Strong Mayor Powers

 The Mayor has the power to:

• Appoint and dismiss the CAO;
• Appoint or dismiss senior managers (excluding the prescribed list); 
• Establish and re-organize departments; and
• Establish prescribed committees of Council, assign their functions, and appoint the Chairs and Vice Chairs of committees of Council. A prescribed committee consists solely of members of Council.

These powers can be delegated. 

The Mayor may bring to Council matters that advance the prescribed provincial priorities. They may require Council to consider and vote on Municipal Act, Development Charges, and Planning Act by-laws that advance the prescribed provincial priorities. These by-laws pass if more than one-third of Members vote in favour. This power does not apply to the Procedural By-law.

The Mayor also has the power to veto (within 2 days of passing) Municipal Act, Development Charges, and Planning Act by-laws that interfere with prescribed provincial priorities. Council can override this veto by a 2/3 vote. 

These powers cannot be delegated. 

The Mayor has the duty to prepare the budget and present it to Council before February 1. If this deadline lapses, this duty reverts to Council. The Mayor also has the power to veto budget amendments made by Council (subject to Council override by 2/3 vote).

The municipal budget is now “deemed to be adopted” based on timeframes, and is no longer “approved by Council”.

The Mayor also has the duty to present in-year budget amendments only if a supplementary levy is required.

This duty cannot be delegated, but is deemed forfeited if the Mayor fails to present a budget by February 1.

• The Mayor is required to exercise these powers in writing and give notice to the Clerk. Mayoral directives will be posted to the municipal website. 
• The Mayor may give direction to staff. Direction must be in writing and, by the next business day, notice must be given to the Clerk and CAO.
• All Mayoral Decisions must be made available to the public, subject to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Mayoral decisions are available online.
• The Mayor must declare an interest under Municipal Conflict of Interest Act when exercising these powers outside of a meeting context and the Municipality must maintain a public registry of declared interests.
• In case of vacancy, powers transfer to a newly elected Mayor, but not to an appointed or Deputy Mayor.
• The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, can be read in full here. 

This legislation and associated regulations O. Reg. 530/22 and O. Reg. 580/22 provided the Mayors of select municipalities with additional powers beyond those previously set out in the Municipal Act, 2001.

The Mayor, as the head of Council, was given the ability to veto certain by-laws approved by Council if the Mayor "is of the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a prescribed provincial priority.” The Mayor is required to provide written notice of intent to consider vetoing the by-law within a prescribed time period. Council may override the Mayor’s veto if two-thirds of Members vote in favour of such an override.

The Act and the associated O. Reg. 530/22 also grant the Mayor, as head of Council, powers related to proposing the annual budget and initiating in-year budget amendments. Under O. Reg. 530/22 under the Municipal Act, 2001, the Mayor is required to propose the budget by February 1. After the Mayor proposes the budget, Council can pass resolutions to amend the budget within 30 days. The Mayor may veto a Council budget resolution and Council may then override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote. At the end of this process, the resulting budget is “deemed” to be adopted by the municipality.

Under the new legislation, the Mayor's powers include:

• appointing and dismissing the Chief Administrative Officer as well as various senior managers;
• appointing Chairs/Vice-chairs for “prescribed committees, or committees within a prescribed class of committees,” and establishing or dissolving such prescribed committees;
• bringing matters forward for Council consideration if the Mayor “is of the opinion that considering a particular matter could potentially advance a prescribed provincial priority”;
• vetoing certain by-laws approved by Council if the Mayor “is of the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a prescribed provincial priority”;
• proposing and preparing the municipal budget; and
• directing staff in writing.

Effective May 1, 2025, the provincial government extended strong mayor powers to an additional 169 municipalities, including Dysart et al.