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 Guelph, and 2025 for 3 similar places. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. City of Guelph, council remuneration and expense statements

   City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2024 to 2024. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. City of Guelph, budget documents

   City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. City of Guelph, 2025 Consolidated Financial Statements and Treasurer’s Report (2025)

   City of Guelph Finance (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2025 with the Treasurer’s report. 93 PDF pages. Clean opinion dated July 16, 2026.

5. City of Guelph, 2025 Consolidated Financial Statements and Treasurer’s Report (2024)

   City of Guelph Finance (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2024. Opinion dated June 26, 2025. Used only for the auditor’s report date.

6. City of Guelph, 2025 Long-term Financial Statement: Reserves and Debt (staff report, May 5, 2026)

   City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Reserves, development charges and debt at the end of 2025. 14 pages.

7. City of Guelph, 2025 Year-end Operating Budget Monitoring Report and Surplus Allocation and Deficit Funding (staff report, May 5, 2026)

   City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

   2025 year-end operating result and where the surplus and deficits go. 14 pages plus attachments.

8. City of Guelph, 2025 Year-end Capital Budget Monitoring Report (staff report, May 5, 2026)

   City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

   2025 year-end capital spending and commitments. 17 pages plus attachments.

9. City of Guelph, 2026 First Quarter Budget Monitoring Report (information report, May 22, 2026)

   City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Risks and opportunities to the 2026 year-end position, as of March 31, 2026.

10. City of Guelph, 2026 Confirmed Budget (web page)

    City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The 2026 confirmed budget summary, with the tables of the Mayor’s and council’s amendments.

11. City of Guelph, Mayoral Direction 2025-B7 (April 1, 2025)

    Office of the Mayor · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Mayor’s direction to staff for the 2026 budget update.

12. City of Guelph, Mayor’s 2026 Budget Update (November 13, 2025)

    Office of the Mayor · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Mayor’s letter and memo with the proposed 2026 budget.

13. City of Guelph, Mayoral Decision 2025-A82 (December 16, 2025)

    Office of the Mayor · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Mayor’s amendment to the 2026 budget under the strong-mayor rules.

14. City of Guelph, 2025 City Council Attendance, Meeting Statistics and Remuneration Report (March 27, 2026)

    City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Six-page report on 2025 meetings and pay rules. The attachments were not in the PDF.

15. City of Guelph, 2024 City Council Attendance, Meeting Statistics and Remuneration Report

    City of Guelph · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The 2024 report, with the member-by-member s. 284 table on PDF page 9.

16. 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 city 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 city reported to the Province for that year.

Similar places

Ontario single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 3 places. "Typical" means the median: half of similar places are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few places, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each city reports to the Province. Places 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 places; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar places; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar places and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar places. When there are fewer than 20 similar places, 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 city'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.