Ontario names 8 regional chairs, Del Duca to lead York

Ontario has appointed the heads of council for eight of its fastest-growing upper-tier municipalities, naming former Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca as York Regional Chair.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack announced the appointments on Tuesday. Kevin Ashe will chair Durham Region, Ann Mulvale Halton Region, Frank Campion Niagara Region, Nando Iannicca Peel Region and Scott Davey Waterloo Region. Scott Aitchison will chair the District of Muskoka and Don McIsaac Simcoe County.

The appointments are the first under the Better Regional Governance Act, 2026, which lets the minister appoint the heads of council in these eight municipalities instead of leaving the choice to regional councils or voters. The jobs were posted on the Public Appointments Secretariat website from June 29 to July 13.

The province says the chairs will have powers to streamline decision-making, bring regional plans in line with provincial priorities such as housing and infrastructure, and introduce upper-tier budgets. They will also chair regional council meetings, speak for their regions to the provincial and federal governments and lead during emergencies.

“Strong leadership at the regional level is more important than ever,” Flack said in a statement.

Regional councils, not the province, will set the chairs’ pay. When a chair is also a mayor or councillor in a lower-tier municipality, total pay is capped at the higher of the two salaries. A mayor named chair keeps the mayor’s job and holds one seat on regional council as chair, and the lower-tier municipality appoints someone else to represent it.

Upper-tier governments such as regions and counties run services that cross town lines, including regional roads, social housing and social services, while lower-tier towns and cities handle local roads, fire protection, garbage collection and recreation.

The province did not say how many people applied or how the eight were chosen from the applicants.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

File photo: Rob Flack, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in 2024. Photo by Cdnhistorian12, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.