Mayoral Decisions

Under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, the Mayor has special powers and duties including the power to:

• Appoint the municipality's Chief Administrative Officer.*
• Hire, dismiss, or exercise any other prescribed employment powers with respect to certain municipal employees.*
• Determine the organization structure of the municipality.*
• 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.

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

The Mayor is required to exercise those powers and duties in writing and make them available to the public, subject to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Any decisions or directions made under the Act will be posted below. 

By-laws

Under the Act, the Mayor may veto by-laws they feel could interfere with provincial priorities. If they choose to exercise the veto, there is a prescribed schedule for notification and override of a veto that can delay the passing of the by-law.

To speed up the process, the Mayor may provide notice in writing that they do not intend to exercise their veto, allowing it to come into effect using the standard process.

Decisions

The following is a list of decisions issued under the Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001.

Directions to Staff

The Mayor also has the ability to direct staff to undertake research and provide advice on policies and programs of the Township or implement decisions made by the head of Council under the Act. Those directions must also be in writing and available to the public.

Background

Bill 3, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, received Royal Assent on Sept. 8, 2022, and came into force on Nov. 23, 2022. The Act initially applied to the City of Toronto and City of Ottawa but was expanded to other large and growing cities across Ontario, including 45 additional Ontario municipalities and came in to force on Oct. 31, 2023 under O. Reg 331/23. 

In April 2024, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing proposed amendments to O. Reg. 530/22 under the Municipal Act, 2001 to expand the list of municipalities where the HOC has strong mayor powers and duties, to include certain single-tier and lower-tier municipalities with a council composition size of six members or more, to help these municipalities move forward on shared provincial-municipal priorities (O.Reg 580/22). This list included the Township of Wilmot and 168 other Ontario municipalities. This came into force and effect on May 1, 2025.