to talk about it further next month. That was the big action at this month’s regular council meeting, but it was not the only action. Let’s recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Mo’ Money Motion, Mo’ Problems in March” →

This Week at Council: This Land *Is* Our Land

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At February’s planning meeting, council showed some love to community advocates by voting their way on a couple of key issues. First up, the last meeting about the heritage conservation district for the OR Lands will now be the second-to-last meeting after council sent it back to staff for a change. Council also asked staff to make a change to the Official Plan in the name of protecting a well-loved, and long ignored piece of property. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: This Land *Is* Our Land” →

This Week at Council: No Raise, Except For Taxes

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There were back-to-back meetings at Guelph City Council this week, and the topic at hand was money. At Committee of the Whole, council had to deal with their own money, or at least the money that the councillors in the next couple will be paid as remuneration came up for debate. Then, at the other meeting, the 2026 budget process came to a close with the seven shared services and local boards. Let’s dig into the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: No Raise, Except For Taxes” →

This Week at Council: Nightmare on Woodside Road?

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It may be frozen out there, but global climate change was top of mind at this January regular meeting of Guelph city council. The City believes that there’s room to do better on its own climate change goals and presented the  Corporate Climate Action Plan to carve a path forward, and then council considered a rare petition that surfaced to their level for debate. Were some parkland fees changed unfairly or not? Find out what council thought in the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Nightmare on Woodside Road?” →

This Week at Council: Permits and Designations Downtown

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In the first regularly scheduled council meeting of the year 2026, downtown was the centre of attention. Again. In this planning meeting council got its first look at the Community Planning Permit System for the core, and they took their last look at the plan and guidelines for the Heritage Conservation District downtown. Along with that, there was a slight diversion to the south end and a major downtown project was approved. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Permits and Designations Downtown” →

The Week at Council: Two Hours In Camera

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Surprise! It’s a surprise meeting, and that means a surprise meeting recap! Following up the first big political controversy of 2026, a special city council meeting was called to figure out what was to be done about the sudden cancellation of the daytime shelter plan out of Royal City Mission and Stepping Stone. The details were mostly in-camera, but you will learn all about what came out of it in this recap of the meeting… Continue reading “The Week at Council: Two Hours In Camera” →

This Week at Council: Squares, Downloading, and Bike Lanes End 2025

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It was the last council meeting of the year, and it’s been a wild ride, but there were at least a couple of surprises left for civic policy nerds before Christmas Break. Yes, as expected, council discussed the final, final design for St. George’s Square as council sought the ever nebulous “wow” factor. In addition to that there was some push back from council about changes to conservation authorities and a twist ending for fans of bike lanes. For the last time in 2025, here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Squares, Downloading, and Bike Lanes End 2025” →

This Week at Council: More ADUs, But Four Units is Enough?

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In the last planning meeting for 2025, there was indeed a lot of planning. No new projects were on the agenda, so no future additions to the housing stock, but maybe the fruits of this meeting will lead the way(?). In the first half, council talked about making it easier to get more ADUs built in the city, and in the second half they looked at doing more than four units as-of-right in low residential areas. Let’s get into the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: More ADUs, But Four Units is Enough?” →