- Correspondence intended to be delivered to Mayor and Council shall be addressed to Mayor and Council, to the attention of the City Clerk. Correspondence addressed to an individual Councillor will not be placed on the Council Correspondence Listing. The item of correspondence must be legibly printed or handwritten and shall include the authors name(s), signature(s), and contact information.
- The City Clerk has the authority to redact personal information on the Council Correspondence listing, as appropriate. If personal information is redacted, the Clerk shall maintain an unredacted copy of the correspondence.
- Correspondence submitted in any form shall not humiliate, berate, belittle or publicly criticize staff and / or humiliate, berate or belittle Council in addition contain any defamatory statements, allegations, inferences, impertinent, disrespectful or improper manner. The City Clerk may reject such correspondence that they deem in contravention of this section, in consultation with the Chief Administrative Officer. If the correspondence is not in compliance, the correspondence will be returned to the sender with an explanation as to why the material cannot be received in its current form and the correspondence will be withheld from inclusion of the Council Correspondence Listing.
- Correspondence intended for Council is generally received as public information subject to the Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
- Petitions intended for distribution to Council shall be typewritten or legibly printed, addressed to Mayor and Council, and shall include the name, signature, and address for each signee, and may also include their telephone number and email address. The individual(s) who organized the petition is required to provide their contact information for appropriate follow-up. Petitions shall specifically state at the top of each page, the purpose of the petition. If the petition does not specifically state the purpose at the top of each page, it will not be listed on the Council Correspondence Listing.
Mayor and Council
The City of St. Catharines is governed by a Mayor and 12 City Councillors, who are all elected every four years. There are six wards in St. Catharines - Merritton, St. Andrew's, St. George's, St. Patrick's, Grantham and Port Dalhousie. Each ward is represented by two City Councillors.
View the current St. Catharines Mayor and the duties of the Mayor's Office.
View the current St. Catharines ward councillors.
Council meetings
St. Catharines City Council meets next on Monday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers. See the agenda.
Council meeting dates are available in our Meetings Calendar. Unless noted in the Meeting Calendar, Council Meetings begin at 6 p.m.
The proceedings of Council Meetings are regulated by By-law 2024-15 - A By-law to regulate the proceedings of Council of The Corporation of the City of St. Catharines.
Agendas and Minutes
Please use the links below to access all agendas and minutes:
Council Minutes Council Agendas
Council Correspondence Listing
The Council Correspondence Listing is a weekly package compiled by the City Clerk containing items of correspondence from other levels of government, municipalities, agencies, organizations, residents, and City of St. Catharines staff, and partners.
Written correspondence address to City Council may be placed on the council correspondence listing, which is posted on the City's website. Any personal Information you choose to disclose in your letter may become part of the public record and your name may be published on the City's website.
Items contained in the listing are for information only and do not require a decision from Council. A member of Council may request action to be taken on an item by providing notice to the City Clerk. The City Clerk will review and include the item on the next regular Council Agenda. Correspondence relating to an item on the Council Agenda must be submitted no later than noon the day of the Council meeting and will be placed in Council's Sugarsync Folder but listed on the following week's Council Correspondence Listing.
Please use the link below to access the Council Correspondence Listing:
Guidelines for Council Correspondence
Participating in Council Meetings
Visit our speaking at a Council meeting page to learn about making in-person and electronic delegations at meetings of Council.
Watching Council Meetings
- Regular Council meetings are livestreamed to the City's YouTube channel (stcatharines.ca/YouTube).
- Regular Council meetings also air live on YourTV (formerly known as TV Cogeco).
- The public can also attend regular meetings in person in Council Chambers at City Hall. Council Chambers is located on the third floor of City Hall. Enter using the James Street entrance. The James Street doors open 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. Seating is first come, first served.
Live stream archives of City Council meetings held after March 10, 2020, are available on the City's YouTube Channel.
Council Meeting Recordings
For live stream archives of Council meetings held prior to March 10, 2020, please contact the Office of the City Clerk to arrange for a copy of the archive.
Strong Mayor Powers
On July 1, 2023, the Province of Ontario extended the use of Strong Mayor Powers to the City of St. Catharines under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001 c. 25 and in accordance with O. Reg. 580/22.
Mayoral Powers under the Municipal Act
Under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, the Mayor has the following special powers and duties as the head of Council:
- Appoint the Chief Administrative Officer;*
- Hire and dismiss certain City officials and determine the organizational structure of the City of St. Catharines;*
- Create or dissolve committees of Council, appoint the Chairs and Vice-Chairs and assign their functions;*
- Bring matters forward to Council for consideration that in the Mayor's opinion could potentially advance a prescribed provincial priority;
- Veto certain by-laws approved by Council that in the Mayor's opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a prescribed provincial priority;
- Propose and prepare the municipal budget by Feb. 1, which would be subject to Council amendments and Mayoral veto and Council override process; and
- Direct City staff in writing.
* The Mayor may choose to delegate these specific powers and duties.
The Mayor is required to exercise these powers in writing and make them available to the public, subject to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. A public listing of Mayoral Decisions is available in the chart below.
Accountability and transparency
View our accountability and transparency information page for elected officials, advisory committees, Board and task force members for more on:
- Code of Conduct
- Conflict of interest
- Closed (in-camera) meetings
- Freedom of Information requests
- Integrity Commissioner
- Ontario Ombudsman
Upper-tier government representatives
Learn about our area's upper-tier government representatives, including representatives for Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada.