Niagara-on-the-Lake is moving ahead with plans to shrink council from nine members to seven for the 2026 municipal election after Ontario passed legislation Thursday allowing the change to move forward despite earlier timing concerns.
Coun. Erwin Wiens said the town now expects the reduction to proceed after Bill 100, the Better Regional Governance Act, became law May 7 following its passage through the legislature over the past month.
Most of the bill focuses on cutting the size of Niagara Region’s council, but a late amendment also gives the province the ability to change the size of councils in NOTL, Thorold and Port Colborne.
Earlier this year, council asked the province to reduce NOTL’s council to seven members from nine, as part of broader discussions around reducing the number of elected officials in Niagara. But provincial officials indicated the request had likely come too late under existing election timing rules.
The amendment appears to bypass the normal municipal deadline that had left that request in limbo.
The legislation states the minister may make regulations “specifying the number of members of the council” for municipalities including NOTL and says the 2026 election can be run as if the new council structure had already been validly in place, on time, beforehand.
Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack’s office did not respond to questions on why the province supported these council-size reductions by publication time.
