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‘Stakeholder’ deemed 'problematic' word in leaked City of Toronto document

As part of its 'mandatory Indigenous learning' requirements, city hall warned staff this month to stop using the term

Published Sep 28, 2026  •  Last updated 11 hours ago  •  3 minute read

The new permanent Toronto sign is seen outside city hall on Friday, September 18, 2020. Photo by Veronica Henri /Toronto Sun

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As part of its “mandatory Indigenous learning” requirements, Toronto city hall warned staff this month to stop saying “stakeholder,” calling it a “problematic” word.

A document recently leaked to the Toronto Sun discusses the term under a section on “self-directed learning” and “respectful language and reconciliation.”

“There are two related but slightly different viewpoints that have surfaced in recent research. One is that Indigenous Peoples should not be referred to as stakeholders because they are rights holders, not stakeholders,” the document says.

“The other is a broader view that the term itself may be problematic due to its colonial origins and connotations and that organizations should move away from using it altogether in favour of more specific and respectful language.”

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It’s unclear from the document who conducted the “research” on the word or if city hall’s consideration of “rights holders” applies to Toronto’s non-Indigenous population.

City hall refused to provide the Sun with a copy of the document when asked for one, saying that would require a freedom-of-information request.

City hall provided no other response about the subject and ignored a question about a social media post that characterized city hall’s equity training as a “mass indoctrination ritual.”

The nine-page document is called the “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2026 learning journey package” and appears to be an internal document of city hall’s transportation services division. It’s unclear if similar documents were made for other city divisions.

While it might seem like an unwieldy piece of jargon, the “stakeholder” guidance carries significance inside Toronto City Hall. The word is a staple of bureaucratic vernacular, used as a catch-all term for constituents, board members or anyone else who might have strong feelings about a decision or policy.

A recent search by the Sun of documents prepared for city council and city committees since 2007 found that 5,831 of them included the word “stakeholder.”

A social media post by the political advocacy group Integrity TO questioned the wisdom of putting thousands of transportation services employees through an entire day of “equity and reconciliation” training.

“This mass indoctrination ritual included forbidding the word ‘stakeholder’ due to colonial origins, as well as messaging about relinquishing public land and financial reparations,” the post on the social media platform X said.

“We are unclear of the correlation between ‘reconciliation’ and transportation services’ mandate of ‘operating, maintaining and managing Toronto’s transportation system,’” it added.

The transportation services document says bureaucrats are “encouraged” to participate in webinars and other group activities, including a screening of a film called Trick or Treaty and a “hologram experience” in City Hall’s rotunda, taking place ono Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meanwhile, staff were told to fulfil their “mandatory Indigenous learning requirements” during a “dedicated learning time” set out between Sept. 21 and last Friday.

Mandatory or not, these virtual courses do not appear popular.

The document says there are three courses and as of the second quarter of 2026 each was left undone by most of the staff at transportation services. One of the three, an all-day “Indigenous awareness training” course, had only been done by 18% of staff, the document says.

“If you have already completed all the required courses that are available, that’s great!” the document says. Those staff, however, were expected to do more optional training, such as webinars or an online course on the practice of smudging, or watch videos such as one on the origins of Orange Shirt Day, hosted on YouTube by the Canadian Football League’s B.C. Lions.

jholmes@postmedia.com

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