RICHMOND HILL - Today, the Ontario government announced it is expanding strong mayor powers to the mayors of 26 large and fast-growing municipalities, including Richmond Hill, that have committed to a housing pledge as part of the province’s goal to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Strong mayor powers for Toronto and Ottawa took effect in fall 2022 and will be expanded to mayors in the 26 additional municipalities on July 1, 2023.

Strong mayor powers are intended as tools to help heads of council speed up the delivery of key shared municipal-provincial priorities such as housing, transit and infrastructure in their municipalities. Mayors may choose to exercise these powers or not.

We started this term with a pledge taken by each member of the incoming Richmond Hill Council, which outlined the values we would uphold. I want to assure my colleagues at Council and the residents of Richmond Hill that my priority has always been, and will continue to be, teamwork and collaboration. I will be prudent regarding the strong mayor powers. To date, this Council has worked to establish a healthy and productive environment that allows us to focus on serving our constituents and I believe that the principle of majority rule is how we will continue to best serve the residents of Richmond Hill.

Myself and our Council are laser focused on making Richmond Hill the best, most complete and inclusive community for our residents and this is what we are committed to doing.

David West,
Mayor

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The City of Richmond Hill, the third most populous city in York Region, has a population of over 200,000 - RichmondHill.ca

Media contacts:

• Emily Houdi, Chief of Staff to Mayor David West, City of Richmond Hill, emily.houdi@richmondhill.ca
• Kate Davey, Communications Coordinator, Office of the Mayor, City of Richmond Hill, kate.davey@richmondhill.ca