Hamilton City Council has voted 16 to 0 to reduce the lag in the City’s Fair Wage Policy from two years to one year, significantly closing the gap between the municipality’s required contractor wages and current provincial union standards.
Reflecting the political effectiveness of the building trade unions, council members pushed the item to the beginning of the May 13, 2026 City Council ratification meeting, and repeatedly heaped praise on union executives, especially notable in a municipal election year.
The policy amendment means that the City will now update its Total Hourly Compensation Rates annually on the first Monday in May, based on trade union collective agreements submitted by March 1.
Speaking at a May 7, 2026 Audit, Finance and Administration Committee meeting ahead of the council vote, Councillor Rob Cooper (Ward 8) explained the changes while moving the motion.
“This is really just to create a better alignment with their collective bargaining that they do,” he said. “It’s really the only people group that we don’t align with their wage structure, and so it really helps bring things more in line.”
Cooper stressed the financial burden the previous lag placed on workers.
“What we have to realize is that because we have this lag, what we’re really asking our trades to do is take a haircut and subsidize their projects with their wage rates,” Cooper said. “We don’t ask anyone else to do it. These are the people who build our bridges, build our roads, and build our hospitals.”
Reflecting the depth of unanimity on Council for this issue, Cooper also praised fellow Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) for his work on the Policy.
“I would also like to recognize Councillor Cameron Kroetsch for all the work he’s done on this as well.”
Kroetsch, who seconded the motion, said the policy protects unionized workers from underbidding by non-unionized competitors.
“Non-unionized folks who don’t have the same obligations for benefits, for wages, and other kinds of things can then try and come in and bid lower than unionized folks if they’re not at the same parity,” Kroetsch said. “So this is a serious issue. And it means that it keeps unionized workers from considering contracts that they might do because they’re not playing in the same field as everybody else’s.”
Mayor Andrea Horwath stated that the update demonstrates Council’s commitment to fair wages across the construction sector.
“Although we have a number of members of the building trades here, it’s been shared with me, and it’s something that I agree with, is that it’s all workers in construction that will benefit from the fair wage policy,” Horwath said. “It really clearly says that Council has a position on this… that fair wages are important.”
Councillor Tom Jackson (Ward 2) credited past labour leaders for establishing the Policy benchmark under the former regional government in the 1990s.
“Great leaders like Pat Dillon and Joe Beattie led the charge to get the fair wage policy inserted and implemented… so that contractors in the future could not just cheapen out by giving low wages and just hiring subs that they wanted to,” Jackson said.
The 2026 wage schedule was finalized under the previous two-year lag, and the wage changes will take effect on May 2, 2027.
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Published: May 14, 2026
Last updated: May 14, 2026
Author: Joey Coleman
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