Committees

Council uses a variety of committees to inform decision-making. They hold two public meetings - the weekly Council meeting and the bi-weekly Committee of the Whole.

Regular Council Meeting

St. John's City Council conducts the business of the City through a regular public meeting, held every Monday at 3pm. Regular Council Meetings are live streamed via our website, and the video, minutes and agendas of past meetings are accessible by selecting the date for the meeting you would like to view.

See the Council calendar, agendas and minutes

Committee of the Whole

Committee of the Whole meetings take place every second Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Council Chamber on the fourth floor of City Hall. Meetings are webcast live. All meetings are chaired by the Mayor and the agendas will consist of specific portfolios overseen by various members of Council.

The Committee of the Whole facilitates communication among councillors and senior staff. It also provides a forum for special interest groups and other public delegations to meet directly with Council. All City advisory committees, working groups and experts panels report directly to the Committee of the Whole.

Delegations

Would you like to be considered to present to Council at Committee of the Whole?

A delegation request form must be submitted to the Office of the City Clerk at least two weeks prior to the next scheduled meeting. To facilitate efficient use of time, delegations must:

Speak to one topic only and may only appear before Council once on the same subject.
Have a maximum of two presenters.
Ensure that the subject matter is within the legislative authority of the City.
Limit the presentation to 15 minutes (including a Q & A period).

No delegations will be considered that wish to address the following things:

Matters that are being considered at a public hearing or that are part of court proceedings involving the City of St. John’s.
Topics that cannot be discussed in public (such as intergovernmental relations, human resources, and legal matters).
Labour relations or employee negotiations

Audit Standing Committee

The Audit Standing Committee is a Council-appointed committee reporting directly to Council on finance, risk and regulatory compliance.

Advisory Committees

The City's advisory committees provide advice on specific subject areas. One member of council sits on each of these advisory committees in a champion/liaison role and the remaining members are appointed from the community following an open recruitment and selection process undertaken by the City Clerk. Check out each advisory committee:

From time to time, Council will announce opportunities to be a member of one of our advisory committees. If you have the interest and skills required, consider joining an advisory committee and helping improve your capital city.

Working Groups

Working Groups provide citizen or organization expertise or oversight on the development or delivery of programs and projects. Working groups assist in the delivery of an approved plan or strategy and meetings are chaired by staff. Our current working groups include:

From time to time, Council will announce opportunities to be a member of one of our working groups. If you have the interest and skills required, consider joining a working group and helping improve your capital city.

Experts Panels

Expert Panels provide expert opinion on topics or issues within a defined mandate. Expert Panels may or may not have a defined timeline. They report to the Committee of the Whole and are chaired by an expert from the community. Review our expert panels:

From time to time, Council will announce opportunities to be a member of one of our expert's panels. If you have the interest and skills required, consider joining an expert's panels and helping improve your capital city.

Regional Boards

The City of St. John's has representation on the following regional boards:

Outside Boards or Committees with Council Affiliation

The following boards have Council affiliation with the City of St. John's:

Bowring Park Foundation
C.A. Pippy Park Commission
Canadian Capital Cities Organization
Clean St. John's
Grand Concourse Authority
Joint Committee of Council & Downtown St. John's
Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador
NL Sports Centre Board
North East Avalon Joint Council
Quidi Vidi Rennies River Development Foundation
Railway Coastal Museum
Shea Heights Community Board
Urban Municipalities Committee of MNL
Victoria Park Foundation

St. John's Sports and Entertainment Limited

The City of St. John's subsidizes the operation of the Mary Brown's Centre and the St. John's Convention Centre. Both state-of-the-art facilities contribute significantly to the economy of the City of St. John's.

This is an independent board. Councillor Ron Ellsworth and one member of senior staff sit on the board as ex offcio/non-voting members.

Contact us

For information on retired committees, or to access information not available here, please contact cityclerk@stjohns.ca.