WINGHAM – North Huron Council carried a motion to approve an increase in the 2027 honorarium of reeve, deputy reeve and councillor positions, with additional pay adjustments for attending meetings. This decision came after discussion of the importance and benefits of the increase, with councillors speaking up about being content to choose an option that is an average, versus remaining status quo or approving a more significant increase.
The honorarium for the reeve position increases 64.16 per cent from $13,960.92 to $22,918.14; deputy reeve increases 30.47 per cent from $11,966.52 to $15,613.54; and councillor positions increase 27.95 per cent from $9,972.12 to $12,759.77. The half-day meeting pay/per diem rate is decreased to $126.61 from $138.51, and the full-day meeting pay/per diem rate is increased to $203.34 from $193.90, as confirmed in Clerk Carson Lamb’s report.
This option would align North Huron’s honorarium and meeting pay/per diem rates with the 2026 average rate for Huron and Perth County municipalities, excluding City of Stratford, as a report from Lamb details. The report also states that the last review and update to these numbers occurred in Sept. 2022, with only an increase to mileage expense reimbursement rates to align with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) – Automobile Allowance rate.
Coun. Mitch Wright spoke to the importance of attracting good people to the table, saying efforts in advertising and other initiatives can only go so far – and at the end of the day, if you can’t fill a position, “you typically have to pay more, right?”
“…There should be competition … the competition for positions is how you ensure you get qualified councillors. I’m not saying that everyone on this council isn’t qualified, but that’s just the economics, right? And what I worry about is that if we look at the potential increase in council remuneration costs, it pales in comparison [to] what mistakes bad council could cost the municipality, right? Bad decisions could cost municipalities hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. So I look at it as you know the fairly modest increase in council remuneration as money well spent – to make sure that council is providing good direction to staff because staff has to act at the direction of council, whether that’s good direction or bad direction.”
Coun. Anita van Hittersum spoke of attracting young talent to council, and that younger people cannot fulfil this role while maintaining their full-time jobs elsewhere. “That is really a loss for the municipality, whatever municipality it is, because the experience is gone, the youth is gone, and I’m not sure which option would be the best. But I think an increase in rate would help attract younger people to council positions.”
Coun. Chris Palmer made the comment that this isn’t a job you get into for the money, it’s a service, yet it is a significant job. From a practical standpoint, he said, there hasn’t been a significant bump since 2022, so maybe it’s time – as it’s still a small percentage in the budget.
The options presented to council included four that ranged from continuing with remuneration and meeting per diems as status quo, to align with Huron County municipalities average, or with Huron, Perth and other comparator municipalities. The report explains a review of local and across Ontario comparator municipalities based on a population between 3,000 and 16,000, which responded to a survey request for remuneration data.
Option two, which council chose, is the middle ground, as Deputy Reeve Kevin Falconer worded it. For example, the option to align with both Huron and Perth and comparator municipalities would be an increase for the reeve position to $28,894.32, the deputy reeve position to $19,876.59 and councillor positions to $16,559.47, with a half-day meeting pay/per diem rate would be decreased to $119.74 and the full-day meeting pay/per diem rate would be increased to $202.06.
The other option would be aligning with the Huron County municipalities average, which would be an increase in the honorarium for the reeve position to $19,631.49, the deputy reeve position to $14,347.85 and councillor positions to $11,197.32. The half-day meeting pay/per diem rate would be decreased to $122.55 and the full-day meeting pay/per diem rate would be increased to $200.35.
As for the status quo option, the councillors who spoke up were all in varying agreement that an increase is needed to maintain a quality council.
In terms of financial impact, the option council chose in the honorarium change would result in a total increase of $26,542.51 plus cost-of-living adjustment, Lamb clarified during the meeting.
Lamb’s report includes that the increase from $2,500 to $3,000 for the annual conferences and training allocation for each member results in an increase of $3,500 to the annual budget.
A bylaw to put this option into effect will be brought back to council at their Sept. 8 meeting for final approval.
By Rachel Hammermueller, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Aug 14, 2026 at 06:25
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