Kitchener councillors approve double digit pay increase next term
Posted Apr 21, 2026 06:50:35 AM.
Last Updated Apr 21, 2026 02:41:33 PM.
Their own pay cheques were a hot item for councillors at a Kitchener committee meeting Monday.
When it comes to what councillors should be paid, a consultant report found Kitchener’s elected officials are making well below what is standard in other cities.
Marianne Love Consulting Services Ltd. looked into the salaries of councillors in Markham, Vaughan, Oakville, Richmond Hill, Burlington, Oshawa, Cambridge, Milton and Waterloo.
“The 2026 base pay remuneration for the Mayor and Councillors is low compared to the defined pay market,” read the report.
“The base pay for the Mayor is below all percentile benchmark target.” That base pay for mayor was recommended to jump 29.3 per cent, which by the end of the day was approved at a special council meeting.
Councillor pay was recommended to increase by 10.3 per cent.
Councillor Scott Davey noted, Kitchener councillors are paid a comparable amount to councillors in Cambridge and Waterloo, municipalities with around half the population of Kitchener.
“We also have to consider people who do want to run in this role, where they have to try and make ends meet. How many single parents are you going to get running for council?”
Councillor Jason Deneault added that the financial squeeze from higher gas and grocery prices is not only being felt by constituents.
“Some of us are struggling as well. Whether you’re a public official, an elected official, everybody’s feeling the pinch.”
Taking note of that “pinch,” Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic put forward an amendment to reduce the pay increase for his position — down to 10.3 per cent, compared to the proposed 29.3 per cent. That 10 per cent would be in line with what the consultant recommended for councillors’ pay.
“I recognize what those numbers, realities may be in terms of the mayor’s role, but I also recognize the current time period that we’re in.”
The amendment narrowly passed 5-4 at the committee level.
At a special council meeting later Monday night, however, Councillor Christine Michaud brought the mayor’s pay back on the table, putting forward an amendment that would see the mayoral pay bump stay near 30 per cent, as originally proposed.
It passed, meaning the mayoral pay will be bumped to $156,762 annually for the next term of council (up from $121,262).
Councillors’ pay now looks to increase from $62,385 to $68,803, still considered a part-time role.
That pay bump, keep in mind, is for the next term of council, and won’t go into effect until November 15, 2026.
Council also approved the next council compensation review be completed before the 2030 municipal election. The current framework was put in place in 2002.
