Gov't Proposes Smaller Niagara Region

If legislation passes, the Niagara region to be run by a Chair, and 12 local mayors

If the Better Regional Governance Act becomes law, the Niagara region will be run by an appointed Chair, and the 12 locally elected mayors.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Rob Flack announcing today it also means the chair will have Strong Chair power, similar to Strong Mayor.

He disagreed when asked if appointing the chair is undemocratic.  "The Chairs don't do the bidding, the council does the work, they chair the council.  The CAO will report to the Chair, but they chair a council.  So, they're still elected officials running, representing, each of the municipalities on the regional government council, full stop."

To ensure fair representation, the province will work with the region on a weighted voting system.

Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff recalls when the province consulted in 2024.  "To conduct public hearings on the study of regional governance, across the province, including in Niagara.  And, the standing committee came to St. Catharines, in 2024, and they heard from the public, from residents, from officials, from mayors, from regional stakeholders on potential changes."

The legislation also means regular review of how well the system is working.

Here's a portion of the government press release:

The proposed Better Regional Governance Act, 2026, and related regulatory changes would enable the following:

Allow the Minister to appoint regional chairs in Durham, Halton, Muskoka, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York, as well as the warden of Simcoe County.  Under previous legislation, the Minister had the authority to appoint chairs in Niagara, Peel and York regions for the 2022-2026 council term only;

Regional chairs in the eight municipalities listed above would receive 'strong chair' powers which mirror 'strong mayor' powers, providing more efficient, streamlined local decision-making, enabling them to deliver faster results for residents and support efforts to advance shared provincial-municipal priorities;

The number of municipal elected officials in Simcoe (population 351,927) and Niagara (population 477,941) is significantly higher than many other comparable municipalities in the province.  For example, Niagara has 126 local elected officials across its upper and lower-tier councils.  By comparison, Toronto City Council has twenty-six members for a population of over three million and Queen's Park has 124 MPPs representing over 16 million people across the province.  This increases the cost of government for local taxpayers and creates dysfunction at council.  Niagara Regional Council would be reduced from thirty-two to thirteen members.  The new council would include the mayors of each of Niagara's twelve lower-tier municipalities plus the regional chair.