Starting in January, Hamilton residents will have a week longer to submit written comments on committee decisions before City Council votes to ratify them, under a new meeting calendar City Clerk Matthew Trennum presented to incoming councillors on November 10.
The change will double the time residents have to submit correspondence between General Issues Committee (GIC) meetings and the full Council meetings that ratify GIC decisions.
“If you didn’t have an opportunity to delegate at a standing committee, you now have more opportunity to convert your public delegation into written correspondence for the public council agenda,” Trennum said in an in-person interview. “It increases the opportunity for members of the public to get their concerns in and included with recommendations of committees.”
Since amalgamation in 2001, Council has held committee meetings in a single week and ratified decisions the following Wednesday. That gave the public only one-and-a-half business days between the Friday evening agenda release and the Tuesday 12:00 noon deadline for submitting written correspondence. Council ratification meeting agendas will now be published a week in advance. The correspondence deadline remains the same, 12:00 noon the business day prior to the meeting.
The first cycle of 2027 will see standing committee meetings held between January 11 and 15, and Council ratify their decisions on Wednesday, January 27, instead of January 20. No standing committee meetings are planned for the week of January 18 to 22.
The number of Council ratification meetings in 2027 is still to be determined by the new Council, once they are sworn in on November 18. Council will choose between a monthly meeting cycle (12 Council meetings a year) or retaining the present three-week cycle (14 Council meetings a year).
How many ratification meetings Council holds in 2027 is still to be decided by the new Council once its members are sworn in on November 18. Council will choose between a monthly cycle (12 ratification meetings a year) and the present three-week cycle (14 ratification meetings a year).
Mayor-elect Keanin Loomis said extra time will improve public engagement and Council’s decision making.
“Maybe it gives more opportunity for the public to mobilize a bit more,” Loomis said in an in-person post-meeting interview. “I don’t think that is a bad thing at all, it enhances the quality of the decision making process.”
New Standing Committee Structure: Six Instead of Five Committees
This term’s City Council will have six standing committees, up from five.
The Planning Committee will be split, with only Planning Act matters going to it. All other matters within the mandate of the Planning and Economic Development Department will go to a new Economic Development Real Estate & Tourism Committee.
The Emergency & Community Services Committee will be renamed the Housing & Community Services Committee, and the Audit Finance & Administration Committee will be renamed the Corporate Services Committee. The General Issues Committee and the Public Works Committee are unchanged.
The inaugural meeting of City Council will be held on Wednesday, November 18, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Hamilton City Hall. Seating inside the Council Chamber is invitation only.
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Published: November 10, 2026
Last updated: November 10, 2026
Author: Joey Coleman
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