Toronto city manager Chris Murray stepping down

Chris Murray led Toronto’s civil service since 2018 and helped with the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thestar.com
June 10, 2022
Ben Spurr

Toronto’s top-ranking civil servant is leaving his post.

In a letter addressed to Mayor John Tory and city councillors Thursday, Chris Murray, who has been Toronto’s city manager since August 2018, announced he’s stepping down.

“I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with all of you and my public service colleagues during a transformative time of growth for Toronto,” he wrote.

“Together, we enhanced service delivery, built affordable housing, transit and infrastructure, and focused on climate action. And together we weathered an unimaginable pandemic and incredible vaccination and recovery efforts.”

Murray explained the timing of his decision by saying he viewed the job of the city’s chief bureaucrat as a “term-by-term commitment.” Council is set to begin a new four-year term in December after municipal elections on Oct. 24.

He said he didn’t plan to retire, but has yet to decide on his next career move.

In a city news release that praised Murray’s “forward-thinking vision” on issues like Indigenous reconciliation and climate action, Mayor Tory thanked him for his work.

“I have always appreciated his calm and steady leadership of the Toronto Public Service and I believe it helped our overall efforts as a city during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tory said.

Coun. Gord Perks (Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park), a frequent critic of Tory’s, joined the mayor in lauding Murray’s handling of the job, particularly during the pandemic. Perks said in an interview that under Murray the public service had done tremendous work rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to residents, while also dealing with the “enormous financial impact” the pandemic has had on the city.

“He steered the ship through unbelievably choppy waters and did heroic work,” Perks said.

A city planner by profession, before leading Toronto’s civil service Murray was city manager in Hamilton for almost 10 years.

He was recently listed as a witness at a public inquiry about Hamilton’s Red Hill Valley Parkway, which was called to establish why a damning report about safety standards on the collision-prone highway was buried for six years. Murray was manager of the project.

His last day at Toronto will be Aug. 19.