The City of Toronto website can be difficult to navigate. We explain how you can find what you need when it comes to civic-related matters.
This guide is part of a series for Torontonians to gain civic literacy skills before the upcoming 2026 municipal election. Stay tuned to see all 12 parts.
How many times have you clicked on toronto.ca and gotten lost?
You’re not alone. Trust me, I’ve been there.
The City’s website obviously has a ton of information. From job searches to parking tickets, it’s a database to find answers to your Toronto questions.
So, we’re breaking down the City Council page in preparation for the upcoming municipal election.
Once you know how to navigate the site, it can be a pretty useful tool for understanding City Hall, both online and in real life.
Understanding the City Council page
There are six main options on the Council page, which is located under the City Government tab on the main homepage. Here’s a summary of each:
- City Council Meetings, Agendas and Minutes
- This tells you everything you need to know about upcoming and past public meetings and what will be discussed or voted on. It’s also where you can find a recap of what’s happened.
- Members of Council
- This is where you’ll find out about your City Councillors and how they serve their communities. For example, you can learn what boards or committees they’re part of. If you’re interested in learning what a city councillor actually does, check out our explainer.
- Office of the Mayor
- This is where you’ll learn about the current mayor and find news releases from their office. You can also find out how to invite the mayor to an event and how to request a letter of greeting or a congratulatory note for milestones like anniversaries or birthdays.
- Budgets and expense reports
- This is where you’ll learn about salaries, such as how much an administrative assistant makes, or bigger things, such as operating budgets for the mayor’s office. You also have access to quarterly expense reports.
- Policies and guidelines
- This is where you’ll learn about the policies that guide the representatives in City Council in their decision-making.
- My Local Government — It’s For Me
- This is where you can learn about your local government, how to attend a consultation, request a City Hall tour and more. You can check out our guide on how to make a deputation at Toronto City Hall for an in-depth tutorial.
For the purpose of this explainer, we’ll be focusing on the first point — City Council Meetings, Agendas and Minutes. But if you ever want us to break down other parts of the site, reach out to me at aia@thegreenline.to.
Council and Committee Meetings
When navigating this page, you’ll have a few options to choose from.
- Have Your Say
- Again, you can check out our deputation guide.
- Watch Toronto City Council
- This is the place to watch City Council meetings and Committee meetings. The meetings are often livestreamed on YouTube and then, remain on the site for people to rewatch. You’ll also be able to click on timestamps for specific agenda items in the descriptions of the videos.
- Open and Closed Meetings
- This is where you can learn about the difference between the two. Essentially, an open meeting is one that is “open” to the public. You can sit and take notes. A closed meeting only happens when it’s legally required when confidential information or labour discussions happen. You’ll be asked to leave the room until the agenda item is complete. If you’re watching online, the video will be cut out for this section.
- Release of Confidential Information
- This section explains when confidential information can be released publicly. Once it is, the City Clerk adds it to this section so you can see the updated details.
- Council Datasets
- This is a good place if you’re a civic nerd and love data. Here, you can download and analyze information like councillors’ voting histories and even their attendance records.
- Mayoral Decisions
- This is where you can view the mayor’s decisions and the governing powers they have. Check out our explainer on what the mayor can and can’t do.
Breaking down City jargon
Now you know where to find meetings, but it can get confusing from there. Don’t worry, though. Let’s break down some of the jargon.
An agenda is a to-do list of all the items or motions City Council will talk about that day. It’s the same kind of agenda we used as kids.
A staff report is written by City staff to give Council or a committee information about an issue. It has details on research, finances, recommendations and more. If you’re interested in seeing how things become policy in Toronto, stay tuned next Thursday; we’ll share a new guide to break it down.
A motion is a proposal for City Council or for a committee to consider. A councillor can put forward a motion to change or introduce something.
An amendment is a change to a motion or recommendation.
To defer means to push a decision to a later date. It could just be that Council ran over time and they pushed it to tomorrow, or they might need more information on the item before making a decision.
To carry means a motion was passed and that Council voted in favour of it.
To adopt means Council agreed to a recommendation or a report.
If you want to learn other jargon and terms you’d see and hear in civic meetings, check out this glossary, which can also be found on the Tools page on the Documenters Canada website.
How to follow a meeting from beginning to end
- Find the meeting
- Read the agenda
- Read the staff report and any letters from deputations or community members
- Watch or attend the meeting
- Check the decision
Want to have your say?
The City website isn’t just a place to watch how the government happens. It also tells you how to participate.
It’s a lot easier to make a deputation than you think, and you can check that out by looking at our guide.
If you want to see the impact of making a deputation, you can learn more about it by checking out how Chinatown community leaders face City Hall head-on through civic engagement.
Interested in learning even more? Check out our Documenters field guide, where you can watch our Documenters training and learn more about civic participation.
The Documenters program is a project that trains and pays regular citizens to attend public meetings and take notes. From there, we make them into accessible videos for people to consume.
We’re hosting Documenters training this month, so if you’re interested, reach out.
Still got questions? Don’t fret. You can reach out to us to answer all your civic needs.
Fact-Check Yourself
Sources and
further reading
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