1. Policy Statement & Purpose
CityHousing Hamilton Corporation (CHH) is a legal entity governed by the provisions of Ontario Business Corporations Act and is not subject to the open meeting requirements of the Municipal Act. However, CHH values and encourages input from stakeholders, including tenants, community partners and other stakeholders to strengthen its understanding of current issues and its ability to implement and maintain effective and equitable operational policy.
CHH provides a range of mechanisms for stakeholder input, including allowing stakeholders to delegate to the Board of Directors (the Board) subject to the terms of this policy.
Stakeholders may delegate to the Board to share their perspective on a posted public agenda item for a scheduled CHH Board meeting.
Delegations are intended to improve the information available to the Board of Directors to fulfill its mandate to set operational policy. Delegations are not intended to be a conflict resolution mechanism or to submit complaints. CHH has existing mechanisms for escalating and resolving complaints, in addition to a range of legal options for tenants and stakeholders. In addition, delegations cannot be used as a forum to present information or resolve matters already under review by a legal dispute resolution body.
Principles of the Delegation Policy:
- Open and transparent decision-making.
- Benefit to stakeholders and the Board;
- Respect for procedural fairness and CHH policy;
- Provide equitable access.
2. Scope
This policy applies to all tenants, staff, and stakeholders of CHH. It outlines the terms and conditions on which persons, groups of persons, or organizations may delegate on a publicly posted agenda item for a scheduled meeting of the CHH Board.
3. Policy
The policy emphasizes timely stakeholder feedback and information for recommendations to be considered by the Board on public agenda items at the same meeting. Delegations allow the Board to hear directly from those affected by its decisions and reinforce CHH’s commitment to open, transparent decision-making. The agenda and reports for meetings will be posted on CHH’s website by 4:00 p.m. on the Tuesday immediately preceding the scheduled meeting date.
Any person, group of persons, or organization wishing to address the Board should submit a written request to CHH and indicate the agenda item on which the delegation will be made and the manner of delegating.
Any person, group of persons, or organization, who wishes to appear as a delegation to address the Board may delegate:
- Orally in-person or virtually; or
- Through pre-recorded video; or
- Through written submission.
Stakeholders may only make one delegation per public agenda item at a meeting. However, they may delegate on more than one public agenda item and should submit a separate request to speak to each item to do so.
Stakeholders wishing to delegate on a matter unrelated to a public agenda item will be directed to the appropriate channel or resources to attempt to address their concerns first, including putting concerns in writing for review by the CHH senior leadership team. In the event the stakeholder continues to wish to delegate directly to the Board, the Coordinator will add the delegation to the delegation list, noting it is not related to a public agenda item at the current meeting, and the Board will be asked to consider approving the delegation for a future meeting date.
At the start of a Board meeting at which quorum has been confirmed, the Chair will ask whether anyone attending the meeting in person wishes to make a delegation on any public agenda item. Stakeholders who have not submitted a request to speak in advance can identify themselves at that time to be added to the delegation list.
Delegations may speak and present for no longer than five (5) minutes. The delegate(s) may request more time subject to Board approval. An extension of up to five (5) minutes may be granted with the approval of a majority of the members of the Board present.
In the event the delegation list exceeds five (5) individuals, the Chair may seek Board approval the shorten or limit the speaking time to ensure all delegations can be heard and the Board has an opportunity to ask questions with consideration given to the remaining items to be discussed on the full agenda.
Members of the Board can ask questions of the delegations and staff for clarification purposes only and not for debate.
Regardless of the method of delegating, no delegation shall:
- Discuss matters primarily unrelated to the item(s) for which they requested to speak.
- Identify staff, tenants, or vendors and their employees by name or in any other way that makes them identifiable.
- Discuss or raise matters related to staff which would be more appropriately addressed confidentially through labour relations policies and procedures.
- Discuss matters which are already the subject to an application, action or other resolution process initiated through a court or tribunal or quasi-judicial body to which the delegation is a party. For example, these would include, but not be limited to, matters before the Landlord and Tenant Board, Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Ontario Divisional Court, the City of Hamilton’s Social Housing Review Panel, etc.
- Make allegations of a violation of the Code of Conduct or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act by a member of the Board. The delegate will be advised of the ways to bring such allegations to the attention of the Integrity Commissioner.
Delegations which do not comply with the foregoing may be declined, warned, or stopped from continuing at the Chair’s direction. The Chair may, at any time, pause the delegation to seek clarity from staff if needed. The Chair may also seek the Board’s approval to refer delegations to future meetings if, in the Chair’s opinion, the delegate is not discussing matters relevant to a current public agenda item.
Quorum
The Chair must have confirmed quorum is present prior to proceeding with hearing any delegations. In the event quorum was not achieved or is lost, the meeting will be cancelled and either (i) rescheduled or (ii) the agenda items will be moved to the next scheduled meeting. Delegates will be advised of the new dates and may choose to change their manner of delegating, if necessary, to accommodate the new meeting date. Order and Decorum During Delegations
The Chair is responsible for ensuring all parties in attendance behave in a respectful manner and do not make disparaging or damaging comments towards any tenant, stakeholder, board members or CHH staff.
No person in attendance in-person or virtually at a Board meeting may:
- Be disrespectful or disrupt the meeting in any manner;
- Use offensive language or language which is discriminatory in nature based on an individual’s race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other protected grounds for services under the Human Rights Code, R.S.O 1990, c. H.19, as amended;
- Address remarks to anyone but the Chair;
- Interrupt a person who has the floor;
- Speak about or distribute materials related to any subject other than the subject for which they have received approval to address with the Board; or
- Contravene a decision of the Chair in applying the rules of procedure.
Delegates must have electronic devices (e.g., phone, computer) set to a non-audible function during the Board meeting. Delegates may not bring food or beverages, water excepted, into the room where an in-person meeting is held.
City of Hamilton RZone Respectful Environment Policy (RZone)
To support a respectful workplace and environmental for all, the City of Hamilton's RZone procedure applies to Board meetings and addresses incidents of inappropriate behavior, verbal aggression, hate incidents and/or violence by a delegate or member(s) of the public, directed at a Board member, employee or member(s) of the public.
The Chair will request any person acting in a manner contrary to the rules set forth above or meeting the definitions of inappropriate behaviour in the RZone policy to correct the behaviour and act in accordance with these rules and inform the person that the City of Hamilton’s RZone policy may be enforced if the inappropriate or contravening behaviour continues.
If a delegate persists in conducting themselves in a manner contrary to the rules set forth above, or if, in the opinion of the Chair, a delegate appears to pose a threat to the safety of themselves of others, the Chair may call a recess, at which time any livestream/video recording will be stopped. The Chair may seek advice from staff as needed and/or may expel the person from the meeting and, if required, request the help of security and/or Police to do so.
Any delegate who has been expelled from a meeting for failing to conduct themselves in accordance with the rules, may be restricted to delegating in writing or pre-recorded video submissions only, as follows:
- First expulsion for a period of three (3) months;
- Second expulsion within a six-month period shall be restricted for a period of six (6) months; and
- Third expulsion within a twelve-month period shall be restricted for a period of twelve (12) months.
Education and Communication
CHH will inform tenants, stakeholders, and staff of the Delegation Policy and expectations by posting on the CHH website.
Accountability
Delegations will be included in the meeting minutes and form part of the CHH public record.
4. Procedure
Any person interested in delegating to the CHH Board of Directors is encouraged to complete the ‘Request to Speak to Board of Directors’ form available on the CHH website. Delegates should submit their request, together with any supporting material, no later than 4:00 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the scheduled Board meeting for which the related agenda item has been posted, to the Coordinator, Board Governance and Administration (Coordinator). The Coordinator will confirm the delegation relates to a public item posted on the agenda, assist the delegate as needed and ensure the delegate’s name is added to the delegation list. The ‘Request to Speak to the Board of Directors’ Form must include:
- Name(s) of all delegates;
- Agenda Item(s) for the delegation;
- Method of delegating; and
Contact information (name, address, email and/or phone number). Delegates will receive confirmation of the addition of their delegation request to the meeting agenda before the Board meeting by the coordinator. Delegates will be provided with a copy of CHH’s Delegation Policy and RZone Policy in advance of their delegation.
If the request cannot be approved for reasons set out in this policy, the delegate will be informed of the reason(s) and provided with information on re-submitting a delegation request where appropriate. This information will be provided to the Chair as information.
Notwithstanding this procedure, stakeholders may also attend scheduled meetings and indicate their desire to speak to a public agenda item when the request for delegations are called by the Chair.
5. Responsibility
It is the responsibility of CHH’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to ensure tenants, staff, the Board of Directors, and stakeholders of CHH are aware of this policy.
6. Definitions
Board of Directors
A group of individuals appointed through a City of Hamilton approved select process to develop, implement, and monitor how an organization meets its organizational outcomes. CHH operates with an independent Board of Directors.
Board Meeting
A scheduled meeting of CityHousing Hamilton’s Board of Directors that is IN-PERSON / VIRTUAL / HYBRID where a quorum of members is present.
Delegate
A delegate is a stakeholder approved to speak to the Board on a public agenda item. A delegate’s presentation is referred to as the delegation. Hybrid: A proceeding where some members participate virtually and some members participate in-person.
Stakeholder
A stakeholder includes a tenant (including a member of household) residing in a CHH community, a community partner or service provider, a neighbouring resident, a funder, a developer or anyone on behalf of themselves or an organization which has identified a public agenda item for which they believe they have unique and useful perspectives.
Quorum
CityHousing Hamilton Corporation’s by-laws establishes quorum as being a majority of the duly-appointed board members. Meetings which do not have quorum are rescheduled or deferred to the next scheduled regular meeting.
7. References & Related Policies
- CityHousing Hamilton Complaints Policy
- City of Hamilton Code of Conduct
- City of Hamilton RZone Respectful Environments Policy
- Human Rights Code
- Municipal Conflict of Interest Act
- Business Corporations Act
8. Attachments
N/A
9. History
- Approved by CHH Board of Directors (the Board) on April 1, 2026.
- Approved by CHH Senior Management Team on March 4, 2026.
10. Acknowledgements
- Informed by feedback from the Tenants First Team in March 2025.
- Prepared by Amanda Warren-Ritchie, Adam Sweedland and Teresa Herechuk in February 2026
- Reviewed by external counsel in March 2026.
