2026 Re-adoption Budget

The City will be entering the final year of the 2024 to 2026 multi-year budget cycle with the readoption of the 2026 budgets beginning on Oct. 15, 2025, when City Council will receive information on potential budget changes.

Once staff present potential budget changes, it will then be the Mayor's decision whether changes presented are incorporated into his readoption budgets. The Mayor's budgets will be published on Oct. 27 2025, and Council will consider amendments to the budgets on Nov. 19, 2025.

Timeline for Adopting Multi-Year Budgets

The City’s 2024 to 2026 multi-year budgets were initially adopted in fall 2024. The Municipal Act, 2001, requires a municipality in the second and each subsequent year of a multi-year budget to review and readopt the budget for that year and for subsequent years to which the budget applies.

City Council approved a multi-year budget policy in 2022 that saw a focus on a three-year budget cycle rather than a one-year budget cycle.

More information about the multi-year budget process and the benefits of a multi-year budget can be found in the Multi-Year Budget Policy.

Please continue reading to learn more about the budget process, and feel free to ask a question or provide your input via the question-and-answer tool below.

Readoption of 2025 Budgets (2026 Budgets Adopted in Principle)

• Mayor’s Budgets Published: Oct. 28, 2024
• Amendments to Mayor’s Budgets Considered by Council: Nov. 20, 2024
• Budgets Deemed Adopted: Nov. 26, 2024

Engaging with You

2026 Budget Readoption Telephone Town Hall

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025

7 p.m.

What is a Telephone Town Hall?

A telephone town hall provides an opportunity for residents to give feedback and learn more about the subject at hand all from the comfort of their home. It is similar to a radio call-in show, except instead of individuals calling in, the City randomly calls 30,000 residents.

To listen to the 2025 Telephone Town Hall, held in advance of the approval of the 2026 Budget Readoption, visit our YouTube page.

2026 Budget Readoption Open House

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025

6 p.m.

St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatics Centre, Irene Locke Program Room

425 Carlton St.

📧 Email

Can't participate in our open house or telephone town hall events but want to participate in engagement? Questions and comments about the readoption budgets can be emailed to budget@stcatharines.ca. For specific suggestions or ideas for the Mayor to include in his readoption budgets, you can email mayor@stcatharines.ca prior to Oct. 23, 2025.

2025-26 Council Budget Meetings and Resources

Stay tuned for updates.

Council (Budget) Meeting - Oct. 15, 2025

Council (Budget) Meeting - Nov. 5, 2025

Council (Budget) Meeting - Nov. 19, 2025

Council (Budget) Meeting - Dec. 15, 2025

Watch Live meetings: youtube.com/CityStCatharines

Live feeds for meetings become active a few minutes before the scheduled start time of the meeting.

Budget Basics

The annual budget for the City of St. Catharines can be a lot to unpack for anyone. So, before diving in, let’s review all that is involved in our annual budget process.

Watch this short video on how the budget works:

Capital vs. Operating

There are two primary budgets prepared by staff and voted on by Council: the Capital and Operating Budgets.

Capital Budget:

This budget pertains to large-scale investments in tangible amenities, facilities and infrastructure. Funding for the Capital Budget is drawn in part from tax revenues, alongside money drawn from reserves, debentures and other funding sources such as grants from federal and provincial governments.

Examples of Capital Budget items:

• Road resurfacing and replacement
• New buildings
• Major upgrades or renewal of facilities
• Construction of parks and amenities

Operating Budget:

The Operating Budget covers the day-to-day operations of the City, things like staff salaries, materials for repairs, electricity to keep the lights on, programs and more. This budget is primarily funded by the City’s portion of municipal property tax bills and revenues collected through City services and programs. It is the operating budget, as approved by Council, that sets the City tax rate.

Examples of operating budget items:

• Salaries and bene
• Recreation programs
• Facility maintenance
• Administrative services
• Utilities and materials

Rate Supported Budgets:

There are two rather unique budgets separate from the operating and capital budgets. These are parking and water / wastewater. Both budgets, including their operating and capital costs, are covered directly by revenues generated through their related services.

In the Parking Budget, infrastructure and operations for paid parking are financed by the rates collected through paid parking and parking tickets.

The Water / Wastewater Budget funds the City’s water delivery and wastewater (sewer) systems through revenues generated by water / wastewater bills.

Taxes: A Three-Way Split

Property taxes as a whole are made up of three individual pieces: the City portion, the Region portion, and the Province’s education portion.

The City portion, which pays for City of St. Catharines operations, services and assets, is dependent on the amount approved by Council in the operating budget. The more spent on the operating budget the higher the City portion of the finalized tax rate.

The Region portion pays for Niagara Region operations, services and assets such as Public Health, waste management, police, regional roads, and the new Niagara Region Transit System. The Region’s tax rate is dependent on the budgetary deliberations of Regional Council.

The education portion is set and administered by the Province of Ontario and helps to pay for public education.

MPAC Property Assessment

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) collects data about properties across Ontario and is responsible for annual property assessments.

The following video explains how the assessment works:

For more information on property assessment, including how various properties are assessed, current calculations, and other FAQ, visit: Municipal Sector Resources | MPAC

The Finalized Rate:

Once all three levels of government have set their rates, they are combined into one finalized rate. That rate is then calculated against the assessed value of a home or property to generate a total of taxes owed on the property for the year.

Once the amount owed has been calculated, the City of St. Catharines administers billings and collections for all properties within its borders. Taxes are collected by the City and then divided between the City, Region and Province.

For more information on taxes, including information on where taxes go, and how they are calculated, visit stcatharines.ca/Taxes.