In 2018, Londoners threw their council out of office.
They elected many smart thoughtful people, many of whom said they would serve one term and did just that, leaving in 2022.
2022 saw Londoners carefully consider their votes, again. The result is they have one of the more effective councils in Ontario.
(Yes, they have disputes. Yes, they’ve made some questionable choices. Nobody is perfect.)
This term’s London council created a citizen task force to review councillor workloads, pay, and resourcing.
The Council Resourcing Review Task Force is producing insightful reports and discussions.
The Task Force is looking to set councillor pay ‘somewhere between the 65th and 75th percentile— an amount that could be in the ballpark of $90,000’, an increase from the present 50th percentile rate of $67,420. [CTV London]
Indexing councillor pay to community income is symbolically useful because it somewhat ties compensation to performance.
Personally, I would set around the 85th percentile recogonizing a desire to attract highly talented people.
The Task Force has researched compensation and resourcing for all large municipal councils in Ontario. (Hamilton, Kitchener, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, and Windsor did not respond to London’s request for information.)
The final report will be informative.
I hope the 2026 – 2030 term of Hamilton City Council addresses compensation issues, and ends the current practice of Hamilton council members double-dipping using municipal corporations to enrich themselves with extra pay.
The incoming council also needs to address resourcing.
London is providing a roadmap, the question is will Hamilton use it?
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: August 7, 2025
Last updated: August 7, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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v. 1.0.0 original version