The province is looking to expand strong mayor powers to 169 more municipalities in Ontario.
According to the province, this expansion will reflect Ontario’s commitment to streamlining local governance and help ensure municipalities have the necessary powers needed to reduce obstacles that stand in the way of housing and infrastructure development.
“Heads of Council are key partners in our efforts to build homes and infrastructure across the province,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“By extending strong mayor powers to these additional municipalities, we are providing mayors every tool at our disposal to empower them to get homes and infrastructure built faster. Mayors know their municipalities best, and we support them in taking bold actions for their communities.”
Local municipalities that will be granted these powers are:
- Municipality of Arran-Elderslie
- Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
- Town of Aylmer
- Municipality of Bluewater
- Municipality of Brockton
- Municipality of Central Elgin
- Municipality of Central Huron
- Township of East Zorra-Tavistock
- Township of Georgian Bluffs
- Town of Goderich
- Municipality of Grey Highlands
- Town of Hanover
- Municipality of Huron East
- Township of Huron-Kinloss
- Town of Ingersoll
- Municipality of Kincardine
- Municipality of Lambton Shores
- Municipality of Meaford
- Municipality of Middlesex Centre
- Town of Minto
- Norfolk County
- Township of North Huron
- Municipality of North Middlesex
- Municipality of North Perth
- City of Owen Sound
- Township of Perth East
- Township of Perth South
- Town of Petrolia
- Town of Plympton-Wyoming
- Town of Saugeen Shores
- Municipality of South Bruce
- Municipality of South Huron
- Municipality of Southwest Middlesex
- Township of South-West-Oxford
- Township of St. Clair
- Town of St. Marys
- Town of St. Thomas
- City of Stratford
- Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc
- Town of Tillsonburg
- Municipality of West Grey
- Municipality of West Perth
The powers and duties that come with strong mayor powers are:
- Choosing to appoint the municipality’s chief administrative officer
- Hiring certain municipal department heads and establishing and re-organizing departments
- Creating committees of council, assigning their functions and appointing the chairs and vice-chairs of committees of council
- Proposing the municipal budget, which would be subject to council amendments and a separate head of council veto and council override process
- Proposing certain municipal by-laws if the mayor is of the opinion that the proposed by-law could potentially advance a provincial priority identified in regulation. Council can pass these by-laws if more than one-third of all council members vote in favour
- Vetoing certain by-laws if the head of council is of the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a provincial priority
- Bringing forward matters for council consideration if the head of council is of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial priority
These powers will come into effect on May 1. Municipalities that already have strong mayor powers are:
- Municipality of Chatham-Kent since Oct. 31, 2023
- City of London since July 1, 2023
- City of Sarnia since Oct. 31, 2023
- City of Woodstock since Oct. 31, 2023
The full list of municipalities that will be granted the powers is available here.
