City of Stratford launches legal challenge of strong mayor powers

CTV’s Colton Wiens finds out why the City of Stratford is challenging Ontario’s strong mayor powers legislation.

The City of Stratford has launched a legal challenge against Ontario’s strong mayor powers.

Heads of council, such as a mayor, can use strong mayor powers to propose and pass bylaws while only having the support of two-thirds of council. They can also veto bylaws and hire and fire department heads.

The province has previously said giving those tools to more municipal leaders will help reduce obstacles to building housing.

Strong mayor powers were first introduced in Toronto and Ottawa and expanded to 47 other municipalities in 2023. On May 1, those abilities were granted to 169 additional municipalities, including the City of Stratford.

“I think there are some elements that that are less offensive than others. But this was imposed on Stratford with no consultation, no forewarning, and it was just, ‘Here you go deal with it,’” Hunter said.

Legal challenge

“Stratford City Council has previously expressed concerns regarding the implications of the legislation for representative local decision-making and governance,” a city news release published on Monday said. “City council agrees with the province’s goal of building more housing in Ontario but rejects the notion that strong mayor powers are helpful in achieving that goal.”

The legal challenge asks the court to declare that the strong mayor legislation has no force and effect.

“Our council, right from the start, has had large concerns about this, and we’ve been working quietly for the last year, including meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. And we’ve unfortunately had no real progress in getting any changes implemented,” Mark Hunter, Stratford city councillor, said. “Not with any of the elected officials, but with representatives of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and those centered around one of our proposals was to make these powers voluntary. So, if a council was struggling, not able to advance items forward, they could request that strong powers be put in place and help try and solve the logjam that way. We’ve had, fortunately, no issues in Stratford. Our council gets along well. I think we have strong disagreements with each other but always come to a consensus and the former system worked well for us.”

Hunter put forward the idea of mounting the legal challenge in May 2025. Council unanimously approved considering the legal action.

He said the paperwork for the challenge has now been filed and served to the province.

Building priorities

“Mayors understand their communities best, and our government’s strong mayor framework gave municipalities the tools they need to move faster on critical infrastructure, such as housing, and economic development,” Michael Minzak, spokesperson for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said in an email.

The province said the law empowers municipalities to cut red tape and strengthen accountability.

“Strong mayor powers remain limited to advancing prescribed provincial priorities set out in regulation, including such as building more homes, transit, and other infrastructure needed to support growing communities,” Minzak said.

The province wouldn’t comment further as the matter is before the courts.

“Undemocratic in our opinion”

“In many cases, [strong mayor power legislation] eliminates majority rule from the council chamber. The Supreme Court, there’s not a great legal definition of what democracy is, but the consensus is that it’s majority rule,” Hunter said. “So, by removing that from our council chamber that is in fact undemocratic in our opinion.”

Hunter said Stratford’s current mayor, Martin Ritsma, has delegated as much authority as he’s able.

“[Ritsma has] allowed the majority vote in every case to rule. The concern is not with our current mayor. The concern is for the future,” Hunter said. “Certain municipalities have had challenges. I’m aware of one municipality where the mayor vetoed council’s decision, and that led to less housing than would have been the case had the majority ruled.”

The city claims the powers undermine the ability of councillors to have an equal voice around the horseshoe and violates the right to effective representation.

The city said the cost of the challenge falls within the city’s approved operating budget.

Hunter said there are some concerns about the cost of a legal challenge but said Stratford has the reserves to cover it and will also reach out to other municipalities to try and share costs.

The city’s solicitor has suggested a September court date could be a possibility, but a firm timeline has not been set.