With Bill Blair on his way out as Toronto’s chief of police, officials have already begun debating who the city’s next top cop should be.

On Wednesday, the Toronto Police Service Board announced it would not be renewing Blair’s employment contract for a third term, sparking a wave of speculation surrounding Blair’s potential successor.

Toronto Police Services Chair Alok Mukherjee told CTV Toronto the process of finding a suitable police chief will take time and careful consideration.

“We want to seek input from members of the public. We need to bring in a good executive search company to assist us,” Mukherjee said Thursday.

As for the scope of the search, city officials have weighed in with their thoughts on who should take over Blair’s role.

While speaking to reporters at city hall on Thursday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said that while he doesn’t have a say in whom the city chooses as the next chief, he hopes the police board will expand their search and consider candidates from across North America.

“I don’t care where they’re from, I told them to search everywhere. If we could go and look anywhere, go to North America, Canada, that’s up to the police services board and I hope they do literally a search right across North America,” Ford said.

While the mayor is urging the board to consider seeking a potential successor from outside Toronto, others say city’s next police chief should be homegrown.

Toronto councillor Josh Matlow said it was important to find a chief who had a thorough understanding of the city and its neighbourhoods.

“I disagree in having an international search. There are many corporations, many places where international searches are perfect to do, but I want a chief who knows the communities, knows the neighbourhoods, knows the streets that they’re going to be serving,” Matlow told CP24.

Mike McCormack, head of the Toronto Police Association, agrees.

“We think that the person who is going to be the next chief should have an understanding of what it’s like to be police in Toronto and the complexities of policing such a diverse, growing community,” he told CTV Toronto.

In the nearly 10 years that Blair has been head of the Toronto Police, he has been credited for improving relationships with the community and for making human rights a top priority for the force. But Blair's tenure at the top has not been without controversy.

Under his watch, Blair helped guide the Toronto police force through a number of turbulent times, including the G20 Summit, the shooting of Sammy Yatim aboard a TTC streetcar last summer and the so-called Rob Ford "crack video" probe.

Despite those controversies, however, Mukherjee said the board's decision was not based on Blair’s performance.

While the Toronto Police Association won’t speculate on possible successors to Blair, noting that no internal candidate has formally expressed interest in the chief’s job just yet, several names have been floating around as potential candidates -- both from within the Toronto Police Service and externally.

Possible candidates within Toronto’s rank and file include Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, Deputy Chief Mark Saunders and Deputy Chief Michael Federico. Meanwhile external candidates including Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood, Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire and Niagara Police Chief Jeffrey McGuire have also been listed as possible candidates.

Mukherjee says board members will consider all candidates equally.

“Let’s find the best candidate, regardless of where they come from,” he said.

The scope of the search will be narrowed in the coming weeks and months when board members decide when the next police chief will be chosen.

Blair’s last day in office will be April 25, 2015.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson