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Town representatives will attend 2026 Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference

August 21, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Representatives of the Town of New Tecumseth, including Mayor Richard Norcross, who is also chair of the Simcoe Auto Mayors, will attend the 2026 Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa from Aug. 16 to 19.

A total of 444 municipalities in Ontario have been invited to attend the conference.

The Mayor and representatives will advocate for priorities that support economic development, strong communities, infrastructure investment, and the continued growth of Ontario’s automotive sector.

As one of Ontario’s fastest-growing municipalities, New Tecumseth continues to support initiatives that strengthen the regional economy and create opportunities for residents.

During AMO 2026, Mayor Norcross and town representatives will participate in conference programming and regional discussions that highlight the importance of the automotive sector, infrastructure investment, and collaborative approaches to supporting growth across Simcoe County and Ontario. 

“AMO provides an important opportunity to highlight Simcoe County priorities, and those shared by New Tecumseth,” said Mayor Norcross. “The automotive sector is a key economic driver for our region, supporting jobs, investment, innovation, and long-term prosperity. Through our participation at AMO, we will continue to champion initiatives like Canada North Vehicles while highlighting the infrastructure and partnerships needed to support sustainable growth throughout Simcoe County.” 

As part of the conference, the Simcoe Auto Mayors, with representation from the Town of New Tecumseth, will host a networking event focused on advancing conversations around Canada’s automotive sector and the Canada North Vehicles initiative.

The event hopes to bring together municipal leaders, government representatives, and industry stakeholders to discuss opportunities that support automotive innovation, investment, and economic growth. 

“The auto industry is incredibly important to New Tecumseth,” Mayor Norcross said. “Honda employs almost 5,000 people directly at the plant, and with everything else like small businesses and trucking companies, indirectly it’s around 20,000 jobs. This affects so many people locally and in Simcoe County through all the other spin-off opportunities and manufacturers that employ locally. Our Simcoe County Mayors Association – we started working on this together. We received a response from the Prime Minister himself, Mark Carney, congratulating us – he supports us. This initiative started because of the (US) tariffs, and we had to do something.”

The conference will bring together many municipal leaders as well as representatives from the provincial government.

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