Election Lens · Explainer

What council actually controls

London’s mayor and 14 ward councillors have real, direct authority over some of what shapes daily life in the city, and only indirect influence, or none at all, over the rest. Knowing which is which matters when weighing a candidate’s record. Below is a plain-language map of where City of London Council’s authority actually starts and stops, with the governing law or city page linked for every claim.

Council controls directly

Zoning and land use planning. Under the Planning Act and the Municipal Act, 2001, council is the only body that can pass or amend a zoning by-law or adopt or amend London’s official plan (the London Plan). Provincial guidance for municipal councillors is explicit that these two powers cannot be delegated away from council. Every rezoning, height limit and permitted-use decision in the city starts as a council vote.

Sources: Ontario, Municipal Councillors’ Guide, “Exercising municipal powers” · City of London, Zoning · City of London, The London Plan (Official Plan)

Property tax and the budget. Council sets London’s property tax rates each year, approved each April, and has moved to approving a multi-year budget under authority the Municipal Act, 2001 gives municipalities to budget for periods of two to five years. This is the single largest lever council holds: it decides how much is raised and where it goes.

Sources: City of London, Property Taxes · City of London, Multi-Year Budget

Who tables the budget

Since 2023, London has operated under Ontario’s strong-mayor powers (extended to London under the Municipal Act, 2001 and its supporting regulations). Under that framework, the Mayor, not council as a whole, prepares and tables the annual or multi-year budget. Councillors vote on amendments to the Mayor’s tabled budget, not on an independently council-drafted one, and the Mayor holds a veto over council-passed budget amendments and certain by-laws, which council can only override with a two-thirds vote. This hub’s data reflects that structure directly: budget motions since the strong-mayor rules took effect are framed as amendments to “the Mayor’s Tabled Budget,” and a councillor’s yea or nay on one of those amendments is a vote on a specific line change, not a vote on the budget as a whole. A nay on an amendment that would have added to the Mayor’s tabled budget is not the same act as a nay on adopting a budget the councillor authored.

Sources: Ontario, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, S.O. 2022, c. 18 (CanLII) · City of London, Multi-Year Budget

Local by-laws. Council passes the by-laws that govern property standards, noise, parking, animal control and business licensing, using authority granted by the Municipal Act, 2001, the Building Code Act and the Planning Act.

Source: City of London, By-Laws

Transit. London’s bus system is operated by the London Transit Commission, a seven-person board appointed by council (including sitting councillors) under a by-law made under the City of London Act. Council does not make day-to-day transit decisions, but it appoints the Commission, approves its budget and sets the broader policy direction the LTC works within.

Source: London Transit Commission, Commission Information

Parks, recreation and municipal services. The Municipal Act, 2001 gives municipalities broad jurisdiction over parks, recreation, culture, local roads, waste collection and similar services, exercised through council by-laws and the budget.

Source: Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25 (CanLII)

Housing tools. Council controls the municipal levers available for housing supply: rezoning for higher density, community improvement plans that incentivize affordable units, and, within limits set by the province, inclusionary zoning near major transit stations. It does not control interest rates, national housing supply programs, or provincial rent rules.

Source: City of London, More Homes

Council only influences

Policing. The London Police Service is overseen by the London Police Service Board, a separate body, not council, under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019. The board sets policy, priorities and the line-item budget; council’s role is limited to approving or rejecting the board’s total requested budget amount. Council cannot rewrite individual budget lines or direct police operations. If council and the board cannot agree on a total figure, the dispute goes to provincial conciliation or arbitration.

Sources: Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 1, Sched. 1 (CanLII) · London Police Service Board, Accountability and Reporting

Encampments. Council can pass by-laws restricting encampments in parks and public spaces, but that power sits inside a provincial legal framework that is actively shifting. Ontario’s Bill 6, the Safer Municipalities Act, 2025, raised trespass penalties and created new public-substance-use offences, in force since June 2025. Separately, a May 2026 Ontario Superior Court decision on a Waterloo Region encampment found that clearing a site without adequate alternative shelter can violate Charter rights. Any London by-law in this area has to operate inside both.

Sources: Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Bill 6, Safer Municipalities Act, 2025 · ablawg.ca, “Canada’s Evolving Right to Shelter: Region of Waterloo v Named Respondents & Persons Unknown”

Provincial or federal, not council’s call

Healthcare. Delivery and funding of hospital and physician services is a provincial responsibility, run day to day by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, within conditions the federal Canada Health Act sets for funding. London council has no authority over hospital funding or care covered by a health card. Public health is a partial exception: the Middlesex-London Health Unit is jointly governed by provincial and municipal appointees and cost-shared between the province and the City.

Sources: Government of Canada, Canada Health Act Annual Report · Middlesex-London Health Unit, Board of Health

Education. School boards, not council, run London’s public and Catholic schools, under the Education Act, which is provincial legislation.

Source: Ontario, Responsibility for Publicly Funded Elementary and Secondary Education

Planning appeals. Even a council zoning decision is not necessarily final. The Ontario Land Tribunal, a provincial adjudicative body, hears appeals from applicants or the public and has the power to overturn or amend a zoning by-law or official plan amendment that council has already passed.

Sources: Ontario, Citizen’s Guide to Land Use Planning: The Ontario Land Tribunal · Ontario Land Tribunal, Appeal Guide 2023

This page explains legal authority in plain language; it is not legal advice. Every claim above links to a primary government or legal source — follow the links to read them yourself.