As the largest voluntary municipal association in Ontario, it is our position that local governments are the most transparent order of government with openness at the core of their operations as the level of government closest to the people, and that through modernized legislation, municipalities continuously improve on transparency and accountability. With this in mind, we are proud to announce the release of an all-new submission to better support our members and municipal staff.
Modernizing the Municipal Elections Act for the 21st Century
This submission represents a significant milestone as it advances our Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (MEA) advocacy under the Legislation and Regulation category of our Issue Profile. This advocacy principle is about modernizing the legislative and regulatory environment to support and enable the work of municipal public servants, making it easier to understand, enforce and be innovative while ensuring policies and practices reflect current needs and situations and focus on outcomes.
This principle supports a continuous improvement to the MEA and related legislation (such as the Assessment Act, 1990 and the Education Act, 1990) as well as updated provincial tools, guidance and forms.
Municipal administrators need legislation that:
- Strengthens public trust and electoral integrity
- Enhances accountability and transparency while making compliance and enforcement easier
- Ensures permissive legislation that reduces administrative complexity
The goal of this submission is to have the Province make priority updates to the Act in consultation with the sector well ahead of the next 2026 municipal elections. Ahead of the 2030 municipal elections, we would like to see a full review and rewrite of the MEA including the adoption of some of our longer-term submission recommendations.
This submission and related work would not have been possible without the support of our MEA Working Group. Comprised of AMCTO members from across the province, the Working Group reviewed, analyzed, and evaluated a suite of possible reforms to the MEA to support the recommendations in this submission that aim to modernize the legislation in a way that considers current and future challenges and opportunities. We want to sincerely thank the AMCTO MEA Working Group for their commitment to this project.
We’ve also prepared a short Issue at Glance briefing note that summarizes some of the key issues within the submission and AMCTO members’ ideal solutions. This document can be used as part of a council report, or to assist with talking about MEA reforms to local provincial representatives.
Download the Issue at a Glance
What’s Next
We will be engaging the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the coming weeks and months to urge the ministry to update the Act. This includes continuing to look for opportunities to collaborate, co-design and share promising practices and lessons learned from you, our members, to inform legislation, policies, programs, and services.
For more information on this submission, please contact us.