As crime and community safety continue to be top of mind for Canadians from coast to coast according to many recent polls, the Niagara Regional Police is seeking a significant increase to its budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
When the Police Services Board met last week, Niagara Regional Police Chief Bill Fordy presented a request for an 11.23 per cent increase to the operating budget compared to budget 2025. Up to 8.6 per cent of that increase comes from uncontrolled costs, due to things like collective bargaining agreements.
That came after the Police Services Board asked Fordy the week before to make some cuts to his initial budget presented, which would have increased spending by roughly 12.8 per cent.
Fordy came back to the Police Services Board with roughly $3 million in cuts compared to the original budget request.
The Police Services Board endorsed the vast majority of Fordy’s cuts, but, at the initiative of board member Jen Lawson, chose to undo one cut to a new member wellness program, which amounted to a budget increase of just under $600,000, or 0.27 per cent.
That means that the Niagara Regional Police budget that the Police Services Board ultimately endorsed will see a requested budget increase of 11.5 per cent go to Niagara Regional Council.
“We went line-by-line through every program change that we had, and where we thought we could stagger or delay, we tried to stagger or delay in a thoughtful, strategic way,” said Fordy in addressing the cuts to his requested budget increase.
A big part of that came through staggering or delaying new hiring.
“What that does is allow us to introduce the change gradually,” Fordy added.
Lower than anticipated gasoline costs also helped in cutting the requested budget increase down slightly.
Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele, who is also a member of the Police Services Board and Regional Council, commented on the budget before it was approved by the Board.
“I think…this budget is very prudent…there is around eight per cent that we have no control over at all – there’s no cuts in that eight per cent – so, looking at that, with what we’re changing, we’re well within the limits of what the Region has asked for,” said Steele.
Steele was referring to Niagara Regional Council’s budget directive to limit spending increases to 3.5 per cent in an effort to hold property tax increases to 3.5 per cent.
“This is a budget I can support,” said Steele. “Safety and policing are at the top of a lot of people’s list.”
“Things aren’t good right now; we know that crime is changing at a faster pace than we can react at times,” Steele added. “So, I think this is a very prudent budget to make Niagara as safe as we can. It’s a dollar amount that, certainly, I think the majority of people can live with, and I will certainly be supporting this.”
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
