I’ve heard a lot of discussion about Edmonton City Council salaries so I thought I’d give some background on this topic. I’ve also included information on ward office budgets so all the links on compensation and budgets can be found in one place.
Council Salaries:
City Councillors current annual salary is $122,363. Information on Council compensation can be found at the link. One common misconception about Council salaries is that City Council determines their own salaries or approves their own raises.
In short, Councillors do not, and should not, determine their own salaries.
So how are Council salaries determined?
Since 2000, a process has been in place in which citizen-led committees are established to review and make recommendations on Council salaries, benefits, and ward budgets. While technically any Councillor could make a motion at Council to debate Council salaries, this is not the practice as it would undermine the integrity of depoliticizing the process in the first place.
Currently, Council salaries are based on the recommendations of the Independent Compensation Committee (ICC) from 2020.
In October 2020, the committee recommended to Council no annual adjustments to salaries for 2021 and 2022.
For January 2023 and beyond (or until the next Independent Compensation Committee puts forward recommendations), the committee recommended that Council salaries should be adjusted annually, effectively the first pay of each year, based on the average monthly value for Alberta Average Weekly Earnings as reported by Statistics Canada.
For the period of 2021 to 2024, Council has received 4.82% in total wage increases.
I also hear a lot about comparing salaries with other Councils across Canada and it’s really important to understand that this is not comparing apples to apples. Councils across Canada are all composed differently (e.g full-time/ part-time, ward-based or not, population of residents served, and individual office resources, etc.) which can impact working conditions.
In Edmonton, councillors work an average of 60-70 hours per week. This includes attending Council and Committee meetings, as well as events out in the community and meetings, calls, and emails with constituents. Council members are also appointed to represent the City on agencies, boards, committees, and commissions.These activities are all taken into consideration in the recommendation from the ICC.
The next Independent Council Compensation Committee review is scheduled to come back in late 2024. If you have any feedback or questions about this review process, please let me know.
Ward Office Budgets:
There are 12 wards in Edmonton and each office has a budget which must cover staffing costs, community expenses, communications (eg; newsletters), etc.
Councilors are responsible for determining how they wish to allocate their Ward office budgets, but with strict limits as they must follow this policy. All expenses are made public and can be viewed here to see how each Councillor’s office spends their ward budget.
Note: Ward sizes and budgets can vary across municipalities. For example, Calgary has 14 wards compared to 12 wards in Edmonton. Currently, Edmonton Ward Budgets are $196,649 annually, whereas Calgary Ward Budgets are $282,576 annually.
Read the other blogs in this series…
Spring Budget Adjustment
Before Considering a Tax Increase. . .
Audits, Audits, and More Audits
