Advocacy Updates
What’s New
Ontario Green Party Leader Responds to OBCM Election Survey
Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) would like to thank the leader of the Green Party of Ontario, Michael Schreiner, for providing the below respones to our survey. OBCM met with the leaders of the Ontario PC Party, th…
OBCM Meets with Ontario Party Leaders, Discuss Election Priorities and Support for Municipal Sector
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) welcomed four Provincial Party Leaders to Friday’s meeting to discuss key municipal priorities. OBCM was joined by Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford, Ontario NDP l…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors Respond to the Province’s 2022 Budget
April 29, 2022, GUELPH – Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) would like to thank Premier Doug Ford and Minister Bethlenfalvy for the 2022 Ontario Budget: Ontario’s Plan to Build.During the budget consultation proces…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors Respond to Province’s New Housing Legislation
GUELPH, March 30, 2022 – As municipalities continue to find solutions to Ontario’s housing crisis, Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) would like to thank Premier Doug Ford and Minister Steve Clark for their continuing ef…
Addressing Housing Affordability Requires Municipal Partnerships To Get To 1.5 Million New Homes
February 25, 2022 – Ontario’s Big City Mayors met today to discuss housing affordability and supply, the provincial election, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Caucus also unanimously passed a motion in support of Ukraine’s sovereign…
Statement: Ontario’s Big City Mayors caucus responds to the Report of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force
Ontario is in the midst of a housing crisis, and all levels of government need to identify barriers to increasing a supply of homes that meet the needs of residents across the province.OBCM has received the report of the Task Forc…
Housing Summit Statement from Ontario’s Big City Mayors Chair, Mayor Lehman on Ontario Housing Affordability Summit
January 19, 2022 – Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) met with the Premier and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, at a joint provincial-municipal Housing Affordability Summit today. Other attendees included the A…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) met to discuss their support for a safe return to in-person learning, COVID-19 issues being faced by municipalities, and to prepare for the upcoming provincial Housing Summit.
January 11, 2021 – Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) met to discuss their support for a safe return to in-person learning, COVID-19 issues being faced by municipalities, and to prepare for the upcoming provincial Housing Summit. A…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors Condemn Quebec’s Bill 21, Reaffirm commitment to tri-partite efforts to address housing with Provincial and Federal partners, Address the spread of the Omicron variant
December 17, 2021- At their recent meeting, Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) voted unanimously in opposition to Quebec’s Bill 21, the law that bans public sector workers from wearing religious symbols. In a motion brou…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors urge for continuation of the Safe Restart Agreement
December 6, 2021 – Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) met last week to discuss the pressing issues facing municipalities, including building more affordable housing, COVID-19 recovery, child care and climate change. The …
Ontario’s Big City Mayors Continue Progress with New Executive Director, First In-Person Meeting
November 3, 2021 – In late October, Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) held its first in-person meeting since the start of the pandemic. The event was hosted by the Mayor of Burlington, Marianne Meed Ward. The OBCM was d…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors Call for Proof of Vaccination and Childcare Plan
August 13, 2021 – Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) are urging the province to establish a COVID-19 proof of vaccination system. Around the world, certified vaccination records are helping businesses and event spaces to…
Chair’s 2021 Caucus Address
Members of OBCM –After more than a year, we are in the last days of an extraordinary time. Every resident in each one of our cities has been affected by a global pandemic which has changed our social, economic, and per…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors call for action on ambitious mental health and addictions plan
June 18, 2021 Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) are joining mental health leaders and Chiefs of Police in calling for the decriminalization of controlled substances and the continued creation and funding of Mental Health Crisis Res…
Ontario’s Big City Mayors focus on improving mental health and addictions services
May 28, 2021 – Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) Mental Health Working Committee presented draft recommendations to support and complement the Province’s Road to Wellness plan which seeks to improve mental health and addictions ser…
OBCM in the news
Ontario launches audits of 6 municipalities to look at how housing law will affect budgets
3rd party audits expected to measure impact to changes in development fees
CBC News Posted: July 26, 2023
‘Let us figure out how it works’: Mayors of Ontario’s biggest cities aren’t willing to give up local control over housing decisions
Ontario's Big City Mayors are meeting in Kitchener this week.
The Kitchener Record
Posted: April 20, 2023
Ontario big city mayors to discuss concerns over province's new housing bill
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) will meet on Friday as tensions rise between the mayor of the province’s largest city and Premier Doug Ford over the financial impacts of a new housing bill.
Kitchener-Waterloo: Window to restore relationship with municipalities 'is closing', say Big City Mayors
In a public letter addressed to the chair of Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) Cam Guthrie, the Ford government says it will be launching a third-party audit of select municipalities across the province.
Opiod's Harm to Ontario's Big Cities
Cam Guthrie, Mayor of Guelph and Chair of Ontario's Big City Mayors, discusses the toll of the opiod crisis across the province
Ontario's Big City Mayors
Mayor Shaun Collier
Town of Ajax
Mayor Alex Nuttall
City of Barrie
Mayor Patrick Brown
City of Brampton
Mayor Kevin Davis
City of Brantford
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
City of Burlington
Mayor Jan Ligget
City of Cambridge
Mayor Darrin Canniff
Municipality of Chatham-Kent
Deputy Mayor Willie Woo
Municipality of Clarington
Mayor Cam Guthrie
City of Guelph
Mayor Andrea Horwath
City of Hamilton
City of Kingston
Mayor Berry Vrbanovic
City of Kitchener
Mayor Josh Morgan
City of London
Mayor Frank Scarpitti
City of Markham
Mayor Gordon Krantz
Town of Milton
Mayor Carolyn Parrish
City of Mississauga
Mayor Rob Burton
Town of Oakville
Mayor Dan Carter
City of Oshawa
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe
City of Ottawa
Mayor Kevin Ashe
City of Pickering
Mayor David West
City of Richmond Hill
Mayor Mat Siscoe
City of St. Catharines
Mayor Paul Lefebvre
City of Greater Sudbury
Mayor Ken Boshcoff
City of Thunder Bay
Mayor Olivia Chow
City of Toronto
Mayor Steven Del Duca
City of Vaughan
Mayor Dorothy McCabe
City of Waterloo
Mayor Elizabeth Roy
Town of Whitby
