City of Burlington
Marianne is currently serving her second term as mayor of the City of Burlington. She is the longest-serving female mayor of the city.
A passionate advocate for smart, balanced development, Mayor Meed Ward is focused on ensuring Burlington remains a great place to live, work, and play while maintaining its natural beauty. Her leadership is marked by a dedication to listening to residents, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing transparency in municipal decision-making.
Mayor Meed Ward is the chair of the Ontario’s Big City Mayors Caucus, which launched the Solve the Crisis campaign calling on the provincial government to act on the homelessness, mental health, and addiction crisis. She is also a board member of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), where she has been active in advocating for a new deal for municipalities with the provincial and federal governments.
Mayor Meed Ward also launched the Elect Respect pledge, a nation-wide campaign to foster respect, inclusivity, and safety in public life. Elect Respect started as a conversation between a small group of women in Halton, founded by Marianne, called the Halton Elected Representatives (HER), who came together to share their experiences with harassment and abuse in public life and to stand up for a better way forward.
In 2025, Mayor Meed Ward was named “Mayor of the Year” by the Municipal World editorial board, in part due to taking a stand for civility in local government through the Elect Respect campaign.
Prior to being Mayor, she served as a Burlington City Councillor from 2010 to 2018. Mayor Meed Ward has a degree in journalism from Carleton University and worked for more than twenty years in journalism as a writer, editor, and broadcaster.