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Ward 6

Central-north London: Old North · Western University · Gibbons Park

ALL-CANDIDATE MEETING
Thursday, September 24, 2026 · 7:00-8:00pm
Western University, Mercato Western Unit (formerly Brescia University College) — in partnership with the Orchard Park/Sherwood Forest Neighbourhood Association, Western USC, and Western Off-Campus Housing
Urban League of London ↗Organized by a third party, not London Decides. Dates and locations can change.
ON THE BALLOTLEISHMANMARENTETTENADEATROSOW
1234567891011121314NOT YOURS? ↗
THE SHORT VERSION

Your ward at a glance

Incumbent Sam Trosow, first elected in 2022, faces three challengers, none of whom has previously held elected office. Nominations closed August 21, 2026; the City certified the list on August 24. In a ward that takes in Western University's campus and Old North, the race turns on speeding and cut-through traffic, oversized infill builds, student rentals, and north rapid transit. Ward 6 appears to have kept largely the same boundaries in the December 2024 redraw.

Sam Trosow is the incumbent, elected Ward 6 councillor in 2022 with 2,082 votes (48.11%) of three candidates, per the City's certified results.

The rest of the field, in alphabetical order: Ian Sterling Leishman, Stephanie Marentette, and Naomi Nadea.

THE FIELD

Who's running

Listed alphabetically. Identical treatment for every candidate. That's the deal.

LEISHMANMARENTETTENADEATROSOW

Ian Sterling Leishman

Our questionnaire ◌ GOES OUT AFTER AUG 24

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

Stephanie Marentette

Our questionnaire ◌ GOES OUT AFTER AUG 24

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

Naomi Nadea

Our questionnaire ◌ GOES OUT AFTER AUG 24

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

Sam Trosow

Incumbent Ward 6 councillor

Elected Ward 6 councillor in 2022: 2,082 votes (48.11%) of three candidates, per the City's certified results.

RECORD · 2022–2026 →
Our questionnaire ◌ GOES OUT AFTER AUG 24

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

No endorsements · Same rules for every candidate · Sources linked · Answers published word for word · How we research →

WHAT'S AT STAKE

What Ward 6 is wrestling with

Honestly told: the situation, the numbers, and what to ask the people who want your vote.

■ CITY DECIDES

Speeding and cut-through traffic in Old North

Residents have told the City about speeding, cut-through traffic, and streets that feel unsafe to walk or bike. The Central North London Traffic Study (the area bounded by Richmond Street, Oxford Street, the Thames River, and Adelaide Street, largely the Old North part of Ward 6) backed that input with traffic counts, speed studies, and collision history. Councillor Trosow has been directly involved in convening resident input on this file. The study has since produced a specific recommended plan, a package that steers vehicles onto designated "Neighbourhood Connectors" rather than through "Neighbourhood Streets." Public comment on that plan has now closed and the final report is still to come, so the decision lands with the next council.

The honest numbers ▾

The comment period on the recommended plan closed July 22, 2026. The final report incorporating public input is pending; what it will recommend is not yet public. City of London (Get Involved project page) ↗

Put them on the record

Which Old North street would you calm first, and what exactly would you put on it?

■ CITY DECIDES

Big new builds on old streets

Neighbours in Old North have fought large new-build infill homes they say clash with the streetscape of an established, partly heritage-character neighbourhood. These homes get approved by the City's Committee of Adjustment through zoning variances. The tension is citywide, but it has been reported specifically in Old North.

The honest numbers ▾

In one Victoria Street case, the allowable floor area was increased from roughly 4,000 to 7,400 square feet by variance. CBC News ↗

Put them on the record

When an infill proposal needs variances that neighbours oppose, what test would you apply before supporting it?

■ CITY DECIDES

Student rentals and nuisance party houses

Party houses are a recurring headache here: Old North, alongside Richmond Row and Downtown, is one of the areas most affected by unlicensed or poorly regulated short-term and student rentals. A City staff report tied nuisance party houses to unlimited-guest occupancy, called them a recurring enforcement challenge, and recommended tighter occupancy limits and higher fines. This is no longer a proposal. Municipal Council passed three by-laws on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, each stating it comes into force on the day it is passed, so all three have been in effect since that date. They raised the penalties for renting out a place without a short-term accommodation licence, changed the licence fees, and tightened Schedule 21 of the business licensing by-law.

The honest numbers ▾

Renting out a place without a valid short-term accommodation host (Provider) licence now draws $1,500 for a first offence, $2,500 for a second, and $5,000 for a third or later one. A booking platform operating without a valid Broker licence faces $10,000, then $15,000, then $20,000. The previous penalty was a flat $500 either way. The $10,000 tier applies to booking platforms, not to homeowners who rent through a company. Staff noted there are currently no licensed Brokers in London, and only one brokerage, Airbnb, has begun the licensing process. City of London staff report, Appendix C (penalty schedule) ↗

Put them on the record

Name one enforcement change you'd make for nuisance party houses that doesn't shrink student housing.

■ CITY DECIDES

What the short-term rental rules now require

The occupancy cap Old North residents pushed for did pass, with exemptions added. Council exempted hosted short-term accommodations, meaning places where the operator is living on site, and raised the age of children who don't count toward the cap. A separate limit on how many short-term rentals one person can run takes effect October 1, 2026, which is the change most likely to be felt on a street with several rental houses on it.

The honest numbers ▾

The enacted by-law allows no more than two individuals per bedroom, not counting children under 13, with an exemption for qualifying hosted accommodations. From October 1, 2026, one provider may operate only one short-term rental. City of London Business Licensing By-law L.-131-16 (consolidated) ↗

Put them on the record

Would you keep the hosted-rental exemption from the two-people-per-bedroom cap, or close it?

■ CITY DECIDES

How the short-term rental changes passed

The record here is easy to get wrong, so the sequence matters. At committee on March 9, 2026, a motion to rewrite the occupancy cap failed 2 to 3. A later amendment at council on March 31 added the hosted-accommodation exemption and raised the child exclusion from "under 2" to "aged twelve and under"; it passed 12 to 3 and 13 to 2 on its two parts, and the package then passed 14 to 1 and became law the same day.

The honest numbers ▾

Committee approved the staff recommendation 5 to 0, after Councillor Pribil's rewrite motion failed 2 to 3. At council on March 31, 2026, part (a) of the weakening amendment passed 12 to 3, part (b) passed 13 to 2, and the main motion as amended passed 14 to 1. The three by-laws are A-54-26021 (Bill 134), A-62-26002 (Bill 135), and L.-131(n)-103 (Bill 140). Municipal Council minutes, March 31, 2026 ↗

Put them on the record

Do you agree with exempting hosted rentals from the occupancy cap, and would you revisit it?

■ CITY DECIDES

What a short-term rental licence now costs

The March 2026 changes folded the fire and property standards inspection cost into the licence fee, so a new host pays one larger amount up front instead of the old $196 licence plus a separate inspection charge. The City's published fee and the fee written into the enacted by-law differ by $5, and nothing we found explains the gap, so both figures are shown rather than picking one.

The honest numbers ▾

london.ca (page last modified July 29, 2026) lists a new provider licence at $552, including a one-time $351 Fire and Property Standards inspection fee, with annual renewal at $201. The enacted by-law replaced the $196 licence fee with $547, which is $196 plus the $351 inspection. The $351 inspection fee is verified in force; the $547 versus $552 difference is unexplained by any source we checked. City of London (short-term accommodation licensing) ↗

Put them on the record

Is the licence fee set high enough to pay for real inspection and enforcement capacity, and how many officers would you fund?

□ SHARED: CITY + PROVINCE

Homelessness and encampments along the river

Encampments have concentrated along the Thames Valley Parkway and in Gibbons Park, both partly within Ward 6. Homelessness is a citywide issue, but the riverside is where it lands here. Council's 2024 Community Encampment Plan set buffer-zone rules, including no encampments within 100 metres of a residence with a habitable dwelling, which affect riverside areas like Old North.

Put them on the record

What would you vote to fund for the encampment response in riverside parks like Gibbons Park?

□ SHARED: CITY + PROVINCE

Renovictions and tenant protections

Many Ward 6 residents rent, in purpose-built buildings and student housing, so landlord-tenant policy hits home here; the underlying tenancy law is provincial. Council passed a renoviction bylaw in 2024, but amendments pushed by councillors Trosow, Rahman, and McAlister for stronger tenant compensation and relocation requirements were voted down. One year on, the tenant group ACORN reads the bylaw as having helped slow bad-faith renovictions, while very few landlords have taken out the repair licence the bylaw requires, and a city committee is weighing changes. Read this one cautiously: the provincial eviction-filing data underneath it is incomplete.

The honest numbers ▾

As of May 2026, only seven applications for the special Rental Unit Repair Licence had been received since the bylaw took effect. ACORN says N13 renoviction filings are down overall, but the underlying provincial N13 data is too incomplete to draw firm conclusions. CBC News, May 22, 2026 ↗

Put them on the record

What specifically would you change about London's renoviction bylaw, if anything?

□ SHARED: CITY + PROVINCE

North rapid transit through the ward

London's 2050 Mobility Master Plan proposes a north Bus Rapid Transit leg along Wharncliffe Road and Western Road, through or next to the Western University campus, to a hub at Masonville Mall. It replaces an earlier Richmond Street alignment that council rejected. The City asked the province for capital funding for the leg, reported in January 2026. As of August 2, 2026, no provincial decision on that request had been found; the ask appears to still be unanswered.

The honest numbers ▾

The City is seeking roughly $100 million in provincial capital funding for the north BRT leg. CBC News ↗

Put them on the record

Do you support the Wharncliffe/Western routing for north rapid transit, and what happens if provincial funding doesn't come?

YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL OCTOBER

Change can start now, at any point

The ballot is one tool, not the only one. Between elections, the people who show up are the ones who get heard, and you can start today, not next fall.

  • Email or call your councillor. Every office lists a phone number and address, and a single resident's message still lands. City of London ↗
  • Speak at a committee. Any resident can register as a delegation and take five minutes to address a Standing Committee on an item that's on its agenda. City of London ↗
  • Read the record. Agendas, staff reports, and every recorded vote are posted publicly on the city's meeting portal. City meetings ↗

None of it waits four years. The people already in the room are the ones who asked to be.

DON'T STOP AT ONE RACE

Also on your ballot

Before you go

The rest is showing up

You’ve read the ward. Ward races here can come down to a few hundred ballots, sometimes fewer. In a race that close, your vote is one of the ones that decides it. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to show up, informed.

BEFORE OCT 26

How to vote in Ward 6

ADVANCE
Oct 1
ADVANCE
Oct 3
ADVANCE
Oct 5–10
ELECTION DAY
Oct 26 · 10 am – 8 pm

You’ll need ID with your name and address. Full voting guide: where, what to bring, who can vote →

WHAT WE COULDN’T CONFIRM YET ▾
  • New Ward 6 boundary not independently confirmed from a primary map or PDF: the boundary description (Adelaide/Oxford/Wonderland/Thames) and the "kept largely the same lines" conclusion come from search-result summaries of City materials, not a direct read of the Final Report PDF or the interactive ArcGIS ward map.
  • CBC.ca articles returned HTTP 403 on direct fetch in the July 2 pass; on July 3, 2026 both CBC articles cited on this page were fetched in full and the quoted figures (4,000-to-7,400-sq-ft Victoria Street variance; ~$100M provincial ask for the north BRT leg via Wharncliffe/Western Road to Masonville) were verified against the article text. The Global News source was also fetched in full and verified. The Western Gazette source verified in that pass (staff's recommended short-term rental fines) has since been dropped from this page: the by-laws were enacted March 31, 2026, so the page now cites the City's own penalty schedule and council minutes instead of a report on a proposal.
  • The Central North London Traffic Study timeline was internally inconsistent in sources retrieved during the July passes (a town hall date after the stated feedback deadline). Resolved as of August 2, 2026 against the City's Get Involved project page: a recommended plan went out for public feedback and the comment period closed July 22, 2026, with the final report still pending. What that final report will recommend is unknown and is not stated here.
  • Short-term accommodation licence fee discrepancy, unresolved: the by-law enacted March 31, 2026 replaced the $196 provider licence fee with $547 ($196 licence + $351 inspection, which sums visibly), but london.ca (last modified July 29, 2026) publishes $552 for a new provider licence with $201 annual renewal. No source found explains the $5 gap. Both figures are shown on this page rather than silently picking one. The $351 Fire and Property Standards inspection fee is verified in force in both sources.
  • Sourcing caution for short-term accommodation rules: london.ca's plain-language short-term accommodation page still says only that an unhosted operator "may offer no more than five bedrooms" and omits the two-people-per-bedroom cap entirely. The cap on this page is therefore cited to the consolidated business licensing by-law and the March 31, 2026 council minutes, not to the City's FAQ page. General lesson for this project: the City's friendly explainer pages lag and simplify; the by-laws and eScribe minutes are the authority.
  • The renoviction bylaw one-year read is deliberately cautious. ACORN's assessment that bad-faith renovictions have slowed, and that N13 filings are down overall, rests on provincial N13 data that is too incomplete to support a firm conclusion. This page reports it as a tenant group's read plus one hard count (seven repair-licence applications), not as a proven outcome.
  • No provincial decision was found on the roughly $100 million ask for the north BRT leg (submitted to Queen's Park, reported January 2026). Absence of a decision in the sources checked is not proof none exists; the page says only that the ask appears unanswered as of August 2, 2026.
  • Nominations closed August 21, 2026, and the City certified the list on August 24.