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Strong Mayor Powers

On April 9, 2025 the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced the expansion of strong mayor powers to the Township of Southgate along with 168 other municipalities with councils consisting of 6 or more members. As a result, Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, along with O. Reg. 530/22 was applied to the Township of Southgate on May 1, 2025. No housing targets or additional funding were made available to the municipalities who are part of this new expansion of strong mayor powers.

Under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, the Mayor has the following special powers and duties as the head of Council:

  • Appoint and dismiss the municipality’s chief administrative officer.*
  • Hire and dismiss certain department heads, and establish/re-organize departments.*
  • Create committees of council, assigning their functions and appointing the chairs and vice-chairs of committees of council.*
  • Propose the municipal budget, which would be subject to council amendments and a separate head of council veto and council override process.
  • Propose 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 – such as building more housing and constructing infrastructure to support housing. Council can pass these by-laws if more than 1/3 of all members vote in favour.
  • Veto 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.
  • Bring forward matters for council consideration if the head of council is of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial priority.

*The Mayor may choose to delegate these specific powers and duties.

The Mayor is required to exercise these powers in writing and make them available to the public, subject to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Mayoral decisions are available below.

The Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022, referred to as "strong mayor powers" were first introduced in Toronto and Ottawa in the fall of 2022. These powers were then extended to 26 additional municipalities with populations of 100,000 or more in the summer of 2023, followed by another 18 municipalities in the fall of 2023 - this time including those with populations under 50,000, provided their mayors opted in by committing to a municipal housing target. These changes, implemented through Bill 3, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, and Bill 39, Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022, were designed to amend the Municipal Act, 2001 (the “Act”) and grant mayors (called a “head of council” in the Act) increased authority to advance provincial priorities related to housing, among other additional powers.

As of May 1st, the Township of Southgate has been granted Strong Mayor Powers by the Province of Ontario. These powers give the Mayor enhanced authority in administrative, budgetary and policy matters.
Mayor Brian Milne has announced that he will delegate these powers back to Council and the CAO, emphasizing his commitment to collaborate governance. The full press release can be viewed here.

Date Number Subject
May 9, 2025 MDE2025-001 Delegation of Powers to Council regarding the Chief Administrative Officer
May 9, 2025 MDE2025-002 Delegation of Powers to the Chief Administrative Officer regarding Organizational Structure and Employment Matters
May 21, 2025 MDE2025-006 Delegation of Powers to Local Board(s) regarding Local Boards
May 21, 2025 MDE2025-007 Delegation of Powers to Council regarding Committees

Date Number Subject
May 7, 2025 MDE2025-004 Written approval of By-laws passed at the May 7, 2025 Council Meeting 
May 20, 2025 MDE2025-003 Direct the Chief Administrative Officer and Treasurer to prepare the 2026 Budget
May 21, 2025 MDE2025-005 Written approval of By-laws passed at the May 21, 2025 Council Meeting
May 27, 2025  MDE2025-008 Written approval of By-laws passed at the May 27, 2025 Special Council Meeting

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