Strong Mayor Powers

As of May 1, 2025 the Province of Ontario announced that Strong Mayor Powers are being extended to 169 municipalities, including the Municipality of Port Hope. These changes are being put in place to help deliver on provincial priorities, such as building more homes, transit and other infrastructure across Ontario.

Powers and Duties

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

Appoint and dismiss the Municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer.*
Hiring/Dismissing division heads and establishing and reorganizing 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 Mayoral veto and Council override process.
Vetoing certain by-laws if the Mayor 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 Mayor is of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial priority.
Direct Municipal Staff in writing.

*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 Protections of Privacy Act. A public listing of Mayoral Decisions and Directives is available below.

Mayoral Decisions

Mayoral Decisions
Date	Number	Subject

Mayoral Directives

Mayoral Directives
Date	Number	Subject

Additional Resources

Powers and Duties of the Mayor

Powers that cannot be delegated

Powers to advance prescribed provincial priorities that cannot be delegated:

Bring to Council matters that advance the prescribed provincial priorities
Bring to Council, and require Council to consider and vote on, Municipal Act, Development Charges, and Planning Act by laws that advance the prescribed provincial priorities and pass if more than one-third of Members vote in favour; power does not apply to the Procedural By-law
Veto (within two days of passing) Municipal Act, Development Charges, and Planning Act by-laws that interfere with prescribed provincial priorities (Council can override by two-thirds vote)

Powers that can be delegated

Powers regarding administrative and political structure of the municipality that can be delegated:

Appoint and dismiss CAO
Hire and dismiss division heads, excluding the following prescribed positions:
- The clerk or deputy clerk
- A treasurer or deputy treasurer
- An Integrity Commissioner
- An Ombudsman
- An Auditor General
- A registrar, as described in section 223.11
Determine the organizational structure
Establish prescribed committees and assign their functions
Appoint chairs and vice chairs of prescribed committees

Duties

Duties that can only be forfeited, not delegated:

Duty to prepare the budget and present it to Council before February 1
Duty reverts to Council if the Mayor fails to present a budget by February 1
Power to veto amendments made by Council (subject to Council override by a two-thirds vote)
Budget is "deemed to be adopted" based on time frames, not "approved by Council"
Duty to present in-year budget amendments only if a supplementary levy is required

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