Task Force poised to recommend big pay raise for full time city councillors, no raise for mayor

Task Force poised to recommend big pay raise for full time city councillors, no raise for mayor

On Friday, the Council Resourcing Review Task Force will meet to finalize its recommendations for the next term of city council.

A draft report posted on the City of London website provides a starting point for that debate.

The draft report recommends, “the annual (base pay) compensation for councillors BE INDEXED to the 70th percentile 2020 median full-time employment income for Londoners, as reported in the 2021 Census.”

The 70th percentile reported in the 2021 Census was $83,000.

“Compensation should be set at a level that does not require individuals to choose between supporting a family and seeking office, given the full-time nature of the role,” the report reads.

Former City Coun. Sandy Levin sat on previous compensation task forces.

She told CTV News, “It’s a reasonable starting point. Has the job gotten more busy? Yes, certainly because of social media and email, but at the end of the day, the amount of time that you spend on it is your choice.”

However, he emphasizes that there is no enabling legislation in the Ontario Municipal Act that can require a councillor to work full-time hours, “So it’s really social pressure (to work full-time). Frankly, if somebody wants to have another job and do this role (of city councillor), that’s their business.”

The draft report recommends the following language be included in relevant Council documents, “Given the complex and demanding nature of the role, councillors are expected to treat the position as a full-time service role. councillors must be widely and flexibly available, and their council work should constitute their primary occupation during their time in office.”

The current term of city council has seen tensions rise about the uneven sharing of the workload, including the number of external boards that councillors offer to join, and Coun. Susan Stevenson’s decision not to sit on any standing committees in 2025.

To address the unequal workloads, the task force is considering a recommendation that each councillor be required to serve on a minimum of three Agencies, Boards, or Commissions at any given time, plus at least one, and no more than two standing committees in additional to the 15-member Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.

Currently, most members of council treat the role as full-time employment, but some still have full-time jobs outside city hall, while others own small businesses.

The draft report recommends no pay increase for the mayor, “A comparative review of Ontario municipalities found that a Mayor typically earns approximately 1.88 times more than a councillor, but in 2025 the Mayor of London earned 2.20 times more than a councillor.”

Councillors who accept some additional responsibilities would be rewarded with a pay bump.

Chairing one of city hall’s standing committees would add 4 per cent on top of a councillor’s base pay.

However, Levin warns that could lead to favouritism, “Frankly, now with the strong mayor powers, the mayor gets to appoint who the chair is, so that kind of leads to a certain sense of favouritism. Perhaps, if you didn’t have additional compensation it might not be building any resentment.”

Meanwhile, being chosen as Deputy Mayor or Budget Chair would add 8 per cent to a councillor’s paycheque.

The report recommends the two positions have their roles clarified and appointments subject to Council approval because, “Currently, the Mayor plays a leading role in selecting appointees, and the Mayor defines their roles and responsibilities. This gives the Mayor considerable power to create an informal three-person political executive, with potentially problematic unintended consequences for democratic accountability.”

So far, the task force has not reached a consensus about whether a member of council should receive severance pay after leaving office voluntarily or after an election defeat.

The draft report also recommends a mid-term pay adjustment to council compensation starting in 2028, such that 2028 base compensation will equal 70th percentile 2025 full-time individual employment income in the London area, as reported in 2026 census data.

Several draft recommendations would maintain existing compensation policies for municipal politicians, including that there be no additional pay for sitting on external boards/commissions, annual increases be automatic (not requiring council approval), and annual increases be equal to the average annual variation in median full-time employment income as determined from published Census data over the most recent census period.

The Council Resourcing Review Task Force is anticipated to debate and finalize its recommendations on Sept. 19.

Task force members

• Martin Horak (Chair) – Associate Professor of Political Science, Western University, and Associate Director, Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance
• Jennifer Slay (Vice Chair) – Director of EDI and Decolonization at King’s University College
• Dane Ferry – Manager of Government Services at Western University’s Student Union
• Jared Zaifman – Chief Executive Officer, London Home Builder’s Association