Under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, the Mayor has the following special powers and duties as the head of Municipal 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 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 Town staff in writing for the purposes of exercising Strong Mayor Powers or performing duties related to Strong Mayor Powers.
*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 listed below.
Mayoral Directions & Decisions
| Legislative Framework |
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Bill 3, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022, received Royal Assent on September 8, 2022, and came into force on November 23, 2022.
This legislation and associated regulations (O. Reg. 530/22 and O. Reg 580/22) provide the Mayor with additional powers beyond those previously set out in the Municipal Act, 2001.
These powers were assigned to The Town of Essex on May 1, 2025 by way of an amendment to O. Reg. 530/22
The Town Clerk provided a high-level overview on the Mayor’s additional powers at the Council meeting on April 22, 2025. You can view the meeting here.
Additional information on the legislative framework will be added as required.
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| 2025 Mayoral decisions pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001 |
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