Windsor City Council is going to stick with the status quo in 2026 when it comes to meeting start times but is going to examine how meetings are held.
Council approved its 2026 meeting calendar Monday, which will maintain the existing 10 a.m. start time, but voted to debate the start time issue when all members were in attendance, as Ward 1 Councillor Fred Francis was absent for the meeting.
Council also voted to have administration examine issues surrounding how meetings are held and conducted, including how the schedule affects public participation, engagement tools, council compensation, and if councillors should be part-time or full-time.
Any decision on those issues would impact the next term of council following the 2026 election.
In October 2025, the city launched a survey to gather feedback on how council meetings are held and conducted.
Of the 768 residents who responded to the survey question around the start time, 51 per cent preferred a 6 p.m. start time, while 29 per cent voted for a 10 a.m. start time.
Ward 8 Councillor Gary Kaschak prefers a later start time for council meetings, calling a 4 p.m. start time the 'sweet spot.'
"We talked about the councillor role and full- and part-time roles as well. I think certainly if councillors were deemed to be full-time employees, the 10 a.m. start would be warranted,' he says. "We're still in that part-time model, quote unquote. Really, 4 or 6 p.m. would probably work best."
Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac believes it's time to review the role of councillors.
"Councillors who sit around this table are deemed to be part-time. The city is growing, the complexity of the meetings is growing, and the complexity of information is growing," she says.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says councillors work hard, and it's a demanding job that is at the midway point between being a part-time and full-time job.
"It does limit the type of employment you can have out in the community if you're on city council because if you have an employer who has reasonable expectations that you're at work at given times of the day, it's really hard to do that as a city councillor," he says. "It's right for them to go through the compensation review and figure out whether they are getting fully compensated compared to their peers."
An administration report on council meeting start times indicates a shift back to evening meetings would impact staff availability to respond to questions as they arise and increase overtime costs by $19,000 to $26,000 a year for information technology, council services, and security staff needed to hold a meeting.
In December 2023, council voted 6-5 to move the start time to 10 a.m., with administration noting a savings in overtime costs when staff had to stay for evening meetings and the ability to provide a quicker resolution to any technical problems during daytime hours due to staff availability.
Council can review and change the start times at any point during the year under the city's start time bylaw.