By Claude & Parth on 2026-03-10, City: Hamilton, View Transcript
The School Board Property Subcommittee met to discuss the city's process for acquiring former school board properties and voted unanimously to review the city's 22-year-old Portfolio Management Strategy. The committee expressed concerns that the 2004 framework may not align with current council priorities, particularly around housing and community needs, and requested staff report back by June 2026 with an overview of new provincial regulations and recommendations for updating the strategy.
OUTDATED PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK: The committee focused heavily on the city's Portfolio Management Strategy from 2004, which guides decisions on property acquisitions, dispositions, and leases. Councillor Bey explained the rationale for reviewing the policy: "This isn't a critique of the decision-making process. What this is is recognizing that the current framework was I think 2004 would have been developed maybe the first term of the first amalgamated council." He added: "We've had significant evolution, I would suggest, since then in terms of the possible direction of the city, the intent, the thought process, the people that were around the table when that strategy was created are no longer around the table."
CURRENT PROPERTY EVALUATION PROCESS: Leah McNamera, Manager of Strategy and Portfolio Planning in the Corporate Real Estate Office, explained that the policy contains "a series of principles related to property acquisition, disposition, and leasehold interests that guides staff decision around the ability to meet public service delivery and municipal requirements." She described how the Portfolio Management Committee, consisting of approximately 10 director-level staff from across all departments, reviews properties monthly. All properties are circulated to city departments, agencies, conservation authority, and utilities for assessment against the city's current priorities, capital budgets, strategic plans, and long-term planning goals.
HOUSING CONSIDERATIONS: The committee discussed how housing priorities factor into property decisions. Staff confirmed that the Director of the Housing Secretariat is a member of the Portfolio Management Committee, and any property recommendations with affordable housing or housing-related components must go through the Housing Steering Committee before returning to council for final decision. Councillor Bey noted the changed context: "We didn't have a housing secretariat in 2004, for example."
NEW PROVINCIAL REGULATIONS: The discussion touched on recent changes to provincial regulations governing school board properties, which replaced the former Regulation 444. Staff noted that school boards have limited experience with the new framework and that "there's a set of rules that we need to follow that are dictated by the province." The new provincial framework is "a little more provincially dominated."
BALANCING COMMUNITY NEEDS: Councillor M. Wilson raised concerns about transparency in how the city balances different community priorities when evaluating properties. She emphasized the need for clarity on how decisions are made between "a partnership opportunity or a recreational opportunity," particularly noting that "newer parts of our city" need more recreational assets. She stressed accountability: "if everybody was hit by a bus, then I think we have to be accountable and transparent in how they're doing it."
PASSED (4-0): Motion requesting staff to report back by June 2026 to the School Board Property Subcommittee with an overview of new provincial regulations as they relate to the 2004 Portfolio Management Strategy, with assessment of alignment with current council priorities and departmental structure. Broader recommendations to subsequently go to General Issues Committee.
PASSED (4-0): Motion directing staff to review current real estate policies and procedures and return with recommendations considering council priorities, current policies, and master plans including housing and recreation.