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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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Markham'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

Markham 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.

What council is paid

Every year the city has to publish what each council member was paid, and what was spent on their benefits and expenses. These are the totals from those statements, 2023 to 2025.

In 2025, the whole council cost $2,111,719 in pay, benefits and expenses, about $19 per home. The mayor's pay went up 11% from 2023 to 2025; prices went up 5% over the same years.
Pay, and benefits and expenses, for each council member by year
Member202520242023
Frank Scarpitti
Mayor		$308,179+ $35,375$283,899+ $31,633$278,474+ $25,780
Michael Chan
Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor		$178,356+ $10,004$170,467+ $8,801$166,051+ $9,103
Jim Jones
Regional Councillor		$169,516+ $21,650$161,182+ $15,030$161,054+ $5,656
Joe Li
Regional Councillor		$165,016+ $18,145$157,182+ $18,346$157,054+ $6,990
Alan Ho
Regional Councillor		$165,016+ $21,311$157,182+ $21,785$157,054+ $29,771
Keith Irish
Ward 1 Councillor		$126,233+ $16,779$114,632+ $16,800$101,351+ $16,414
Ritch Lau
Ward 2 Councillor		$110,733+ $14,028$101,882+ $11,624$94,961+ $9,824
Reid McAlpine
Ward 3 Councillor		$111,233+ $17,603$102,382+ $16,752$94,961+ $13,252
Karen Rea
Ward 4 Councillor		$111,233+ $22,643$102,382+ $16,504$94,461+ $14,437
Andrew Keyes
Ward 5 Councillor		$124,233+ $22,197$112,006+ $14,020$97,316+ $7,580
Amanda Yeung Collucci
Ward 6 Councillor		$112,733+ $30,402$103,382+ $19,689$95,607+ $14,841
Nimisha Patel
Ward 7 Councillor (from the 2025 by-election)		$25,120+ $4,479––
Juanita Nathan
Former Ward 7 Councillor		$28,448+ $8,288$101,882+ $20,190$94,461+ $13,263
Isa Lee
Ward 8 Councillor		$111,233+ $21,533$102,382+ $22,514$94,961+ $12,991

Top number: pay. Second number: benefits and expenses together, such as health cover, mileage, conferences and training. Exactly what goes in it differs a little from city to city; the note below says what this city’s statement includes. Some members take the city’s health plan and some do not, so a higher second number is not a problem by itself. The statements give only totals; the receipts behind them can be requested from the clerk.

Each year links to the city's statement. From the city's Summary of Remuneration and Expenses for Mayor and Council (Municipal Act s. 284), one page a year. "pay" is the printed "Total Remuneration": the City salary, fees from the city-owned companies (Markham Enterprises Corporation, Markham District Energy Inc., Alectra Inc.) and, for the Mayor and the four regional councillors, the Region of York portion. "other" is the sum of the printed totals for discretionary expenses, "other" expenses and council-directed expenses; it does not include benefits, which the city says are not in the statement. Ward 7 changed hands in 2025 (the 2025 by-election): the 2025 statement shows both members' part-year amounts. The statement for January to August 2026 (also posted) is part-year and is not shown.

How open is Markham?

What a resident can find online without asking, as of October 3, 2026.

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The 2026 and 2025 budget books, exhibits and a budget archive back to 2004 are posted. Source

  • Yes
    Audited financial statements

    The 2025 Annual Report carries a clean opinion ("present fairly") from KPMG LLP dated April 28, 2026. Annual reports are posted back to 2003. Source

  • Yes
    Council pay and expenses (Municipal Act s. 284)

    Summaries are posted for 2012 to 2025 (2022 is not listed) and for the period to August 2026. Source

  • Partly
    Agendas and minutes

    The city's eScribe site lists meetings and documents. Its document downloads returned a "Forbidden" error to our reader, so we could not read agendas, minutes, staff reports or the Auditor General's later reports. Source

  • Yes
    Conflict of interest declarations

    A "Declaration of Pecuniary Interest" list is on the Accountability & Transparency page. The newest entry we saw was dated in October 2025. Source

  • Yes
    Integrity Commissioner reports

    Yearly reports are posted to the period ending June 2025. Detailed investigation reports on the page date from 2016 and 2019. Source

  • Partly
    Auditor General reports

    The 2019 asset management audit is posted. We did not find a page that lists later reports. Source

  • Unknown
    Lobbyist registry

    We did not find a lobbyist registry page on markham.ca. Source

  • Yes
    Meetings live streamed

    The 2025 Annual Report says council and standing committee meetings "are live streamed". We did not check how long recordings are kept. Source

Where the city speaks for itself

Markham'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.

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 appointed ADR Chambers Inc., an outside firm, in 2013. Yearly reports are posted to July 2024 to June 2025.

  2. Auditor General

    The city hired an Auditor General in December 2015 (MNP LLP, an outside firm). The Auditor General reports to Council through General Committee and can see all records. We found one report on markham.ca (asset management, 2019).

  3. Ontario Ombudsman

    Markham uses the provincial Ombudsman for complaints about city decisions, as the city's page says.

  4. Mayoral Decisions

    The Mayor's written decisions under the "strong mayor" rules (appointments and a veto in 2026) are listed on the city's page.