Before the election, Council hears Aldershot GO concerns, orders a festival review and pushes on e-scooters

The meeting

Burlington City Council held its regular meeting on September 29, 2026. In its decision highlights, the City says the next Council meeting is the November 16 swearing-in of the new Council for the 2026–2030 term, at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. The development decisions from the same meeting, on Plains Road East and Millcroft Greens, are covered separately.

Aldershot GO Transit Oriented Community

Council received for information a staff report (DGM-50-26) on Infrastructure Ontario's Step 1 submission for a Transit Oriented Community at Aldershot GO. According to the City, staff do not consider the submission aligned with Council's vision for the Aldershot GO major transit station area and its Central and MidRise Residential precincts, as set out in Official Plan Amendment 2. Staff grouped their feedback into 10 key themes, and the report includes comments from other City departments, levels of government and agencies.

Housing incentives fully subscribed

An update on the Burlington Housing Community Improvement Plan temporary programs (DGM-53-26) reported five applications, all for purpose-built rental, which the City says makes the programs fully subscribed. Four complete applications cover 641 rental units and seek about $5.35 million in municipal incentives, fully funded by the Housing Accelerator Fund. Roughly 40 per cent of those units have two or more bedrooms.

Other decisions

• Burlington Waterfront Festival: staff are to review the July 17 to 19, 2026 festival, consult the downtown business association, restaurants and the public, and report by Q4 2026, including on whether to cap food trucks at downtown events. No approval or renewal of the festival at Spencer Smith Park for 2027 is to be finalized until Council has considered that report.
• E-scooters and e-bikes: Council endorsed a motion calling for a multi-agency, multi-government approach focused on safety, asked the Province to publish standardized collision and injury data and Transport Canada to regulate micromobility vehicle and battery safety federally, and asked staff to report in Q1 2027 on options including licensing and helmet rules.
• Roseland: staff are to cost a heritage conservation district study of more than 300 properties and report back in Q1 2027.
• Spruce Avenue: Council extended the road closure on Spruce Avenue between Shoreacres Road and Goodram Drive until the watermain work is finished, which the City expects in December 2026.
• Municipal Consent By-law: Council replaced By-law 65-2021 with a new by-law governing construction and occupancies on City rights-of-way.
• Finances: Council received the operating budget performance report and financial status report to June 30, 2026, and asked for 2026 year-end results in Q1 2027.

Why it matters

Several of these items end with a report due in late 2026 or early 2027, so they will land with the new Council that takes office on November 16. The City has also noted that the current Council has been under the restricted-acts provisions of the Municipal Act because fewer than three-quarters of its current members will form the next Council; during that period Council cannot authorize an unbudgeted expenditure or incur another liability over $50,000.