The Municipal Act is a consolidated statute governing the extent of powers and duties, internal organization and structure of municipalities in Ontario. 

A full text of the Act may be found on the Government of Ontario's e-Laws web site.

The new Municipal Act, which took effect on January 1, 2003, represents the first comprehensive overhaul of Ontario’s municipal legislation in 150 years and is the cornerstone of a new, stronger provincial-municipal relationship.

For more information on the Act, click here, a Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing information site.

Municipal Council

Municipalities are governed by municipal councils. The job of municipal councils is to make decisions about municipal financing and services. 

In Ontario, the head of a local (lower or single tier) municipal council is either called the mayor or the reeve. The members of council may be called councillors or aldermen. 

Responsibilities of Municipal Council

The Municipal Councillor's Guide (Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing)

How are Municipal Councillors Elected?

The way councillors are elected differs from municipality to municipality. Municipal councillors may be elected at large or by ward.

In a municipality where the councillors are elected at large, all councillors represent the entire municipality. In an election, the voters choose among all candidates who are running in the election. If municipal council has 8 councillor positions, for example, the 8 candidates with the highest number of votes win the election and become the new councillors. 

Other municipalities are divided into wards. Depending on the municipality, each ward may have one, two or more representatives on council. Voters in each ward can choose only among the candidates who are running for election in that ward. For example, if a municipality has 8 council members and 4 wards, 2 councillors will be elected from each ward. Each voter chooses 2 candidates from among the candidates running in that ward. In each ward, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will serve on municipal council. 

How is the Head of Council Elected?

The head of council is always elected at large by all of the voters in the municipality. In Ontario, the head of a local (lower or single tier) municipal council is either called the mayor or the reeve. The members of council may be called councillors or aldermen. 

What about County Council?

The head of a county council is called a warden. The county council is composed of designated elected members from the lower tier municipalities. The county council itself selects the warden from among its members 

What about Regional Councils?

The head of a regional council is called a Regional Chair. The chair is usually chosen by a vote of the members of regional council. Some chairs are directly elected. For example, in 2000, for the first time, the Regional Chair of Halton was directly elected by voters in the municipal election.

Other members of regional council are selected in various ways. Some are elected directly by the voters to sit on regional council. Some are elected to sit on both the regional council and the local municipal council. In some municipalities, members of local municipal councils are appointed by their councils to serve at the regional level. The head of council of a local municipality is a member of the regional council.

Local Government - A Definition

Local government is the level of government below the provinces. The most important local governments are municipal government.  The provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over municipal affairs, under the constitution. (Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia)