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ARTICLE · 08 MAY 2025

Strong Mayor Powers And Duties Are Widely Expanded In Ontario

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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On May 1, 2025, the province expanded "strong mayor" powers and duties to a further 169 municipalities in Ontario, identified as those single and lower-tier...

CanadaReal Estate and Construction
Laura Robinson
Laura Robinson
Emma Blanchard
Emma Blanchard
Isaac Tang
Isaac Tang
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On May 1, 2025, the province expanded "strong mayor" powers and duties to a further 169 municipalities in Ontario, identified as those single and lower-tier municipalities with councils of six members or more. This means that out of the 444 municipalities in Ontario, almost half of them will be subject to strong mayor powers.

Prior to the most recent amendments, a total of 46 municipalities in the province had permanently been granted strong mayor powers (note that the City of Orillia was temporarily granted strong mayor powers on April 3, 2025 to help the municipality respond to the ice storm that impacted the region at the end of March 2025; these provisions will be automatically repealed as of June 30, 2025).

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