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Experience: Amalgamation in Toronto Hurt Local Democracy

Saanich should avoid the same fate.


Elizabeth Borek
Feb 15, 2026


I was a resident of the City of Toronto when the various surrounding municipalities amalgamated with Toronto in the late 1990’s.  There was a great deal of  discussion of the efficiencies that would result upon amalgamation.  Many residents/taxpayers anticipated that costs of operating the amalgamated Toronto would decline significantly and were hopeful of a resulting  decrease in municipal taxes. 

That did not happen. 

Instead, salaries of all the municipal employees were increased to the level of the most highly paid municipality based on the argument of equity.  In addition, there seemed to be another layer of bureaucracy created to coordinate the municipalities. 

The paragraphs below offer one example:

From my perspective the worst result of the amalgamation was the loss of representation/democracy.  Previous to amalgamation if residents/taxpayers had a concern regarding an issue in our municipality, we spoke to our local councillor who would quickly take action on our behalf.  Councillors understood that if they ignored citizen concerns, they would not be re-elected. 

At that time, there were a lot of concerns in our local community, including expansion of the sewage treatment plant and creation of a large recycling depot (analogous to the current multitude of concerns regarding Saanich housing expansion policy).  At that time in Toronto being represented by our local councillor was very important to our community.  Our councillor was not only aware of the concerns of the community but very knowledgeable on the issues.

Post amalgamation Toronto, instead of being able to express our concerns to our local councillor who was knowledgeable of the situation, citizens/taxpayers were required to depute/speak to a committee of roughly 10 councillors, most of whom had no knowledge regarding our local concerns and many of whom had little to no interest. 

I recall observing a committee meeting where citizens were providing extremely well researched and prepared deputations which had obviously required significant time and effort to prepare.  However, numerous councillors chatted amongst themselves totally ignoring citizen input/concerns.  That was not uncommon.

Not only did we lose our democracy/effective representation; the creation and service of the committees increased municipal costs. It was a tier of bureaucracy that had not previously existed. There was no observable improvement in any municipal services.

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See also:

Index of Articles and Other Resources on Amalgamation. – CRD Watch Homepage