The Ontario government is moving to overhaul regional governance across the province, proposing changes that would give Queen’s Park more direct control over municipal leadership while shrinking the size of key regional councils.
The government says that the Better Regional Governance Act, 2026, is aimed at speeding up decision-making and aligning municipalities more closely with provincial priorities, particularly on housing and infrastructure.
This marks a change in how regional governments are run. The province would appoint regional chairs in eight jurisdictions (Durham, Halton, Muskoka, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo, York, and Simcoe County,) replacing locally selected leadership with provincially chosen figures tasked with advancing government priorities.