Barrie city council is moving forward with a compensation review that would increase pay for the mayor, deputy mayor and councillors for the 2026–2030 term.
Councillors carried a recommendation advancing a compensation review at Wednesday's general committee meeting, which would increase base salaries for the City's top elected officials starting in November, when their next terms begin. It would also include subsequent annual increases tied to cost-of-living adjustments for non-union City staff.
The item will now go to City council for final approval next week.
The review is part of a standard compensation review conducted ahead of a municipal election cycle. City staff notes that expense policies are reviewed each term of council.
Should the recommendation pass through City council next week, the mayor, deputy mayor, and councillors will see annual pay increases at varying rates:
| POSITION | CURRENT SALARY | PROPOSED SALARY (CHANGE) |
|---|---|---|
| Mayor | $139,660 | $151,052 (+7.54 per cent) |
| Deputy mayor | $51,775 | $58,012 (+10.75 per cent) |
| Councillor | $44,276 | $48,012 (+7.78 per cent) |
In a staff report, City clerk Wendy Cooke suggested the increases are in an effort to align with averages for peer cities across the province (Guelph, Kingston, Oshawa, St. Catharines, Sudbury) based on 2021 council renumeration.
"These municipalities were selected based on their relative size, geography, growth patterns, and governmental structure," she wrote.
Meanwhile, a newly-introduced per diem system could potentially make councillors eligible for a direct $80 payment for attending some local boards, authorities, and city meetings, rather than payments being made to the City.
City staff are creating a reporting process for those payments, but say attendance at advisory committees, local boards, and meetings with other government representatives could qualify. The per diem system would exclude council and general committee meetings.
The proposed changes also include updates to how councillors can spend office budgets, including increases to communications allowances, expanded conference spending rules and higher expense allocations for the deputy mayor.
That position would see a $2,500 uptick allocated to accommodate extra expenses, plus 10 cents per person using population projections, which is standard. The mayor and councillors' base expense allocations would remain unchanged.
Staff says the deputy mayor role has grown in responsibility and time commitments during Robert Thomson's term, including attendance at meetings outside of Barrie and events with or on behalf of Mayor Alex Nuttall.
The report says City staff will fully budget for any approved increases in the 2027 operating budget and subsequent years as required.
The recommendations now go to City council for final approval next week.
