Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Callander's budget, taxes and council decisions. A small municipality in the Parry Sound District, on Callander Bay of Lake Nipissing, with a mayor and four councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.
Follow Callander in one tapWhere it goes
Questions worth asking
Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.
+58%roads and snow, 2019 to 2024
Callander spent $920K on roads and snow in 2019 and $1.5M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 0 of 23 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
$13.3 millionten-year gap for tax-supported assets under the plan's proposed levels of service, 2025 to 2034
The Municipality's own 2025 asset management plan (a long-range plan for looking after things it owns) says the money lined up for tax-supported assets over 2025 to 2034 falls $13.3 million short of what is needed to reach the condition Council has proposed. The plan itself says the gap is a measure, not a bill, and that other ways of closing it should be explored.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$1,169,332the water system's share of shared reserves on January 1, 2025, according to the financial plan
The November 2025 drinking water financial plan assumes water rates rise 2% a year to 2031. In the same plan the author says the system's value is falling faster than it is being renewed, that it "is not presently financially self-sustaining", and recommends that water rates be increased to account for the difference. The plan also explains that amortization (the yearly write-down of an asset's value) is not cash.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$2,039,786annual surplus in 2023, against a budgeted surplus of $517,769
The 2023 audited statements show an annual surplus of $2,039,786 against a budgeted surplus of $517,769. The budget for 2023 shows no capital grants at all, while the actual statements show $1,107,205 of them. Spending came in under budget. The town's note says the budget is prepared a different way from the statements.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$491,234in the tax rate stabilization reserve at the end of 2022, and nothing at the end of 2023
Reserves are savings accounts that council sets aside for later. In 2023 the audited statements show the tax rate stabilization reserve fall from $491,234 to nothing and the parks and recreation facilities reserve fall from $324,174 to $12,745, while the working capital reserve rose from $827,321 to $1,586,925. Total reserves rose from $7,032,924 to $7,480,277.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$1,581,553municipal debt at December 31, 2023, before the Operations Buildings loan
The 2025 budget package says the Municipality intends to go into debt to help pay for the new Operations Buildings, which will raise the yearly debt repayment. At the end of 2023 the Municipality owed $1,581,553 on four loans, and its yearly repayment limit set by the Province was $1,860,709. The budget package does not give the loan amount in the text we could read.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
May 12, 2026date of the Integrity Commissioner's public report
On May 12, 2026 the Municipality's Integrity Commissioner, E4m, reported on two former members of council, former Mayor Robb Noon and former Councillor Irene Smit. For each, the report says the conduct toward municipal staff met the threshold for workplace harassment, on the balance of probabilities. It says both resigned and no further penalty or remedial action was recommended. The public summary does not give the underlying evidence.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$116,572.15total council honoraria and expenses in 2023, as printed in the clerk's report
The law asks the treasurer to report what each member of council was paid and reimbursed by March 31 of the next year. The 2023 report is dated March 26, 2024 and gives a total for council of $116,572.15. We found no report for 2024 or 2025 on the pages we read, and the member-by-member table in the 2023 report prints its labels and numbers out of line, so we did not publish any one member's figures.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
2024 tax year · Callander, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what Callander's share pays for.
Ontario still uses property values from January 1, 2016 for tax, so your assessed value is probably well below what your home would sell for today.
It is on your property assessment notice from MPAC, and on your tax bill. We filled in the typical value in Callander.
a year in property tax, at 2024 rates
Callander council sets only its own share. the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits Callander's share by what each service cost in 2024 after its own fees and grants (for example, water bills pay for much of a water system). Real bills also depend on your property class, local charges and any rebates.
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Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.
We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.
Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.
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