Municipal elections in Ontario

Municipal elections in Ontario, a province of Canada, are held every four years. Municipalities in Ontario held an election on October 24, 2022. Prior to 2006, elections were held every three years.

Evolution of municipal franchise

Upon the formation of the Province, the rules for elections were as follows:

Election day was the first Monday in January of each year
Electors had to be male, at least 21 years old, and a freeholder, householder or tenant in the municipality
They had to have been resident in the municipality for at least one month before the election
They had to hold real property of a minimum value: $100 in townships, $200 in villages, $300 in towns and $400 in cities
Persons aged 60 and over were exempted from standing for election
Municipalities had the option to require property taxes to be fully paid in order to vote

Year

Amending Act

Change

1882

Unmarried women and widows, having the necessary property qualification, given the right to vote on money by-laws

1903

Cities with a population over 100,000 given the option to set Election Day as January 1

1906

Municipalities given the option to hold elections every other year

1914

All municipalities enabled to set January 1 as Election Day

1917

Direct elections to county councils

In 1896, the election of county councillors was separated from the election of local councillors. Counties were organized into divisions for electoral purposes, each of which would elect two councillors, and the number of councillors was determined by the population.

County population	Number of councillors	Number of divisions
Less than 25,000	810	45
25,00040,000	1012	56
40,00060,000	1214	67
Greater than 60,000	1618	89

There was no requirement for the county divisions to be contiguous in area, and such a fragmented division was noted in Halton County. It was observed that "the arrangement by which one of the municipalities in No. 4 county council division must be left out in the cold is anything but a satisfactory one".
In 1904, provision was made for a majority of the councils in a county to be able to oust direct elections, in favour of a county council consisting of the mayors and reeves of the constituent municipalities. Direct elections were finally abolished in 1907.

Elections

1957
1953