Canada
Toronto City Government
Since 2015
Experience in which a group of residents of Toronto is brought together to learn about, discuss, and provide input on city planning issues.
The Toronto Planning Review Panel began in 2015 with 28 members randomly selected via civic lottery. They were asked to work together over the course of two years to provide city planning with informed public input on major planning initiatives. It was created to complement other methods of public consultation and it has been specially designed to bring a balance of new voices into the planning process, to offer members access to city planners, independent experts, and stakeholders over the course of sixteen day-long meetings, and to support members as they work together to produce informed, representative public input on major city planning initiatives shaping Toronto. The first panel concluded its two-year mandate on November and the city is currently recruiting new members through another civic lottery process.
Through the civic lottery of Toronto, thousands of invitations are distributed across a city in rough proportion to the population living in the different areas. Those who receive a letter are asked to donate their time as a form of public service and volunteers are not offered payment to participate. When Toronto last conducted a civic lottery in 2015, 503 people volunteered to participate in the panel. From that pool of volunteers, 28 names were randomly selected in a blind draw that balanced six criteria. The selection guaranteed gender parity, matched the age profile of Toronto, ensured equal representation from each of the four community council districts, balanced for visible minority status and ensured the inclusion of at least one Aboriginal member. Proportions were established based on the most recent available census profile.
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