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Approved By: City Council
Approval Date: March 28, 2001
Effective Date: March 28, 2001
Revision Approved By: City Council
Revision/Review Date: December 9, 2020; December 7, 2022

Policy statement

The Appointment Policy governs the recruitment and selection process for all Council-appointed public members to various City of Ottawa committees, boards, task forces, sub-committees, commissions and quasi-judicial committees, as well as external boards and commissions.

Purpose

The City of Ottawa is committed to equitable and inclusive participation of the public in boards and committees and other bodies that govern and inform its work.

The City of Ottawa is committed to increasing meaningful and substantive representation by focusing on activities that will promote engagement with a diversity of communities to serve as members on City committees, boards, task forces, sub-committees, commissions and quasi-judicial committees, as well as external boards and commissions.

To encourage participation, the City will adopt proactive communications, policies and focused recruitment strategies that align with the City’s Accessibility Policy, Women and Gender Equity Strategy, and Anti-Racism Strategy. This proactive approach is adopted with the purpose of reflecting Ottawa’s diverse demography inclusive of Indigenous peoples, members of Black and other racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women, gender diverse people, members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities, Francophones, as well as French speakers, and speakers of other language groups, and people from rural and urban locations.

Application

The following applies for the public member appointments by City Council to City committees, boards, task forces, sub-committees, commissions and quasi-judicial committees, as well as external boards and commissions where Council is required to make such appointments.

Policy requirements

Qualifications of Members

1. All Council-appointees must be residents of the City of Ottawa and must maintain this qualification during their term of office.
2. All Council-appointees must be at least 18 years of age.
3. Employees of the City of Ottawa are not eligible for positions as public members on any City committee or board where Council is required to make such appointments.

Term of Office

1. The term of office is generally two or four years and membership is tied to the Term of Council.  Members are eligible to serve up to eight consecutive years on the same committee or board subject to section 2.2, 2.3 and 2.5 of this policy. For example, a member may serve two consecutive four-year terms. A member could also serve a two-year term, followed by a four-year term, followed by another two-year term.
2. A person appointed to fill a partially completed term is appointed to the end of that term of office. Such a member, if initially appointed for one year or less, may be eligible for reappointment(s) for up to eight additional years.
3. Applicants are required to sit out at least one year after serving eight consecutive years, before being eligible for reappointment on the same committee or board, although they may apply to serve on another Committee or board during that time.
4. Those members who wish to be reappointed to an additional term must reapply and go through the approved selection process.
5. Public members may serve on only one committee or board at any one time.
6. Terms of office, qualifications and membership on some external boards, commissions and authorities or quasi-judicial committees may differ as specifically outlined in their governing statutes or by-laws, which would take precedence over this policy.
7. The restriction on term limits does not apply to appointments to Conservation Authorities (Report ACS2006-CRS-CCB-0005 approved by Council January 25, 2006).
8. Members may continue to serve on a committee/board past the expiration of their term until they are re-appointed or replaced (subject to the end-of-term governance review).
9. Members of any Advisory Committee shall attend at least one (1) orientation session, that includes an overview of equity, anti-racism, gender equity inclusion and accessibility, participate in any mandatory training as may be required by Council.
10. Members of any Advisory Committee must read and sign the Advisory Committee members’ Code of Conduct. 

Composition

1. The membership of City committees, boards, task forces, sub-committees, commissions and quasi-judicial committees, as well as external boards and commissions shall, as much as possible, achieve a balance between a variety of technical expertise, professional and lived experiences, knowledge and other representation.
2. As much as possible, the membership should reflect the diversity and demographics of the City of Ottawa in such areas as Indigeneity, disability, gender, francophones and other languages, geographic representation and race.
3. Appointments should be undertaken with a view to achieving the City of Ottawa’s goal to have a 50 per cent representation of women and/or non-binary people, and to have representation from other equity deserving groups including those who identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, People with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQ+ individuals on all City Advisory Committees. 

Recruitment

1. The recruitment for the City’s committees, boards, task forces, sub-committees, commissions and quasi-judicial committees, as well as external boards and commissions for which members are required, shall be held early in each Term of Council and, if required, at approximately mid-term.
2. The principles of equity and inclusion for all candidates shall be adopted and implemented by offering clear application deadlines, an inclusive campaign strategy, and selection process with build-in bias awareness, and interviewing procedures using the same questions and same evaluation criteria for all candidates, while integrating inclusive practices to accommodate diverse communication needs and styles.
3. The recruitment and selection process for public members will include advertisements for interested applicants placed by the Office of the City Clerk, in the daily and/or weekly community newspapers in accordance with the City’s advertising policy as well as on the City’s website.  Advertisements will also be distributed throughout Client Service Centres, libraries, and other City and community facilities as resources permit. In addition, an effort will be made to tailor the recruitment process specifically, but not exclusively, to reach community organizations that support diverse members from Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities. The recruitment process may also be targeted to groups that might have qualifications relevant to specific committees. For example, professional associations for architects, professional planners, and lawyers may be targeted, as well as related affinity groups.
4. The advertisements may include the following information:
   
   1. Function or brief mandate statement of the entities for which recruitment is taking place;
   2. Frequency and time of meetings and where possible any other expectations for participation of members;
   3. City policies that guide the selection process or the operation of the Committee;
   4. Anticipated time commitment;
   5. Information on how to submit an application;
   6. Requesting applicants apply only for the committees/boards they wish to serve on rather than applying to all;
   7. Indication that an individual can be appointed to serve on only one committee, board, task force, sub-committee, commission or quasi-judicial committee, external board or commission at a time;
   8. The opportunity to have accommodation provided in accordance with human rights or applicable legislation.
5. Applications:
   
   1. All applications must outline how the applicant's qualifications, specific skills, interests and background are relevant to the committee.  Applicants may include a written or video statement of work, life and educational experience and/or a resume, but are not required to do so.
   2. All applications will be sent to the Office of the City Clerk to be processed.
   3. All applications will be acknowledged by the Office of the City Clerk.
   4. An initial screening of applications will be conducted.  Only those meeting the qualifications set out in Section 1 will be brought forward to the next stage.
   5. All applications must be received by the published deadline in order to be considered.
   6. Applicants shall be encouraged to apply for only the committees/boards they wish to serve on rather than applying to many or all.
   7. Should an applicant choose to apply to more than one committee/board, they will be requested to prioritize their preferences.
   8. All applications received during a Term of Council will be held on file for the remainder of that Term of Council.
6. Selection
   
   1. At the outset of each new term of Council, City Council, upon recommendation of the Nominating Committee will appoint a minimum of two members of Council to sit on each Selection Panel to review applications and make recommendations to Council. If necessary throughout the term of Council, the applicable Standing Committee or the Nominating Committee will recommend Selection Panel members to City Council.
   2. The Committee Coordinator for the Committee will provide advice and assistance to the Selection Panel, including provision of resources to support bias-awareness in the selection process.
   3. Each Selection Panel may meet to determine selection criteria based on the specific expertise and experiences needed by the committee, board, external board or commission and the need to reflect the community as detailed under the entity's composition; prepare questions including questions on equity, diversity and inclusion to be asked of each candidate during interviews, and review applications based on these criteria to determine which applicants will be interviewed. It is recommended that each Selection Panel to conduct interviews when considering the appointment of new candidates to a committee or board, as well as those who may be applying for re-appointment. If the Selection Panel elects to proceed with interviews, all applicants considered for appointment must be interviewed, including those applying for re-appointment.
   4. The Selection Panel shall recommend appointments and may recommend a list of reserve members.
   5. In the case of a vacancy during the term, the selection panel may, with a view to maintaining the appropriate demographic and skill balance on the committee as whole:
      
      1. Select a Council-appointed reserve member (under its delegated authority), and/ or
      2. Recommend that Council appoint any candidate who submitted an application during the current Term of Council.
   6. The Office of the City Clerk shall forward the Selection Panel recommendations through a public report to the relevant Standing Committee and/ or Council.
   7. The Office of the City Clerk shall advise all applicants of the status of their applications, and publish the appointments on the City’s website: Committees and Boards | City of Ottawa.
   8. Should the Selection Panel receive insufficient applications to fill the number of vacancies, the Selection Panel may request that the Office of the City Clerk carry out additional recruitment, extend the application deadline of an ongoing recruitment, and/or undertake a targeted recruitment process that includes outreach to specific organizations.

Attendance

1. Any member of a City committee, board, task force, sub-committee, commission, quasi-judicial committee, external board or commission who is absent from two (2) consecutive regularly scheduled meetings of the committee, shall be contacted by the committee/board Coordinator to confirm their commitment, and offer any relevant accommodations as required so they can fulfill their commitment.
2. Should the member miss another consecutive meeting, without being authorized to do so by a resolution of the Committee, the seat shall be declared vacant and the selection panel shall choose a qualified reserve member for that committee/board to fill the vacancy.
3. If no reserve members remain to fill the position, then the seat shall remain vacant until the next recruitment process.  Recruitment shall only be undertaken at another time than the normal process if the number of members on the committee falls to one above quorum, or there is a need to fill vacancies on numerous committees/boards in that the associated costs and staff resources are justified.
4. For record and information purposes, the Committee Coordinator will prepare and distribute an "Information Previously Distributed" memorandum to the applicable Standing Committee noting the appointment of the reserve member as a full voting member.

Subcommittees/Working Groups

1. City advisory committees and boards may create subcommittees or working groups to work on specific areas of their mandate.  At least one third of the subcommittee’s or working group’s members must also be a voting committee members of the main committee or board.
2. Minimal administrative support will be provided to subcommittees and is limited to booking rooms and the provision of material if necessary.

Exceptions

1. This Policy shall not apply to incorporated boards where the City is the sole-shareholder (such as Hydro, Ottawa Community Housing Corporation,) or to boards where the Mayor is delegated the authority to make nominations (such as the Ottawa Airport Authority).
2. Certain provisions of this Policy may not apply where they are in conflict with the requirements set out in legislation, including but not limited to the Public Libraries Act, Police Services Act and the Conservation Authorities Act.

Responsibilities

The Office of the City Clerk is responsible for the administration of appointments to Advisory Committees, Boards and Task Forces, and External Boards, Commissions and Authorities, in accordance with this policy. This includes administering requests for accommodation.

Selection Panels are responsible for reviewing and make recommendations to Council in accordance with this policy.

Monitoring/Contraventions

Failure to comply with this policy may result in inconsistent response, coordination and appointment of public members on City of Ottawa committees, boards, task forces, sub-committees, commissions and quasi-judicial committees, as well as external boards and commissions. Inconsistent application may hinder the objectives of open, accessible and impartial practice with respect to public member appointments.

References

N/A

Legislative and Administrative Authorities

2018-2022 Council Governance Review (ACS2018-CCS-GEN-0028) as approved by City Council December 5, 2018

2018-2022 Mid-term Governance Review (ACS2020-OCC-GEN-0006) as approved by City Council on December 9, 2020

2022-2026 Council Governance Review (ACS2022-OCC-GEN-0030) as approved by City Council on December 7, 2022

Recordkeeping requirements

As per the Records Management Policy, Official Business Records generated as a result of the execution of this policy must be declared as such in the appropriate SharePoint site, RMS (Records Management System) or approved business system.

Definitions

N/A

Enquiries

Enquiries should be directed to:

Office of the City Clerk
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue, West
Ottawa, Ontario  K1P 1J1
Tel: (613) 580-2424 ext. 28136
committees@ottawa.ca

Appendices

N/A