The mayor is elected alongside the city council every four years on the first Sunday of November; there are no term limits.

[2] The first Mayor was Théodore Baribeau, who entered the position on November 18, 1933; he was a merchant who had moved to the village not long before.

[8] The first mayor to be affiliated with a local political party is Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, who, along with other members of city council, founded Action Gatineau ahead of the 2013 municipal election, in which he would eventually win the mayoralty race.

They also sit on the National Capital Commission's Board of Directors as a non-voting ex officio member alongside the Mayor of Ottawa, with whom they frequently collaborate with.

In the event of a vacancy, the acting mayor holds most of the powers and privileges that a regularly elected mayor would, with certain exceptions, such as not being allowed to send by-laws back to the city council should they disagree with their contents and sitting on the NCC Board of Directors.