HALDIMAND — Haldimand will have an updated, seven-ward boundary system in place for the 2026 municipal election.
Jack Ammendolia, Managing Partner at Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. (WAE), presented two options to Council: keep six wards by merging Dunnville area wards 5 and 6, or add a seventh seat to the Caledonia area. Following a 4-1 vote at a Council meeting on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, the seventh seat is now in the works.
Breaking down the changes
According to the WAE report, Wards 1 and 2 will remain the same.
Ward 1 encompasses Jarvis, Townsend, Springvale, and a lakefront area east to Selkirk. While this configuration provides optimal balance for population in 2024, that is projected to change by 2035.
Ward 2 remains centred on Cayuga, with rural areas south of the Grand River and along the lakefront east of Selkirk. The population for Ward 2 will be below the optimal level, falling further by 2035.
The report indicates that populations in both wards would remain well inside the acceptable range.
The new Ward 3 will encompass Caledonia on the south and west sides of the Grand River, along Highway 6 toward Hagersville as far as the Second Line, and as far as York to the south.
This configuration ensures both Caledonia wards fall within acceptable population ranges in 2024, reaching near optimal status by 2034.
Ward 4 remains centred on Hagersville and surrounding rural areas. A small portion of the previous Ward 4 will fall under Ward 3 between the municipal boundary and County Road 9. The population variation range stays acceptable through 2034.
Ward 5 will remain nearly identical with the smallest population size, dropping out of the acceptable range by 2034.
Ward 6 will now extend downriver to include territory adjacent to the Dunnville urban area north of the Grand River. Despite population parity in 2024 and modest expected growth, that number is also expected to drop by 2034.
Ward 7 will cover the remainder of Caledonia, north and east of the Grand River. It is here that nearly one half of all forecasted growth population in Haldimand is expected to occur over the next 10-year period.
“As a result, its population falls within the acceptable range of parity in 2024 but balloons to well above parity in 2034,” read WAE’s final report, adding those concerns could be addressed by some modest changes to the boundaries in the Caledonia wards and likely moving away from using the Grand River as the ward boundary.”
From a parity perspective Ammendolia said, “a lot of it works pretty good when we look at existing population, but again when we look at the population in 10 years, because of that focused growth in Caledonia, that ward is going to get out of balance. When we also look at Ward 5, there is limited growth in that ward.”
Discussions on adding a seventh ward
Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley was the lone vote against the seven-ward option.
“In my opinion, adding another member would come with costs, financial implications. I believe these changes are not necessary,” said Bentley. She argued that the four options presented by WAE last November – all six-ward systems that merged Wards 5 and 6 – was proof Haldimand could continue to operate effectively without a seventh seat.
“I have heard from some of those residents in Wards 5 and 6 that they are ok with combining wards, they understand Caledonia is growing, and they’re happy their community isn’t growing at an alarming rate, and they would rather combine wards and share a council member,” said Bentley.
Ward 6 Councillor Patrick O’Neill said he and Councillor Rob Shirton always expected to look at seven wards: “I just kind of assumed that was going to happen.”
He also countered that in his discussions with the community, he heard, “They are not looking to lose a councillor in any shape or form. $100,000 on the operating budget is something I’m sure they will happily shoulder. Sure, it’s more money to the taxpayer, but at the end of the day it’s not really anything. Divide that amount over every taxpayer in the county, it’s not even something that’s part of the discussion in my opinion.”
Of note, two declared candidates in the upcoming ward byelections, Brad Adams in Ward 4 and Debera McKeen in Ward 1, stood as delegates before Council.
Adams played a recording of Ammendolia at a previous meeting stating that nothing had jumped out to the WAE team during their analysis that made them feel a seventh ward was needed.
“There is no mention of an extra councillor in the public consultation, nor the online survey that took place in summer of 2024, not to mention that the online public survey does not collect any feedback on the new ward creation at all,” added McKeen.
Both asked that any vote be deferred until after the ward byelections so those chosen councillors could participate, a sentiment later echoed by Mayor Bentley.
County Clerk Chad Curtis noted the timeline required to have a new ward system in place for the next municipal election: “Assuming the bylaw is passed at the February 10 Council meeting, any person would have up to 45 days to file an appeal for that. The appeal would go to the Ontario Land Tribunal, and then essentially that would have to be resolved at the tribunal by January 1, 2026.”
Curtis couldn’t confirm how long an appeal could take, but noted “where we are today is on the fringes of an acceptable timeline” based on discussions with WAE. If the deadline is missed, the next election would proceed with the current ward boundary structure.
Ammendolia said a seven-ward option was “always sort of percolating behind the scenes,” but the four original options reflected a lack of public interest in that. He said the idea took root in discussions with Haldimand’s councillors.
“In this day and age, people would like to see less government than more government. Adding a seat does add an expense, but I guess what we’re looking at here, and for myself especially, is that the whole county is getting proper representation,” said Ward 3 Councillor Dan Lawrence in support of keep Wards 5 and 6.
Ammendolia added, “I do agree with your perspective, that with growth there are extra expenses.”
Bentley maintained her stance: “The evidence and expert recommendation point to maintaining six council members,” she said. “I want to ensure that we are making these changes for the right reasons.”
O’Neill shared, “I don’t know how myself and/or Councillor Shirton could go back to our constituents and go ‘we voted against having two representatives’.”
Shirton added, “There’s no way Patrick and I can defend losing a ward councillor after all that town has been through.”
With the motion on the floor, Haldimand Council voted 4-1 to accept the seven-ward system.
