Community Engagement Policy

Legislative History: Enacted September 19, 2017 (By-law No. CPOL.-125-377); Amended June 26, 2018 (By-law No. CPOL.-279-270); Amended June 3, 2025 (By-law No. CPOL.-125(a)-161)

Last Review Date: June 3, 2025

Service Area Lead: Director, Strategic Communications

1. Policy Statement

The City of London is committed to meaningful and inclusive community engagement that ensures all Londoners have the opportunity, information, and resources to participate in municipal decision-making processes. This policy recognizes the need to foster an engaged and representative civic process that supports all voices being heard and valued in municipal decision making, including those historically marginalized. 

This Policy is designed to complement legislated requirements for public participation and does not supersede the requirements of any current legislation governing public consultation by the City and its departments. 

2. Applicability

This policy applies to Council and Civic Administration.

3. Principals

The City of London’s engagement processes are based on the following principles. 

Inclusivity engagement processes will be designed to reach and remove barriers for all community members, with a specific focus on ensuring participation from equity-denied groups. 

Connection engagement opportunities will be designed to leverage connection across areas, projects, processes and organizations, and be delivered in locations and through channels that maximize people’s time and availability.   

Transparency information about engagement opportunities and decision-making processes will be clear, timely, and accessible.

Innovation the City will actively explore innovative methods and technologies to enhance community engagement, recognizing that different initiatives and diverse populations may require tailored approaches. 

Responsiveness engagement activities will adapt to community needs and feedback to foster trust and meaningful participation.

Meaningfulness engagement will be supported by accurate and timely information and framed within a clear scope. 

Accountability the City will demonstrate how public input informs decision-making and ensure continuous improvement in engagement practices.

Continuous Improvement the City will actively apply a lens of continuous improvement to community engagement by measuring the outcomes and impact of its engagement practices. 

Timeliness engagement will be designed to make sure all audiences impacted by the project, process, or service have adequate time to participate in the process.

4. Community Engagement Framework

The City will draw from recognized best practices to design, deliver and evaluate engagement processes, using a wide range of innovative, culturally responsive engagement methods. This includes, but is not limited to, the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) spectrum of public participation and other frameworks that support consistent, clear and inclusive engagement.

This policy supports data-driven, reciprocal practices that prioritize transparency, community partnership and continuous improvement. It allows for flexibility to adapt to evolving community demographics, trends, and needs, while addressing both hyper-local and city-wide priorities and building trust through meaningful participation.

5. Roles and Responsibilities

• Civic Administration – Community engagement is a responsibility shared across the organization by those working on projects and initiatives that affect residents or organizations. 

  All members of Civic Administration will ensure engagement activities align with this policy and implement best practices to maximize the effectiveness of engagement opportunities. 

  The City of London’s Strategic Communications team will provide recommendations, training and tools to support Civic Administration in the development and delivery of engagement approaches.

• Elected Officials – Promote and support inclusive engagement opportunities within their areas of interest and representation. Work with Civic Administration to identify and leverage opportunities for engagement across areas, projects, and organizations.
• Community Organizations and Partners – Collaborate with Civic Administration to increase outreach and participation in engagement. This includes not-for-profit organizations, cultural organizations, Business Improvement Areas, business partners and other community organizations working with the City on specific projects or initiatives.
• Residents – Provide input that contributes to the decision-making process in which they are participating.

6. Indicators of Success

The following themes represent core conditions for achieving successful community engagement. 

• Opportunities for dialogue, feedback, and mutual learning that deepen connections between the municipality and London’s diverse communities and help bridge knowledge gaps to empower individuals in participating confidently and effectively.
• Increased representation in civic processes as monitored via the collection of demographic information and participation monitoring.
• Diverse voices are meaningfully included, respected, and reflected in decision-making.
• Authentic relationships are developed between the municipality and community members reflected by longevity/depth of participation, instances of co-created or community-led solutions, and increased transparency in City communications.