Councillor Michael Megna was appointed to be mayor on 25 January 2024, and the deputy mayor is Joseph Cordaro.[4]
Location and topography
The City of Canada Bay is located in the northern part of the Inner West region of Sydney. To the north it is bounded by the Parramatta River, and to the south by Parramatta Road. In the east and west, it is bounded by two large bays: Iron Cove in the east, and Homebush Bay in the west. At its centre is a third large bay, Hen and Chicken Bay. (The eponymous Canada Bay is an inlet of the larger Hen and Chicken Bay.) As a result, the area is largely in the form of two peninsulas, linked by a narrow strip of land at its centre, which is the location of the eponymous suburb of Canada Bay. As a result of its geographical layout, many of the suburbs in the City of Canada Bay enjoy water frontages onto one of the bays of Parramatta River.
Suburbs and localities in the local government area
At the 2021 census there were approximately 89,177 people in the Canada Bay Local Government Area; of these 48.2 per cent identified as male and 51.8 per cent identified as female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.6 per cent of the population. The median age of people in the City of Canada Bay was 39 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 17.0 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 49.9 per cent were married and 10.3 per cent were either divorced or separated.[1]
Population growth in the City of Canada Bay between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 10.73 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 15.24 per cent. At the 2016 Census, the population in the City of Canada Bay increased by 16.17 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in Canada Bay Local Government Area was nearly double the national average.[5][6][7][8]
The median weekly income for residents within the City of Canada Bay was higher than the national average, this upwards trend could also be seen across family and personal incomes.[1]
Selected historical Census data for Canada Bay Local Government Area
Canada Bay City Council is composed of nine councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor has been directly elected since 2004 while the eight other Councillors are elected proportionally as one ward. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024.
Michael Megna was appointed Mayor of the City of Canada Bay by the NSW Governor on 25 January 2024, following his nomination by fellow Councillors in December 2023.
A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW GovernmentIndependent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Canada Bay merge with adjoining councils. The government proposed a merger of the Burwood, Canada Bay, and Strathfield Councils to form a new council with an area of 41 square kilometres (16 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 163,000.[11] In May 2016 Strathfield Council challenged the proposed merger between Strathfield, Burwood and Canada Bay and commenced proceedings in the New South Wales Land and Environment Court. After the Court heard that there were legal flaws in the report from the state government-appointed delegate who examined the proposal for merging the councils, the NSW Government withdrew from the case and the merger proposal stalled.[12] In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Strathfield, Burwood and Canada Bay local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.[13]