Strong Mayor Powers

Mayoral Powers, Decisions, and Directions

As of May 1, 2025 the Province of Ontario announced that Strong Mayor Powers are being extended to the Town of Cobourg. The Province’s expectation is that municipalities will use these powers to support provincial priorities and help communities grow. Priorities include supporting the construction of new homes, economic development and building infrastructure that supports community growth, including housing-enabling infrastructure like water and wastewater infrastructure, we well as roads, highways, transit and more.

Mayoral powers under the Municipal Act

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

• Appointing the municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer.*
• Hiring certain municipal department 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 bylaws 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 by-law is considered passed if more than one-third of the Members of Council vote in favour of the by-law.
• Direct Town 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 Directions is available in the chart below.