Closed Meetings

Local governments in Ontario must be transparent and accountable. According to Section 239 the Municipal Act, The City of Brantford Council, local boards and their committees are permitted to have closed meetings for the following reasons:

  • The security of the property of the municipality or local board
  • Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees
  • A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board
  • Labour relations or employee negotiations
  • Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board
  • Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose
  • A matter in respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act
  • Information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them
  • A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization
  • A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value or potential monetary value
  • A position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board
  • A request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, if the council, board, commission or other body is the head of an institution for the purposes of that Act
  • An ongoing investigation respecting the municipality, a local board or a municipally-controlled corporation by the Ombudsman appointed under the Ombudsman Act, and Ombudsman referred to in subsection 223.13(1) of this Act, or the investigator referred to in subsection 239.2(1)
  • Educational or training sessions

Council, a local board or a committee must pass a resolution at a public meeting before any closed meeting can take place. The resolution must let the public know that a closed meeting is being held and explain the general nature of the meeting.

Closed Meeting Investigation

Any person or corporation can request an investigation of whether or not the appropriate rules were met during a closed meeting by submitting a Closed Meeting Investigation form to the City Clerk. For more information on the Process of an Investigation, please review Closed Meeting Investigation Process.

Every request for a closed meeting investigation shall:

  • be in writing
  • include the reasons for the request
  • be signed
  • include an address and telephone number of the person making the request; and
  • include the required fee as established by the municipality for this purpose ($50.00)