Ottawa taxpayers shelled out $3 million to pay the salaries of Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and the 24 city councillors last year. A report for the finance and corporate services committee shows 23 councillors earned $119,620 in 2025, compared to $119,735 in 2024. Coun. Isabelle Skalski earned $63,049 after being elected the new councillor for Osgoode in a June byelection. George Darozue earned $15,613 in 2025 before resigning as Osgoode councillor to become the new MPP in Carleton after the February 2025 provincial election. In 2024, councillors received a pay increase as part of a new collective agreement awarded to City of Ottawa employees, which included a retroactive pay increase for 2023. The base pay for councillors in 2024 was $116,735. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe earned a salary of $213,921 in 2025, up from $213,689 in 2024. The mayor and councillors could receive a raise after the 2026 municipal election in October. Last September, council approved a motion from Coun. Shawn Menard to direct staff to include an adjustment in the pay for elected officials to “align with the average remuneration” for other Canadian municipalities as part of the 2026-30 Governance Review at the start of the term. Toronto councillors voted last March to increase their salaries by 24 per cent from $137,537 to $170,588. The salaries for councillors in Ottawa have increased by $20,000 over the past 10 years. According to City of Ottawa documents, a councillor earned $99,495 in 2015, $105,464 in 2018, $111,111 in 2023 and $119,620 last year. The salary for the mayor of Ottawa increased from $174,959 in 2015 to $188,605 in 2018, $196,896 in 2019 and $213,921 last year.
