Durham Regional Council is the political body for the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. Created in 1974, it consists of 29 elected representatives, including the Regional Chair. Durham Region is governed by Durham Regional Council, which consists of the mayors of the local municipalities and regional councillors directly elected in each municipality. These members are elected via double direct election. Each municipality elects the following number of regional councillors:
The council is led by a Regional Chair, who is directly elected by the public. The current Regional Chair is John Henry. In 2006, Pickering, Ajax, and Oshawa placed non-binding referendums on their local election ballots to ask voters whether the chair should be directly elected. Over 80% voted in the affirmative.
The current council was elected in October 2022. Council used to sit for a three-year term, but the Ontario Legislature passed legislation increasing the length of municipal council terms in Ontario to four years.
Services under the region's scope include:
Durham Regional Offices are located at 605 Rossland Road East in Whitby and is also headquarters for Durham Regional Police.