What are mayors and city councils in Canada?

Mayors and city councils are the elected leaders of Canadian municipalities. The mayor is the chief executive of the municipality, presiding over council meetings, representing the city, and (in many provinces) holding specific executive authorities. City councils are the legislative body, passing municipal bylaws, approving the municipal budget, and exercising delegated authority from the province under provincial municipal statutes. Council sizes vary from small municipalities (3 to 5 council members) to large cities (Toronto with 25 councillors, Montreal with 65 councillors).

Mayors are elected directly by all eligible voters in the municipality. Some larger Canadian cities have given the mayor 'strong mayor' authority through provincial legislation. The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act of 2022 in Ontario gave mayors of Toronto and Ottawa (and later other Ontario cities) authority to override council on housing and infrastructure matters. Quebec's Cities and Towns Act gives mayors comparable authority. Municipal voters typically have three to four-year mayoral terms.

City councillors represent specific wards (city districts) or are elected at-large depending on the city. Toronto has 25 ward councillors plus the mayor (since 2018, when Ontario forcibly reduced council from 47 to 25). Montreal has 65 ward councillors plus the mayor and 19 borough councillors. Calgary has 14 ward councillors plus the mayor. Vancouver has 10 at-large councillors plus the mayor. Most smaller municipalities have at-large councillors elected by all city voters rather than by ward.

Notable Canadian mayors have included Hazel McCallion (mayor of Mississauga from 1978 to 2014, Canada's longest-serving major-city mayor); Mel Lastman (mayor of Toronto 1998 to 2003 after amalgamation); Rob Ford (mayor of Toronto 2010 to 2014, controversial); John Tory (mayor of Toronto 2014 to 2023); Olivia Chow (current mayor of Toronto, since June 26, 2023, the first racialised woman mayor of Toronto); Naheed Nenshi (mayor of Calgary 2010 to 2021, the first Muslim mayor of a major Canadian city, and current Premier of Alberta); Jyoti Gondek (current mayor of Calgary, since October 2021); Valérie Plante (mayor of Montreal since 2017, the first woman mayor of Montreal); and Ken Sim (mayor of Vancouver since November 2022, the first Chinese-Canadian mayor of Vancouver). Municipal politics is increasingly partisan in some cities (Vancouver and Montreal have established municipal political parties), while remaining technically non-partisan in others (Toronto).