Edmonton City Council

Edmonton City Council
Type
Type
History
FoundedOctober 8, 1904; 120 years ago (1904-10-08) (City)
February 10, 1892; 132 years ago (1892-02-10) (Town)
New session started
November 2021
Leadership
Amarjeet Sohi
since October 26, 2021
Structure
Seats13 (12 Councillors+Mayor)
CommitteesBoards, Commissions and Committees
Elections
FPTP
Last election
October 18, 2021
Next election
Fall 2025
Meeting place
Edmonton City Hall
Website
www.edmonton.ca
Council chambers at the Edmonton City Hall

The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 2025. The mayor is elected across the whole city, through the First Past the Post plurality voting system. Councillors are elected one per ward, a division of the city, through the First Past the Post plurality voting system.

On July 22, 2009, City Council voted to change the electoral system of six 2-seat wards to a system of 12 single-member wards. Each ward is represented by a single councillor. The changes took effect in the 2010 election. In the 2010 election, Edmonton was divided into 12 wards each electing one councillor. Before 2010, the city at different times used a variety of electoral systems for the election of its councillors: at-large elections with Block Voting; two different systems of wards, using Block Voting system (when mayor was elected through First past the post); and at-large elections using Single Transferable Voting (when the mayor was elected through Alternative Voting).[1]

In May 2019, Edmonton's Ward Boundary Commission began reviewing the geographical boundaries of the city's wards.[2][3] The final report was delivered on May 25, 2020.[4] On December 7, 2020, Bylaw 19366[5] was passed which included the new geographical boundaries and new Indigenous ward names.[6] The Indigenous ward names were determined by the Committee of Indigenous Matriarchs[7][8] and came into effect on October 18, 2021, the date of the 2021 municipal election. The Committee of Indigenous Matriarchs, also referred to as the naming committee, was composed of 17 women representing communities from treaty territories 6, 7 and 8, along with Métis and Inuit representation.[9][7]

  1. ^ Rek, Municipal elections in Edmonton
  2. ^ "Ward Boundary Review". Engaged Edmonton. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  3. ^ Edmonton, City of (2020-04-15). "Ward Boundary Review". www.edmonton.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  4. ^ Ward Boundaries Commission (May 25, 2020). "Toward More Effective Representation: The Final Report of the Ward Boundary Commission" (PDF). City of Edmonton. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-28.
  5. ^ "The City of Edmonton Bylaw 19366" (PDF). December 7, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-10-10.
  6. ^ Edmonton, City of (2021-01-20). "Ward Boundary Review". www.edmonton.ca. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  7. ^ a b Edmonton, City of (2021-01-20). "Indigenous Ward Naming Knowledge Committee". www.edmonton.ca. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  8. ^ Thompson, Jeremy (2020-09-21). "Council approves Indigenous names for Edmonton's wards". CTV News Edmonton. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  9. ^ Cook, Dustin (2020-09-18). "'A return to the history': Indigenous names recommended for Edmonton's 12 new wards effective 2021 election". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2021-01-23.