A Governance Framework for Advisory Committees of Council

Since January 2023, the Guelph Lab has been working with the City Clerk’s Office to create a Governance Framework for the City’s Advisory Committees of Council (ACOCs). This collaboration responds to the Clerk’s Office’s interest in gaining a deeper understanding of the form and function of the City's ACOCs, and in providing a tool to guide ACOCs’ future development.

The Governance Framework, finalized in Fall 2023, guides decision making about establishing and designing ACOCs. The Governance Framework is organized into four stages which include the major decision to establish an ACOC (Stage 1); articulating its purposes, formation, required resources, membership, and recruitment (Stage 2); guidelines regarding its design and implementation (Stage 3); and guidelines regarding its evaluation (Stage 4).

The ACOC Framework was created using an engaged scholarship methodology. Members of the City Clerk’s office participated actively, as did a working group of eight current ACOC members, and three community reviewers. The main ideas and feedback of the working group and the community reviewers were carefully considered and included in the resulting Framework.

The Framework can also serve as a guideline for the creation and use of ACOCs in other municipalities.

This work was informed by a 2021 systematic review; read The City of Guelph's Advisory Committees of Council: Review of Documents