Council approves building permit fee changes, downtown parking plan

Guelph City Council approved a new building permit fee structure and allocated $25,000 for a downtown parking and transit mitigation plan during its June 23 meeting. The funding will be paired with a request for an additional $25,000 from the Downtown Guelph Business Association. Council also updated the Outside Water Use By-law, adopted a new procurement policy, and received the consolidated financial statements.

City Council

Council dealt with multiple items, including:

• **Building permit fees**: A new fee structure for building permit applications was approved, with automatic indexing to take effect in 2028. No vote tally was provided.
• **Downtown parking mitigation**: $25,000 was allocated for transit and parking mitigation during upcoming downtown construction. Council also asked the Downtown Guelph Business Association to match the amount. The vote was 13-0.
• **Water use by-law**: The updated Outside Water Use By-law (2026-21216) was approved, repealing the 2014 version.
• **Procurement**: A new Procurement By-law was approved, effective Sept. 1, 2026.
• **Financial statements**: The 2025 Consolidated Financial Statements and External Audit Findings Report were accepted unanimously (13-0).
• **Paramedic services**: The 2027 Paramedic Service Response Time Performance Plan was approved (13-0).
• **Closed meeting investigator**: Aird & Berlis LLP was appointed as the city’s closed meeting investigator.
• **Overnight shelter**: Council voted 13-0 to request Wellington County review its overnight shelter admittance processes and barriers.

Guelph Junction Railway

City Council, acting as sole shareholder of Guelph Junction Railway (GJR), received the railway’s 2025 annual report and audited financials, then passed several unanimous directives:

• The GJR board must assess adding independent community directors and report back (13-0).
• Any GJR expansion projects within city limits must follow the community engagement policy (13-0).
• Staff are to explore shared funding for future trail-railway crossings (13-0).
• The board is to align its mandate with city master plans, synchronize capital works, establish a liability-sharing framework, and use dividends for trail safety infrastructure (13-0).

Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc.

Council, as shareholder of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc., confirmed April 7, 2026 meeting minutes (9-0), received the 2025 Annual Report and audited financial statements for information (11-0), and then adjourned (11-0). No other business was conducted.

Advisory committees and information items

• The Arts and Culture Advisory Committee met June 25 to review two public art donation proposals for the new Central Library—one from the Friends of the Guelph Public Library and one from the Guelph Public Library Board. Minutes were not yet available.
• The Heritage Advisory Committee met July 2 but had no substantive agenda items.
• On June 26 and July 3, council received information packages that included the 2026 corporate asset management progress update, a digital communications strategy audit, a letter on the Niska Lands, and correspondence from other municipalities on issues such as property tax reassessment cycles, shelter standards, and proposed Planning Act changes. No actions were taken.

Coming up

No upcoming public meetings were listed for the next two weeks as of the city’s July 5 posting.

Generated from official meeting agendas and minutes — every underlying document is linked from the city page. Read the primary source before you rely on a detail.