List of mayors of Toronto

From 1834 to 1857, and again from 1867 to 1873, Toronto mayors were not elected directly by the public. Instead, after each annual election of aldermen and councilmen, the assembled council would elect one of their members as mayor. For all other years, mayors were directly elected by popular vote, except in rare cases where a mayor was appointed by council to fill an unexpired term of office. Prior to 1834, Toronto municipal leadership was governed by the Chairman of the General Quarter Session of Peace of the Home District Council.

Through 1955 the term of office for the mayor and council was one year; it then varied between two and three years until a four-year term was adopted starting in 2006. (See List of Toronto municipal elections.)

The "City of Toronto" has changed substantially over the years: the city annexed or amalgamated with neighbouring communities or areas 49 times from in 1883 to 1967.[1] The most sweeping change was in 1998, when the six municipalities comprising Metropolitan Toronto—East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and the former city of Toronto–and its regional government were amalgamated into a single City of Toronto (colloquially dubbed the "megacity") by an act of the provincial government. The newly created position of mayor for the resulting single-tier mega-city replaced all of the mayors of the former Metro municipalities. It also abolished the office of the Metro Chairman, which had formerly been the most senior political figure in the Metro government before amalgamation.

According to Victor Loring Russell, author of Mayors of Toronto Volume I, 14 out of the first 29 mayors were lawyers. According to Mark Maloney who is writing The History of the Mayors of Toronto, 58 of Toronto's 64 mayors (up to Ford) have been Protestant, white, English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon, property-owning males.[2] There have been two women (Hall and Rowlands) and three Jewish mayors (Phillips, Givens[3] and Lastman).

Art Eggleton is the longest-serving mayor of Toronto, serving from 1980 until 1991. Eggleton later served in federal politics from 1993 until 2004, and was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2005. David Breakenridge Read held the post of mayor of Toronto for the shortest period; Read was mayor for only fifty days in 1858.

No Toronto mayor has been removed from office. Toronto's 64th mayor, Rob Ford, lost a conflict of interest trial in 2012, and was ordered to vacate his position; but the ruling was stayed pending an appeal, which Ford won to remain in office.[4][5] Due to his substance abuse admission and controversy in 2013, Council stripped him of many powers on November 15, transferring them to the deputy mayor.[6] From May until July, 2014, Ford took a leave of absence from the mayoralty to enter drug rehabilitation.

From 1953, Toronto was part of a federated municipality known as Metropolitan Toronto. This regional entity had the same boundaries as present-day Toronto, but consisted of the City of Toronto and 12 other municipalities, each with its own mayor and council. From 1953 to 1997, the most senior political figure in the Metropolitan Toronto government was the Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (for a list of Metro Chairmen, see Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto). In 1967, (during the incumbency of William Dennison), an internal amalgamation eliminated the seven smallest municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto. Of these, the villages of Forest Hill and Swansea were amalgamated into the City of Toronto.

No.		Mayor	Took office	Left office	Prior political experience	Deputy Mayor
50		Allan Lamport	January 1, 1952	June 28, 1954	Alderman for Ward 2 (1937) MPP for St. David (1937–1943) Ward 3 (1946–1948) Toronto Board of Control (1950–1952)	N/A
51		Leslie Howard Saunders	June 28, 1954	December 31, 1954	Alderman in North Bay (1918–1924) Toronto School Trustee (1936–1938) Alderman for Ward 1 (Riverdale) (1942–1945) Toronto Board of Control (1949–1954)	Nathan Phillips
52		Nathan Phillips	January 1, 1955	December 31, 1962	Alderman for Ward 4 (St. Andrew) (1926–1955)	N/A
53		Donald Dean Summerville	January 1, 1963	November 19, 1963 (died in office) [13]	Alderman for Ward 8 (The Beaches) (1955–1958) Toronto Board of Control (1958–1961)	Philip Givens
54		Philip Givens	November 19, 1963 (acting mayor, appointed permanently on November 25)[3][14]	December 31, 1966	Alderman for Ward 5 (Trinity–Bellwoods) (1951—1960) Toronto Board of Control (1960—1963) President of City Council (1963)	Allan Lamport [3]
55		William Dennison	January 1, 1967	December 31, 1972	Toronto School Trustee (1938–1941) Alderman for Ward 2 (Rosedale and Cabbagetown) (1941–1943) MPP for St. David (1943—1945, 1948—1951) Toronto Board of Control (1958–1963)	N/A
56		David Crombie	January 1, 1973	August 31, 1978	Alderman for Ward 11 (North Toronto) (1969–1972)	Fred Beavis
57		Fred Beavis	September 1, 1978	November 30, 1978	Alderman for Ward 1 (Riverdale) (1956–1978)	Anne Johnston
58		John Sewell	December 1, 1978	November 30, 1980	Alderman for Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale) (1969–1978)	Art Eggleton
59		Art Eggleton	December 1, 1980	November 30, 1991	Alderman for Ward 4 (Trinity Bellwoods and Little Italy) (1969–1980)	N/A
60		June Rowlands	December 1, 1991	November 30, 1994	Alderman/City Councillor for Ward 10 (North Toronto and Rosedale) (1976–1988) Chairman of the Toronto Police Commission (1988–1991)
61		Barbara Hall	December 1, 1994	December 31, 1997	City Councillor for Ward 7 (Regent Park and Riverdale) (1985–1994)	N/A

As of 1998, Metropolitan Toronto and all its constituent municipalities were amalgamated into a single City of Toronto. Under the City of Toronto Act, 2006,[15] the Mayor is the head of council[16] and the chief executive officer[17] of the City.

The deputy mayor is appointed by the mayor from among the elected members of the City Council.[18] The deputy mayor acts in place of the mayor whenever the incumbent is unable to be present to perform his normal functions and duties, assists the mayor, and serves as vice-chair of the city council's executive committee.

On November 18, 2013, city council removed most powers from the office of mayor for the term of the current Council, including chairing the executive committee. These powers were given to the office of the deputy mayor, held by Norm Kelly at the time of the motion.[6] The action occurred after Mayor Rob Ford admitted to drug abuse. On May 1, 2014, Ford started a leave of absence for drug rehabilitation. Kelly took over the remainder of the Mayoral duties and powers at that time.[19] When Rob Ford returned on July 1, he once again returned to having the duties he had immediately prior to the leave.

No.		Mayor	Terms of office	Took office	Left office	Prior political experience	Deputy Mayor
62		Mel Lastman	2	January 1, 1998	November 30, 2003	North York Board of Control (1970–1973) Mayor of North York (1973–1997) Metro Councillor (1970–1997)[20]	Case Ootes
63		David Miller	2	December 1, 2003	November 30, 2010	Metro Councillor for High Park (1994–1997), City Councillor for Ward 19 (High Park) (1997–2000), City Councillor for Ward 13 (High Park) (2000–2003)	Joe Pantalone
64		Rob Ford	1	December 1, 2010	November 30, 2014	City Councillor for Ward 2 (Etobicoke North) (2000–2010)	Doug Holyday (2010–2013) Norm Kelly (2013–2014)
65		John Tory	2	December 1, 2014	Incumbent	Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (2004–2009) MPP for Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (2005–2007)	Denzil Minnan-Wong (Statutory Deputy Mayor) (City of Toronto and North Toronto) Vince Crisanti (West Toronto) Glenn De Baeremaeker (East Toronto) Pam McConnell (South Toronto, 2014–2017)[21][22]

As of September 2020, there are six living former mayors of Toronto:

• David Crombie (1972–78)
• John Sewell (1978–80)
• Art Eggleton (1980–91)
• Barbara Hall (1994–97)
• Mel Lastman (1998–2003)
• David Miller (2003–2010)

Rob Ford and June Rowlands are the most recent Mayors to have died, and Ford was the first of the post-amalgamation Mayors of Toronto to die.

A few former mayors have been honoured with places, things or buildings named in their honour. Unless otherwise stated the following are all located in Toronto:

• George William Allan – Allan Gardens
• William Henry Boulton – Boulton Avenue[23]
• David Crombie – David Crombie Park
• Art Eggleton – Art Eggleton Park[24]
• Thomas Foster – Thomas Foster Memorial Temple in Uxbridge, Ontario, built by him privately and named after his death.

• Barbara Hall – Barbara Hall Park
• Allan A. Lamport – Lamport Stadium
• Mel Lastman – Mel Lastman Square
• William Lyon Mackenzie – current Toronto Fire Services fireboat WL Mackenzie and William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute
• Alexander Manning – Manning Arcade (c. 1884 and demolished 1954 after 1953 fires) and Manning Chambers (annex to Old City Hall and demolished to make way for Toronto City Hall 1960s)
• Sam McBride – current Toronto Island ferry boat Sam McBride
• George Monro – Munro Park (former amusement park, now residential area) and Munro Park Avenue
• Nathan Phillips – Nathan Phillips Square
• June Rowlands – June Rowlands Park
• Robert Hood Saunders – R.H. Saunders – St. Lawrence Station, a power station dam power dam in Cornwall, Ontario
• Joseph Sheard – (The Mayor) Joseph Sheard Parkette
• Donald Dean Summerville – Donald Dean Summerville Swimming Pool

• List of Toronto municipal elections
• Metro Chairman – the most senior political figure in Metropolitan Toronto until 1997
• List of reeves of the former townships and villages in Toronto

• Russell, Victor (1982). Mayors of Toronto, Volume 1 1834–1899. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press. ISBN 0-919822-77-0.

• "Chronological list of Mayors of Toronto". City of Toronto.
• Maloney, Mark. "Toronto's mayors: Scoundrels, rogues and socialists". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 28, 2014.