Deputy Mayor of Toronto

Deputy Mayor of Toronto
Municipal logo
Ausma Malik Toronto and East York since August 10, 2023 Paul Ainslie Scarborough since May 21, 2025 Michael Colle North York since August 10, 2023 Amber Morley Etobicoke since August 10, 2023 Statutory Ausma Malik since August 10, 2023
Toronto City Council City of Toronto
Member of	Toronto City Council
Seat	Toronto City Hall
Appointer	Mayor of Toronto
Constituting instrument	Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 27
Salary	CA$128,346.89 (as councillor) [1]
Website	www.toronto.ca/mayor

The deputy mayor of Toronto is a member of Toronto City Council appointed to assist the mayor of Toronto. One councillor is designated for statutory purposes and additional deputy mayors may be appointed to represent the mayor on an honorary basis, but with no statutory authority.

Ausma Malik has served as the statutory deputy mayor since her appointment by Mayor Olivia Chow on August 10, 2023. Chow has named three additional deputy mayors: Paul Ainslie (Scarborough), Amber Morley (Etobicoke), and Michael Colle (North York).

Statutory deputy mayor

The member designated for statutory purposes is sometimes known as the first deputy mayor. This councillor performs the roles and functions assigned to the "deputy mayor" in the City of Toronto Act and various chapters of the Toronto Municipal Code. The statutory deputy mayor has all the rights, power and authority of the mayor created by council, and is the vice-chair of the executive committee. The statutory deputy mayor typically acts when the mayor is unable to. ^{[2] [3]}

Role during mayoral vacancy

When the office of Mayor of Toronto is vacant, the deputy mayor exercises the limited mayoral powers which are granted to the mayor by city council to ensure city business can continue to be carried out. This includes acting as the city's chief executive officer, representing the city, and special privileges during council sessions. The deputy mayor also assumes responsibility for the administrative management of the mayor's office. ^[4]

The deputy mayor does not become "acting" or "interim" mayor, nor does the deputy mayor assume the "strong-mayor" powers, which are granted by the province to the head of council, a role which remains vacant. ^{[4] [5]}

Additional deputy mayors

Non-statutory deputy mayors could be appointed to serve ceremonial roles. While holding no statutory authority, they represent the mayor at local events, can act as advisors, or lead a policy file. ^[6] Additional deputy mayors were appointed under mayors David Miller, John Tory and Olivia Chow.

History

List of deputy mayors of Toronto

Portrait	Deputy Mayor	Term start	Term end	Council ward	Council term	Status	Notes
Mayor Mel Lastman (1998–2003)
	Case Ootes	February 6, 1998	November 30, 2003	Ward 1 East York	1998–2000	Statutory		[7] [8]
				Ward 29 Broadview—Greenwood	2000–2003
Mayor David Miller (2003–2010)
	Joe Pantalone	December 4, 2003	November 30, 2010	Ward 19 Trinity—Spadina	2003–2006	Statutory		[9]
					2006–2010
	Sandra Bussin	December 4, 2003	December 1, 2006	Ward 32 Beaches-East York	2003–2006	Non-statutory		[10] [11]
	Mike Feldman	December 4, 2003	December 1, 2006	Ward 10 York Centre	2003–2006	Non-statutory		[10] [11]
Mayor Rob Ford (2010–2014)
	Doug Holyday	December 1, 2010	August 21, 2013	Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre	2010–2014	Statutory		[12]
	Norm Kelly	August 21, 2013	November 30, 2014	Ward 40 Scarborough—Agincourt	2010–2014	Statutory	Certain powers usually assigned to the mayor were transferred to Kelly during a special meeting of city council on November 15, 2013.	[13]
Mayor John Tory (2014–2023)
	Denzil Minan-Wong	December 1, 2014	November 15, 2022	Ward 34 Don Valley East	2014–2018	Statutory; North York		[14]
				Ward 16 Don Valley East	2018–2022
	Glenn De Baeremaeker	December 1, 2014	December 1, 2018	Ward 38 Scarborough Centre	2014–2018	Non-statutory; Scarborough		[14]
	Pam McConnell	December 1, 2014	July 7, 2017	Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale	2014–2018	Non-statutory; Toronto and East York		[14]
	Vincent Crisanti	December 1, 2014	September 12, 2017	Ward 1 Etobicoke North	2014–2018	Non-statutory;Etobicoke		[14] [15]
	Ana Bailão	October 6, 2017	November 15, 2022	Ward 18 Davenport	2014–2018	Non-statutory; Toronto and East York		[16]
				Ward 9 Davenport	2018–2022
	Stephen Holyday	September 12, 2017	November 15, 2022	Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre	2014–2018	Non-statutory; Etobicoke and York		[17]
				Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre	2018–2022
	Michael Thompson	December 1, 2018	September 29, 2022	Ward 21 Scarborough Centre	2018–2022	Non-statutory; Scarborough		[18] [19]
	Jennifer McKelvie	November 16, 2022	August 10, 2023	Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park	2022–2026	Statutory	Following Mayor Tory's resignation in 2023, McKelvie became the highest-ranking city official and assumed limited mayoral powers.	[20]
Mayor Olivia Chow (2023–present)
	Ausma Malik	August 10, 2023	Incumbent	Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York	2022–2026	Statutory; Toronto and East York		[21]
	Jennifer McKelvie	August 10, 2023	May 9, 2025	Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park	2022–2026	Non-statutory; Scarborough		[21]
	Michael Colle	August 10, 2023	Incumbent	Ward 8 Eglinton—Lawrence	2022–2026	Non-statutory; North York		[21]
	Amber Morley	August 10, 2023	Incumbent	Ward 3 Etobicoke—Lakeshore	2022–2026	Non-statutory; Etobicoke		[21]
	Paul Ainslie	May 21, 2025	Incumbent	Ward 43 Scarborough East	2022–2026	Non-statutory; Scarborough		[21]

See also

• List of mayors of Toronto

References

1. "Budgets and Expense Reports". City of Toronto.
2. "The Roles of the Mayor and City Council" (PDF). City of Toronto . n.d. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
3. "Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 27" (PDF). Toronto City Council . n.d. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
4. "City of Toronto mayoral transition process". City of Toronto. 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
5. "Five things to know following the abrupt resignation of John Tory". CP24. 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
6. Alcoba, Natalie (December 1, 2014). "John Tory's plan 'to bring the city together': Four deputy mayors — one from each region of Toronto". National Post . Retrieved 2023-03-01.
7. "City of Toronto By-law No. 24-1998 To appoint a Deputy Mayor" (PDF). Toronto City Council .
8. "City of Toronto By-law 429-2002" (PDF).
9. "City of Toronto By-law 18-2004" (PDF).
10. "Minutes of the Council of the City of Toronto December 2 and 4, 2003" (PDF). City of Toronto.
11. staff, Town Crier (2004-01-17). "Sandra Bussin only female deputy mayor". Streeter. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
12. "Being Ford's deputy mayor never dull, Holyday says". Toronto Star . 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
13. "Coun. Norm Kelly appointed as Toronto's new deputy mayor". CTV Toronto. 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
14. Alcoba, Natalie (December 1, 2014). "John Tory's plan 'to bring the city together': Four deputy mayors — one from each region of Toronto". National Post. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
15. "John Tory removes Vincent Crisanti as deputy mayor after supporting Doug Ford - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
16. Rieti, John (October 6, 2017). "Ana Bailao wins promotion to deputy mayor". CBC News.
17. Freeman, Joshua (2017-09-13). "John Tory stands by decision to strip Vince Crisanti of deputy mayor role". CTV Toronto. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
18. "Tory makes his picks for deputy mayors, committee chairs". torontosun. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
19. "Michael Thompson dropped as Toronto deputy mayor after sex assault charge". torontosun. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
20. "John Tory appoints Jennifer McKelvie as Toronto's new deputy mayor". Toronto Star . 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
21. "ST2.1 - Mayor Chow - Councillors and Committees" (PDF). City of Toronto.

External links

• Office of the Mayor website