Staff Report #12
October 19, 2026
To All Commissioners
Re: London Transit Commission Governance Review
Recommendation
The Commission:
- DIRECT Administration to identify and select a third-party resource to provide the new Commission training relating to governance expectations;
- DIRECT Administration to prepare the LTC-specific components of the onboarding training, noting LTC Administration will deliver same; and
- RECEIVE the report for information purposes.
Background
At the August 31, 2026 meeting, the Commission took the following action with respect to recommendations included in the London Transit Governance Review:
- With respect to Recommendation #1, REQUEST to Council to appoint four (4) members of Council through the regular appointment process in 2026. We request the three (3) citizen appointees be appointed alongside the Council appointment process. With the positions posted following Council approval early this Fall. The hope is that all appointments will be completed for LTC by end of December 2026.
- With respect to Recommendation #1, REQUEST the following qualifications be added to the Commission job description prior to the call for applications:
a) Financial/Audit expertise
b) Transit/Transportation Planning expertise
c) Economic Development/City-Building expertise
d) Accessibility/Equity expertise - With respect to Recommendation #1, that lived experience as a conventional and/or specialized London Transit rider be CONSIDERED an asset.
- That with respect to Recommendation #3 – improving the reporting structure and increasing the reporting frequency to Council to strengthen reporting clarity, improve transparency, and enable more proactive, decision-focused oversight by Council that the Commission agenda link BE SHARED with all members of Council. Continue with annual report update at SPPC.
- REFER the remaining four (4) recommendations from the Governance Review be included on the October 19, 2026 Commission agenda.
A letter setting out these requests was included on the September 22, 2026 Municipal Council agenda, and recommendations i, ii, and iii were approved by Council (see Communication #1, dated October 19, 2026).
The remainder of this report provides a recap of the commentary previously provided with respect to the remaining recommendations stemming from the Governance Review, including additional commentary where applicable as it relates to possible next steps.
Recommendation 2 (6-12 month implementation) – Clarify roles and responsibilities among Councillors, Commissioners, the City, and LTC staff through strengthened collaboration and communication.
Roles and Responsibilities for Parties
Commissioners were asked via survey to identify areas of concern relating to roles and responsibilities of the parties based on their experience serving on the Commission. The following responses were provided.
- We saw with the High School Bus Pass Pilot an overstepping from Council as they sought to provide direction to the Commission – of which it was initially rebuffed which ruffled some feathers for various members of Council.
- Additionally some Council members were displeased when the Commission put posters in the LTC buses to let riders know of budget deliberations, although the same Councillors did not seem as upset at the Police Board for spending $100,000 on a PR campaign during the budget.
- I think a reminder of how the LTC operates at an arms-length, and having the decision making process put into a flow chart would be helpful for the new Council and Commission to review during orientation.
- Additionally I’ve seen confusion regarding the roll out of BRT. Since the City is building the infrastructure – but the LTC will operate it – there is some level of confusion around final design decisions. An example being the LTC bus stops were apparently reviewed by a wide variety of folks, including those with accessibility backgrounds, and yet we’ve had to add temporary poles to the front end of bus stops to ensure those with vision impairment can find the front of the bus stop. It would seem to me that should have been figured out prior to the roll out of the bus stop design – and therefore members of the public wonder how that got missed and who was responsible for those design decisions.
- In regards to snow removal of bus stops, and garbage pickup around bus stops – there is also confusion from residents and Councillors as to who is responsible for that.
- Additionally, having bus stop concrete islands for accessibility is nice – but there are areas of the city without sidewalks – making it seem odd to residents that we have pads – but no sidewalks to connect them – having them wonder who is in charge of these decisions.
LTC Administration is working in collaboration with civic Administration to create a document that clearly articulates the roles of each of the parties. In addition, consideration is being given to the establishment of working groups that will include staff from both LTC and the City and meet regularly to ensure the parties continue to be informed with respect to areas of operations where overlap and coordination occurs and/or is required. It is anticipated a report outlining these recommendations will be included on a future Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee agenda.
Recommendation 3 (3-6 month implementation) – Improve the reporting structure and increase the reporting frequency to Council to strengthen reporting clarity, improve transparency, and enable more proactive, decision-focused oversight by Council.
Commission Reporting to Council
Survey respondents indicated the following suggestions with respect to improving the reporting frequency to Council.
- there should be regular updates, at least quarterly
- it would be nice for Council to receive an email with the monthly agenda and last month’s minutes for their review, so that they can be kept apprised of ongoing items at the Commission.
- prior to budget meetings and the LTC annual report going to SPPC – an email from LTC staff to all of Council offering to discuss those items with them would be helpful and a good opportunity to connect. The Chair of the Commission could also be involved in those discussions.
As set out earlier in this report, the Commission approved the recommendation to have future LTC meeting agendas circulated to all members of Council prior to the meetings, and continuing with the annual update report to the Strategic Policy and Priorities Committee of the LTC Annual Report. LTC Administration would also continue to be available for budget deliberation meetings should there be business cases included on the agenda relating to LTC operations or capital programs.
Recommendation 4 (0-3 month implementation) – Introduce a comprehensive onboarding program for all newly appointed Commissioners, supported by formalized annual governance training for all members to enable Commissioners to contribute meaningfully to discussions and effectively support strategic priorities.
Onboarding Program for New Commissioners
Commissioners were asked in the survey to identify areas for improvement in the onboarding training provided to new Commission members, feedback included the following:
- orientation training has been inadequate
- training should be contracted out and completed in an arms-length manner
- increase hands-on/tour based training to ensure understanding of how LTC operates
- consider a ride-along during peak period
- ensure training reiterates the distinction between governance and operations (specifically with route planning decisions)
- include a deep dive into the 5 Year Service Plans and Business Plan documents
- meeting effectiveness and governance best practices including how agendas are developed, expectations for debate, respectful conduct, decision making and consensus building.
- implement annual board self-assessments to help ensure all members understand their governance roles
- implement an annual chair evaluation (completed by senior staff and Commission members)
- an annual board (in-city, half day) retreat would be nice to build trust and review strategic plans, relationship building etc.
In light of the approval of the recommendations relating to the establishment of a new Commission in December 2026, Administration will begin work on the onboarding training program for all new members. As set out in the report recommendation, Administration is recommending that the training relating to governance specific topics be outsourced, and is seeking direction to identify a trainer for this component of the new Commission onboarding. Training relating to LTC-specific topics will be provided by LTC Administration and will be formulated giving consideration to the feedback previously provided by Commission members who completed the survey.
Should the Commission wish to include any specific areas or topics to be included in the onboard training, direction should be provided at the October meeting in order to allow time for it to be incorporated.
Recommendation 5 (6-12 month implementation) – Enhance LTC’s current practices to ensure a balanced emphasis on long-term transit planning and day-to-day, building on the strong foundation of the 2024-2027 Business Plan.
Commissioners were asked to identify areas for improvement with respect to this recommendation, feedback included:
- more flexibility is needed
- current Work Plan and quarterly reporting process can be hard to follow and identify where the organization is going
- enhanced communication from staff as it relates to overall progress on the Business Plan initiatives would help Commission members better understand the direction we are headed in (what are the goals, how do we get there, when will we know)
- effective communication performance against Key Performance Indicators would help build confidence in the service and the ability to deliver it
The Business Planning process, including the manner in which Annual Work Programs are approved and progress against same reported on will be included in the onboarding training for the new Commission. Given 2027 is the final year of the current Business Plan, Administration will follow the current reporting process for 2027, and gather feedback from Commission members as to possible improvements that can be incorporated into the 2028-2031 Business Plan and related update processes.
Recommendation 6 (> 12 month implementation) – Enhance strategic capacity within the London Transit Commission leadership structure to strengthen strategic execution and relationship management.
Commission members were asked to provide insight with respect to areas of the organization that would benefit from an enhanced level of resources, feedback included:
- additional attention for external communications is needed
- communications, public relations, government relations
A standing item on the LTC Annual Work Program entitled “Organizational Change” includes the annual assessment of organizational needs with respect to resources and the manner deemed most appropriate to address same. The multi-year budget identifies placeholder amounts for new positions deemed to be required based on the initiatives included in annual budgets. Any consideration beyond which is included in the multi-year budget placeholder account would be subject of a report to the Commission which would include supporting rationale for the new requirement as well as a source of funding for same.
Onboarding training for the new Commission will include an overview of the organizational chart and discussion on where potential resource shortfalls may impact on the ability to deliver on all projects set out in the Business Plan. There were no additional resources sought for the 2027 budget year in the operating budget that was approved by the Commission at the August 31, 2026 meeting. The multi-year budget report, which will be presented at the August 2027 meeting will include discussion relating to areas of need in terms of resources going forward, all of which will be subject to Commission approval as part of the budget approval process.
Recommended by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager