The changes to councillors’ pay would be implemented following the 2026 municipal election. Photo Credit: City of St. Catharines.
St. Catharines city councillors could soon be in line for a raise.
A citizen-review task force is recommending a $9,235 pay hike for the city’s 12 city councillors.
The changes to councillors’ pay would be implemented following the 2026 municipal election.
St. Catharines city councillors are currently paid $27,765. This would raise their pay to $37,000.
St. Catharines city councillors, like most councillors in Ontario, work on a part-time basis. Only councillors in Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto serve on a full-time basis and receive pay for full-time work.
According to the task force’s report, St. Catharines city councillors make far less than the average part-time councillor in similar municipalities. The average salary for lower-tier Ontario municipalities is $46,970, according to the report.
However, the average pay for lower-tier councillors in Niagara region is an average of $21,106 for a ward councillor and $24,769 for an at-large councillor.
Therefore, St. Catharines councillors are presently paid more than the average lower-tier councillor in Niagara Region. Yet they are paid far less than the broader Ontario average.
The proposed pay increase would still leave St. Catharines councillors about $10,000 shy of hitting the average lower-tier pay level when looking at municipalities across the province.
The task force suggests that the main reason councillors need to be paid more is because they work more. In an age of new technology and social media, councillors are engaging with constituents and dealing with local business much more than in decades past.
Two years ago, St. Catharines councillors rejected a similar proposed pay hike in a 6-5 vote. However, that pay increase was recommended by city staff and not by a citizens’ commission.
The task force’s report is also calling for additional perks for councillors, including a health-care spending account of $1,000 per year.
Councillors for the upper-tier Niagara Region are currently paid $40,471, with a $2,000 bonus for committee chairs. Regional councillors receive perks St. Catharines councillors don’t, including health insurance, life insurance, and retirement contributions.
When St. Catharines city council last considered a councillor pay increase, former mayor Walter Sendzik was still in the mayor’s chair. He supported the proposed pay hike, calling councillors’ $27,765 salary “embarrassing,” but came down on the losing side of the close vote.
With Mayor Mat Siscoe now in the mayor’s chair, the fate of the proposed councillor pay increase may be heaving influenced by him. The mayor’s salary is not being presently reviewed, but as a full-time employee Siscoe makes far more than members of council.
Siscoe was paid $125,875 as mayor in 2023.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as 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.
