List of mayors of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

The mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is the chief executive officer of the municipality. Those elected to the role preside over meetings of city council and are the primary spokesperson for the city and council. In addition, the mayor has certain powers under Part VI.1 of Ontario's Municipal Act, 2001 to direct the work of city staff and determine the organizational structure of city hall. ^[1]

The mayor is the only office elected on a city-wide basis. Currently this election is conducted every four-years, at the same time as councillor elections, on a first-past-the-post basis.

History

The city of Sault Ste. Marie has had 28 mayors since its incorporation.

Prior to becoming a city in 1912, Sault Ste. Marie had been a township governed by a council that included a mayor and six councillors elected at-large. ^[2] Once incorporated as a city on April 16, 1912, the former town mayor William H. Munro became the first mayor of the new city. ^[3] Munro and the city council governed the city until their terms ended early the following year.

Voters had the opportunity to elect their first mayor and city council in January 1913. Thomas E. Simpson and eight aldermen were elected at-large from across the city. ^[4] At the time the mayor and council were elected to a one-year term with elections occurring each January.

The city's current mayor is Matthew Shoemaker, a former two-term city councillor, who was sworn in on November 15, 2022 ^[5] Mayors currently serve a four-year term.

Mayors

City incorporated on April 16, 1912

No.	Mayor		Took office	Left office	Prior political experience
1		William H. Munro	April 16, 1912	January 1913	Town councillor (1902-1903; 1905-1907; 1909-1910) Mayor, Town of Sault Ste. Marie (1911-1912)
2		Thomas Edward Simpson	January 1913	January 1915	Town councillor (1908) Mayor, Town of Sault Ste. Marie (1909-1910)
3		John Alexander McPhail	January 1915	January 1917	Town councillor (1912)
4		Francis Edward Crawford	January 1917	January 1918
5		Thomas Dean	January 1918	January 1919

City amalgamates with the town of Steelton on January 1, 1918

No.	Mayor		Took office	Left office	Prior political experience
6		George Alexander Boyd	1919	1919
7		Thomas Farquhar	1920	1922	Secretary-treasurer, Public school board (1915-1926) Alderman (1918-1919)
8		James Dawson	1922	1925
9		Thomas Joseph Irwin	1926	1929
10		John McLarty	1930	1931
11		James W. Lyons	1932	1934	Mayor of Steelton
12		Richard McMeekin	1935	1936
13		W. John McMeeken	1937	1945
14		William Henry Cecil Brien	1946	1949
15		Charles Herbert Smale	1950	1956
16		Walter Harry	1957	1959
17		James L. McIntyre	January 1, 1960	December 31, 1964	Alderman, Ward 1 (1958-1959)

City amalgamates with Korah and Tarentorus townships on January 1, 1965

No.	Mayor		Took office	Left office	Prior political experience
18		Alexander C. Harry	January 11, 1965	January 13, 1969
19		John Rhodes	January 13, 1969	November 8, 1971 (resigned to take provincial office)	Alderman, Ward 2 (1965-1968)
20		Ron Irwin	November 8, 1971	January 6, 1975	Alderman, Ward 1 (1969-1972)
21		Nicholas Trbovich	January 6, 1975	December 1, 1980	Alderman, Ward 4 (1971-1974)
22		Donald M. Macgregor	December 1, 1980	December 2, 1985	Alderman, Ward 2 (1978-1980)
23		Joe Fratesi	December 2, 1985	January 31, 1996 (resigned)	Alderman, Ward 5 (1977-1982)
24		Steve Butland	May 6, 1996	December 4, 2000	Alderman, Ward 1 (1980-1988) Member of Parliament (1988-1993)
25		John Rowswell	December 4, 2000	August 31, 2010 (died in office) [6]
26		Debbie Amaroso	December 1, 2010	November 30, 2014	Councillor, Ward 5 (1997-2006)
27		Christian Provenzano	December 1, 2014	November 30, 2022
28		Matthew Shoemaker [7]	November 30, 2022	Present	Councillor, Ward 3 (2018-2022)

References

1. Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie. "Mayoral Decisions". City of Sault Ste. Marie. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
2. Sault Star staff. (January 4, 1912). "Munro is mayor". The Sault Star.
3. Sault Daily Star staff (March 16, 1912). "Application for city charter to come up today". Sault Daily Star.
4. Sault Daily Star staff. (January 7, 1913). "Five old aldermen elected in Sault". The Sault Daily Star.
5. "The edge of history: mayor swears loyalty to King Charles III". SooToday.com. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
6. "Sault loses John Rowswell". Sootoday.com. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
7. Darren MacDonald, "New mayors usher in new era across northeastern Ontario". CTV National News, October 24, 2022.