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Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you
Read by hand. We read Kingston's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.

Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Kingston is run by an elected council of 13 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the city day to day.

Current council

Names and official email addresses from the city's council page. None of the members lists a public social media account there.

How open is Kingston?

What a resident can find online without asking, as of October 5, 2026.

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The proposed 2026, 2025 and 2024 operating and capital budget books are posted as PDFs, with the 15-year capital plan. Source

  • Yes
    Audited financial statements

    Statements for 2021 to 2025 are posted. The 2025 statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from KPMG LLP dated September 1, 2026. Source

  • Unknown
    Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

    We did not find a yearly statement of council pay and expenses on the city’s Budgets and Finances, Accountability and Transparency or City Council pages, or through a search of the city site and the web on October 5, 2026. The city’s Council Resourcing Review page says a working group reported to Council on April 7, 2026. That report sits in the eScribe portal, which showed us a browser check we did not get past, so we did not read it. Source

  • Partly
    Meeting agendas, minutes and reports

    Agendas and reports are in the eScribe portal. A document link from the city’s own page returned a browser check page to our automated reader, so we relied on the budget books the city posts on its website. Council meetings are streamed live and recordings are archived on YouTube. Source

  • Unknown
    Integrity Commissioner reports

    The city’s accountability page names the Integrity Commissioner and the complaint steps. We did not find a list of reports there. Source

  • Unknown
    Council 2027 budget dates

    The city’s 2027 City Budget page, on October 5, 2026, gives no meeting dates. It says a new Council Strategic Plan process is expected to begin in early 2027. Source

Where the city speaks for itself

Kingston's official channels, as linked from its own website. Council members may also post on their own pages; we link only to official municipal channels.

Ask for the records

Anyone can ask the city for its records under Ontario's Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). You do not have to say why. Here is how it works, and the wording for the records that would answer the questions on this site.

  1. Send the request in writing to the city clerk (the freedom of information coordinator), on the city’s form or in a letter, with the $5 application fee.
  2. Describe the records, not the answer you want. Dates, departments and the kind of record (a list, invoices, emails) make a request quicker and cheaper.
  3. The city has 45 business days to answer (the law changed in 2026; older guides say 30 days). It can charge for search time and copies, but must send an estimate first if the fees will be over $25.
  4. Some parts can be held back, such as legal advice or personal information about other people. The city must say which part of the law it relied on.
  5. If you are refused, or the fees seem too high, you can appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner within 30 business days of the city’s decision.

The city's request form (on its Forms page) · The law · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

  • Council pay and expenses statements

    We did not find the yearly statement of council pay and expenses on the city’s website, and the working group report that may include pay is in a portal we could not open.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: Please provide the City’s statements of remuneration and expenses paid to each member of Council under section 284 of the Municipal Act, 2001, for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

  • Actual encampment clean-up spending

    The 2025 and 2026 budgets each set aside $550K for encampment clean-ups from the Working Fund Reserve, but we found no published report of what was actually spent. Related question: Kingston used a one-time reserve for the same $550,000 encampment clean-up in 2025 and 2026. What happens when the reserve is empty?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: Please provide any report or ledger summary showing actual spending on encampment clean-ups in 2024 and 2025 and what was charged to the Working Fund Reserve.

  • Gas utility budget and actuals

    The 2025 statements show gas commodity sales well below budget, and two pages print different gas purchases. Related question: The city’s gas utility budgeted $25,000,000 of gas sales and took in $15,252,000. Why was the budget so far off, and why do two pages show different gas purchases?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    I request, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: Please provide the budget-to-actual summary for the gas utility for 2025 and a note that reconciles gas commodity purchases of 15,252 and 10,766 (thousands of dollars) in the consolidated schedule of segmented information.

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Narrow the dates if the city says a request is too broad or too costly.

How to raise a concern

From the gentlest step to the most serious. Start at the top.

  1. Integrity Commissioner

    Looks into complaints that a council member broke the Code of Conduct or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The city names Aird & Berlis LLP as the City Integrity Commissioner. The city’s page says reports to Council are made public by the Clerk, but we did not find a list of past reports on the page.

  2. Closed-meeting investigation

    The city’s page says any person can request an investigation into whether Council or a committee met in closed session when it should not have. The page links to an online request form. We did not find a named investigator or a list of reports.

  3. Mayoral Decision registry

    Under the strong-mayor rules the Mayor can give written directions to staff. The city lists these decisions on its open data site.

  4. Pecuniary interest registry

    Council members’ declarations of financial interest, which the city says it keeps on Open Data Kingston. We did not open the registry.