Grimsby Town Council has decided to hire a third-party consultant who will lead a review process of the rate of payment for councillors. Ultimately, it must be determined whether town councillors will receive a pay raise following the 2026 municipal elections.
Council voted in favour of hiring a third-party consultant over the alternative option, which would have been to establish a citizens’ advisory committee.
Two pathways for a pay review were shared with Council in a staff report prepared by Town Clerk and Director of Legislative Services Victoria Steele. The third-party consultant recourse was recommended in the report.
The staff report projected that a citizen advisory committee would have involved approximately 35 hours of consultant time, 40 staff hours and would have cost at least $12,000. It was also forecast that a final report for the council may not be ready until Christmas 2025.
The third-party consultant option, on the other hand, was estimated to require 17.5 consultant hours, eight staff hours and cost no more than $6,000. A final report to Council would be expected to be available by summer 2025.
Therefore, the staff report advised that the third-party consultant option would allow for the project to be completed in a much shorter time frame and allow for a more effective use of financial resources.
Ultimately, Council voted 6-2 in favour of the third-party option, with Ward 4 Councillors Nick DiFlavio and Jacob Baradziej representing a minority view.
Baradziej was unconvinced that it would be fiscally prudent to utilize any public funds on a pay review at this juncture, whereas DiFlavio believed that a pay review was unnecessary.
“I don’t think that any compensation review is going to show a significant change, frankly, in what other similar municipalities are getting paid,” DiFlavio said during the meeting.
“If we had a reason to believe that there was some sort of huge discrepancy between our pay and other councils, (whether it be that) we were getting more or less, then I would say yes, but I don’t see any need for this.”
However, conducting a pay review with the services of a third-party consultant was strongly advocated by multiple councillors, including Ward 3 Councillor Veronica Charrois. Charrois argued that providing adequate pay is an important part of ensuring that high-quality candidates are willing to put their names forward to run for Council.
“I think that when we are not compensating people that are taking time away from their families it weakens the pool of people that step up,” Charrois shared following DiFlavio and Baradziej asserting their reservations about the pay review.
The third-party consultant option also received the backing of Grimsby Mayor Jeff Jordan. The two-term mayor believes that pay reviews are a worthy investment that, in his view, should be conducted twice each decade.
Council has directed town staff to proceed with the pay review process.
Nick Redekop completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Labour Studies at Brock University. He has previously served in municipal and federal politics. In his free time, Nick enjoys following sports, taking part in outdoor activities, and reading biographies. Nick resides in Niagara Falls
