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 Kitchener, and 2025 for 6 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 Kitchener, council remuneration and expense statements

   City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2024 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. City of Kitchener, budget documents

   City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. The Corporation of the City of Kitchener, 2025 Kitchener Financial Report (audited consolidated financial statements); KPMG LLP opinion dated June 30, 2026

   City of Kitchener (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-03

   Audited consolidated statements for 2025 with management discussion and notes (193 PDF pages). Figures are digits in a shifted font encoding that the PDF text layer does not decode.

5. 2024 Kitchener Financial Report (audit opinion dated June 26, 2025)

   City of Kitchener (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-03

   Used for the date of the 2024 audit opinion only.

6. City of Kitchener, 2026 Budget Summary

   City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

   The 2026 budget summary (62 pages).

7. City of Kitchener, 2026 Budget Summary, Appendix B: Operating Budget

   City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

   Operating budget by division and five-year enterprise projections (11 pages).

8. City of Kitchener, 2026 Budget Summary, Appendix D: Reserve and Reserve Funds

   City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

   Reserve fund balances and target levels for 2026 (11 pages).

9. City of Kitchener, 2025 Budget (final, April 7, 2025)

   City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

   The 2025 budget summary (57 pages).

10. City of Kitchener, Statement of Remuneration and Expenses for 2025

    City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

    Council pay and expenses for 2025 (9 pages).

11. City of Kitchener, Statement of Remuneration and Expenses for 2024

    City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

    Council pay and expenses for 2024 (10 pages).

12. Policy GOV-COU-020 Council Compensation

    City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

    The policy on council pay (2 pages).

13. Ombudsman of Ontario, Investigation into a complaint about a meeting of council for the City of Kitchener on August 14, 2023 (June 2025)

    Ombudsman of Ontario · retrieved 2026-10-03

    Closed meeting investigation report (12 pages).

14. Kitchener disclosures page (conflict of interest registry)

    City of Kitchener · retrieved 2026-10-03

    Declarations by member for the current term.

15. 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 lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 6 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.