Sources and method

Where this comes from

Everything on these pages comes from public documents. Here they are, with how we used them, so anyone can check our work.

Documents

1. Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR)

   Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The numbers behind the money and compare pages: 2019 to 2025 for Caledon, and 2025 for 10 similar towns. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. Town of Caledon, council remuneration and expense statements

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2023 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. Town of Caledon, budget documents

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The town’s published budgets. Used to check its plans against what it reported.

4. The Corporation of the Town of Caledon, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 (auditors' report dated June 1, 2026)

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2025. Opinion that they present fairly, with an emphasis of matter on restated 2024 comparatives.

5. Town of Caledon, 2026 Budget book (amended version)

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   2026 operating and capital budget, amended version (after Council's amendments and the Mayor's decision of November 27, 2025).

6. Town of Caledon, 2025 Budget book

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   2025 operating and capital budget. Used for reserve forecasts and the cash-to-accrual reconciliation.

7. Statements of Remuneration and Expenses of Council Members, 2023, 2024 and 2025

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Yearly statements under section 284 of the Municipal Act, 2001. The 2024 and 2023 statements are linked from the Expenses page.

8. Council expense reports, January to December 2024 and 2025

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Expenses by member and by type with the budget for each year.

9. Mayoral Decisions 2025-02 and 2025-04

   Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Mayor's decisions on the 2026 budget process and her veto.

10. Integrity Commissioner annual reports (2024, 2025) and reports on complaints (2023, 2025-004, 2026-001)

    Town of Caledon Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Official findings on Code of Conduct complaints.

11. Report on Closed Meeting Investigation 2025-02

    Aird & Berlis LLP for the Town of Caledon · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Finding of a contravention of the open meeting rule, March 5, 2026.

12. Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index, annual average (table 18-10-0005-01)

    Statistics Canada · retrieved 2026-10-01

    How much prices went up each year, so cost growth can be compared with inflation.

How the numbers are worked out

Day-to-day spending

Total expenses as reported, minus amortization ("wear and tear"), which is an accounting cost rather than cash spent that year. Costs are shown in the service where they were recorded, before the town spreads its office overhead across services, so the cost of running the office stays visible.

Per home

An amount divided by the number of households the town reported to the Province for that year.

Similar towns

Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 10 towns. "Typical" means the median: half of similar towns are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few towns, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each town reports to the Province. Towns do not all count the same way: some include seasonal homes, so per-home comparisons are a guide, not exact.

Faster than prices

Growth is compared with Canada's Consumer Price Index over the same years.

When a question is raised automatically

When a cost grew at least 25 percentage points faster than prices and faster than 80% of similar towns; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar towns; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar towns and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar towns. When there are fewer than 20 similar towns, automatic questions go no higher than "Worth asking", because one rank moves a lot in a small group.

What this cannot see

These records show totals by category, not individual payments. They cannot show whether a particular contract was fair, whether a purchase was split to avoid tendering, or who was paid. That needs the town's list of payments (its cheque register or accounts payable list), which residents can ask for under Ontario's freedom-of-information law (MFIPPA). That is the next thing we plan to add.