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.