The province of Ontario has announced they will be providing over $77 million to municipalities to help cover increasing costs associated with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) services.
Last June, the province and the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) ratified a new uniform and civilian collective agreement that included general salary increases for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. This agreement will have a direct impact on all 330 municipalities that the OPP service.
This agreement would see municipalities increase their OPP costs anywhere from 14 to 40 per cent across the province.
Locally, most municipalities are looking at increases between 14 to 20 per cent.
The $77 Million will include:
• A 3.75 per cent bill reduction on 2023 total reconciled costs,
• A 44 per cent bill reduction on 2023 reconciled overtime costs, and
• A 10 per cent bill reduction on amounts invoiced for 2025 policing costs. This means that locally:
• Douro-Dummer will receive $161,770 for a total 2025 OPP billing amount of $983,605
• Havelock-Belmont-Methuen will receive $203,197 for a total 2025 OPP billing amount of $1,240,418
• North Kawartha will receive $152,134 for a total 2025 OPP billing amount of $933,790
• Selwyn will receive $352,663 for a total 2025 OPP billing amount of $2,138,910
• Trent Lakes will receive $280,650 for a total 2025 OPP billing amount of $1,688,595
Bonnie Clark, Warden of Peterborough County said, “Peterborough County is extremely pleased with the Province’s decision to fund OPP policing cost impacts this year. Our townships face many fiscal pressures and with policing costs increases in excess of 20 per cent they could not afford the costs that would be carried by the municipal rate payer. We thank the EOWC (Easter Ontario Wardens Caucus) for their lobbying efforts and the Province for hearing us and stepping up! Our communities need policing support more than ever!”
In addition to this funding, the province said that they will be continuing its annual $125 million Court Security & Prisoner Transportation Transfer Payment Program for the 2025 calendar year and will also be examining options for reviewing the OPP billing model to ensure that it meets the needs of communities across the province.
“Our government is working closely with our municipal partners and our women and men in uniform to keep communities across Ontario safe,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “The financial relief we are proposing will help municipal leaders balance their budgets and invest in their communities while ensuring no change to the policing provided by the OPP that keeps families and businesses safe.”
