Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022.
Structure
The current decision-making framework and committee structure at the City of Toronto was established by the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. The decision-making process at the City of Toronto involves committees that report to City Council. The mayor forms and dissolved committees, assigns their functions, appoints the chairs and vice-chairs, and serves as an ex officio member of each committee. Committees propose, review and debate policies and recommendations before their arrival at City Council for debate. The public can only make deputations on policy at committees but not to City Council unless required by law.There are three types of committees at the City of Toronto: the executive committee, four other standing committees, and special committees of council.
Executive committee
The executive committee is an advisory body chaired by the mayor. The executive committee is composed of the mayor, deputy mayor, and the chairs of the four standing committees who are appointed by the mayor and three "at-large" members appointed by City Council. The role of the executive committee is to set the City of Toronto's priorities, manage financial planning and budgeting, labour relations, human resources, and the operation of City Council. The committee existed in the old City of Toronto beginning in 1969. Before that Toronto had a Board of Control, as did former cities North York and Etobicoke.The executive committee makes recommendations to city council on:
- strategic policy and priorities
- governance policy and structure
- financial planning and budgeting
- fiscal policy
- intergovernmental and international relations
- Council operation
- Human resources and labour relations
Other committees
| Committee | Focus |
| Economic & Community Development | Social cohesion, and the economy, with a mandate to monitor and make recommendations on strengthening communities, neighbourhoods, businesses and the economy. Includes the work of the former Community Development & Recreation Committee, Economic Development Committee, and the licensing files from the former Licensing & Standards Committee. |
| Planning & Housing | Urban form and housing development, with a mandate to monitor and make recommendations on planning, property standards, growth, and housing development and services. Includes the work of the former Planning & Growth Management Committee, and the property standards files from the former Licensing & Standards Committee. |
| Infrastructure & Environment | Infrastructure and the natural environment, with a mandate to monitor and make recommendations on infrastructure needs and services, parks and forestry and the sustainable use of the environment. Includes the work of the former Public Works & Infrastructure Committee and Parks & Environment Committee. |
| General Government | Administrative operations of the City, with a mandate to monitor and make recommendations on the procurement and management of City government assets and resources. Includes the work of the former Government Management Committee. |
There are five other committees that report to Council:
| Committee | Focus |
| Audit Committee | Considers and recommends to Council the appointment of external auditors for the City and the Auditor General's office; the annual external audits of the financial statements of the city, its agencies and the Auditor General's office; the Auditor General's reports, audit plan and accomplishments. |
| Board of Health | Ensures that Toronto Public Health delivers programs and services in response to local needs; determines and sets public health policy and advises City Council on a broad range of health issues; recommendations with citywide or financial implications are forwarded to City Council for final approval. |
| Civic Appointments Committee | Considers and recommends to Council the citizens to appoint to agencies. |
| Budget Committee | Responsible for hearing public presentations and providing advice to the Mayor on the operating and capital budgets; and making recommendations to Council on any operating or capital budgets in which the Mayor has a pecuniary interest. |
| Striking Committee | Recommends councillor appointments to fill the positions of city boards, agencies and advisory committees; makes recommendations to Council on the meeting schedule for Council and Council Committees. |
Source: City of Toronto
Community councils
All members of Toronto City Council serve on a community council. Community councils report to City Council but they also have final decision-making power on certain items, such as front yard parking and appointments to local boards and Business Improvement Areas. The city is divided into four community councils. Their meeting locations are as follows:- Etobicoke and York – Etobicoke Civic Centre
- North York – North York Civic Centre
- Scarborough – Scarborough Civic Centre
- Toronto and East York – Toronto City Hall
2022–2026 City Council
Present composition of Toronto City Council
Vacancies
Vacancies in a councillor's seat may be filled in one of two ways, either by the holding of a by-election or through direct appointment of an interim councillor chosen by the council in an internal vote. Normally the council is allowed to decide which process to follow in each individual case; however, if the vacancy occurs after March 31 in the year of a regularly scheduled municipal election, then the vacancy must be filled by direct appointment as provincial law prohibits the holding of a by-election in the final six months of a council term.Vacancies in the office of mayor must be filled by by-election unless the vacancy occurs after March 31 in an election year, in which case council appoints. There is no appointment option for mayoral vacancies before that time.
The process often results in public debate, however. The by-election process is widely seen as more democratic, while the appointment process is seen as less expensive for the city to undertake.
When the appointment process is followed, people who are interested in the appointment are asked to submit their names to the local community council for the area where the vacant seat is located; the community council then evaluates and interviews the applicants, and submits a recommendation to the full city council for a final vote. The full council can, however, reject the community council's recommendation and choose a different candidate instead; in 2013, for example, the city council passed over former member of Provincial Parliament Chris Stockwell, the recommended candidate of the Etobicoke Community Council, in favour of Peter Leon.
Usually, although there is no legal barrier to doing so, candidates for appointment are asked if they intend to run as a candidate in the next regular election, so that the appointed councillor does not gain an unfair incumbency advantage. Council cannot impose this restriction on appointees but nonetheless it usually factors into the debate. There have been instances in which appointed councillors have done so; most notably, Paul Ainslie did so in 2006 by running for re-election in a different ward than the one where he had been appointed, and after the ward boundaries were adjusted in 2018, former ward 28 councillor Lucy Troisi ran in the new ward 13 against the former ward 27's elected incumbent Kristyn Wong-Tam. Peter Leon considered registering as a candidate in the 2014 election following his appointment as an interim councillor in 2013, but ultimately did not do so.
If a full byelection is pursued, however, then the winner of that by-election is not barred from running in the next regular municipal election.
In the event of a vacancy in the mayor's office, the deputy mayor is immediately elevated to acting mayor on an interim basis until the permanent new mayor is selected in a by-election. Unlike a city council seat, however, a by-election must always be held, unless the vacancy occurs less than 90 days before a regular municipal election. The situation does not trigger additional council vacancies, however; the deputy mayor is not deemed to have vacated their council seat during the acting period, and a sitting councillor who runs in the mayoral by-election does not have to resign their council seat unless they win the election.
Three vacancies occurred during the 2010-14 council term. Doug Holyday resigned from council in 2013 after winning election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a byelection, and was succeeded by Peter Leon. Adam Vaughan resigned from council in 2014 to contest a federal byelection for the House of Commons, and was succeeded by Ceta Ramkhalawansingh. Peter Milczyn resigned in 2014 after winning election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2014 election and was succeeded by James Maloney.
Since amalgamation there are five instances that a councillor died while in office:
- Frank Faubert - ward 16 councillor and former mayor of Scarborough died in 1999. The seat was filled with by-election: filled by former Ward 43 councillor David Soknacki.
- Rob Ford - ward 2 councillor and former mayor of Toronto died in 2016, one year and three months into his council term. The seat was filled with by-election: won by Ford's nephew and former Ward 1 public school trustee Michael Ford.
- Ron Moeser - ward 44 councillor and former Scarborough councillor died on April 18, 2017. The seat filled by an appointment with former city staffer Jim Hart.
- Pam McConnell - ward 28 councillor died on July 7, 2017, after being hospitalized for a health complication. The vacancy was filled by voting by members of council, who selected Lucy Troisi over rival Michael Creek.
- Jaye Robinson - ward 15 councillor died on May 16, 2024. The by-election scheduled for November 4 was filled by former school trustee Rachel Chernos Lin over her nearest rival, former mayoral candidate Anthony Furey.