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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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

North Bay is run by an elected council of 11 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 $440,417 in pay, benefits and expenses, about $19 per home. The mayor's pay went up −12% from 2023 to 2025; prices went up 5% over the same years.
Pay, and benefits and expenses, for each council member by year
Member202520242023
Peter Chirico
Mayor		$69,548+ $19,366$88,677+ $13,354$79,028+ $12,581
Mac Bain
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243
Gary Gardiner
Councillor		$32,603+ $636$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243
Maggie Horsfield
Councillor		$37,096+ $2,722$36,405+ $2,668$35,310+ $2,581
Sara Inch
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,189+ $2,256$24,276+ $1,744
Mark King
Councillor		$32,603+ $1,049$31,995+ $624$31,033+ $605
Jamie Lowery
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243
Justine Mallah
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243
Chris Mayne
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243
Lana Mitchell
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243
Tanya Vrebosch
Councillor		$32,603+ $2,367$31,995+ $2,319$31,033+ $2,243

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. The City's statements give each member's salary and fringe benefits (the City's share of Canada Pension Plan and Employer Health Tax). Here "pay" is the salary column and "other" is the fringe benefits column. Expenses are in separate quarterly statements. For 2024, the Mayor's salary column includes a $7,200 vehicle allowance (the Office of the Mayor statement shows temporary salaries of $81,477 and other allowances of $7,200); in 2025 the allowance is in the fringe benefits column. The Mayor's pay is set by By-Law 2016-04 and the vehicle allowance by By-Law No. 2024-55, passed July 9, 2024. Mac Bain and Gary Gardiner are printed in the statements as "Bain, M." and "Gardiner, G.".

How open is North Bay?

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

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The 2026 operating, capital and water and wastewater budgets (final versions), the summary of changes made at the special committee meetings, and budgets back to 2015 are posted as PDFs on one page. Source

  • Partly
    Audited financial statements

    Statements for 2025 and earlier years are posted. In the 2025 PDF, the pages holding the auditor's report and the statement of financial position (PDF pages 3 to 7) are images with no readable text, so we could not read the 2025 audit opinion. The 2024 PDF is a scan; its KPMG LLP report (August 8, 2025) says the statements "present fairly". We took no figures from the scan. Source

  • Yes
    Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

    A remuneration statement for the Mayor and each councillor is posted for 2022 to 2025, with quarterly statements of council expenses (with payee, date and amount) from the second quarter of 2025 and for 2026. Source

  • Unknown
    Meeting agendas and minutes

    The City's meetings page lists agendas for committees such as the Committee of Adjustment. Council agendas and minutes are on an eSCRIBE meeting portal, which loaded for us but is built on a calendar that needs a browser to browse. We did not read any minutes, so we do not know how up to date they are. Source

  • Yes
    Integrity Commissioner and closed meeting reports

    Reports are posted on the City's website: seven on the Code of Conduct page (December 2020 to April 2026, one of them a 2021 closed meeting investigation) and one more on the closed meeting page (August 12, 2025 meeting). Source

  • Unknown
    Budget dates for 2027

    We did not find 2027 budget meeting dates on the budget pages we read. The only budget calendar posted is for 2020. Source

Where the city speaks for itself

North Bay'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

  • The agreement with the Department of National Defence for the airport PFAS remediation

    The 2026 capital budget says 97% of a $122,670,523 project is funded by National Defence under an agreement. The agreement would show whether the City's 3% share is capped and who pays if costs rise. Related question: How much of the $122.7 million PFAS cleanup at the airport lands could end up on North Bay taxpayers?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request a copy of the agreement between the City of North Bay and the Department of National Defence for the remediation of PFAS on the Jack Garland Airport lands (capital project 4132WS), any amendments, and the most recent cost estimate or report to Council on the City's share.

  • Outside fleet repairs by garage and vehicle, 2023 to 2025

    The outside fleet repairs account came in at $1,432,293 in 2024 and $2,422,835 in 2025, against budgets of $400,000 and $938,898. A list by vendor and vehicle type would show what drove it. Related question: Why did the City's outside fleet repair bill come in far over budget two years running, and why is a reserve paying for the fix in 2026?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request a list of payments charged to account 3316 (Outside Fleet Repairs) for 2023, 2024 and 2025, showing the payee, date, amount, and vehicle or department charged, and any report to Council or senior staff explaining the increase.

  • The City's expected payments for the Cassellholme rebuild

    The 2025 statements put the present value at $52,617,400 with payments from 2029. The 2026 capital budget forecasts $3,250,000 in 2026 and a project total of $46,229,562. A schedule would show how they fit. Related question: How much will the Cassellholme care home rebuild cost North Bay, and when does the City start paying?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the schedule or calculation of the City's expected payments toward the Cassellholme redevelopment (year by year, principal and interest) used for Note 9(a)(iii) of the 2025 financial statements, and the basis for capital project 6483AA in the 2026 Capital Budget.

  • Council credit card and expense approval procedures

    The Integrity Commissioner's October 25, 2025 report recommends clarifying what a vehicle allowance covers and who approves an expense when the approver took part. Related question: What did the Integrity Commissioner find about the Mayor's expense claims in October 2025, and what has Council done about it?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the City's current policy and procedure for review and approval of council members' credit card charges and expense claims, any changes made since October 25, 2025, and any report to Council responding to the Integrity Commissioner's report Re Chirico, 2025 ONMIC 6.

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

    The City has an independent Integrity Commissioner who looks into complaints that a council member broke the Code of Conduct or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The City posts the reports. The City's Code of Conduct page lists seven posted reports and decisions from December 2020 to April 2026 (one of them a 2021 closed meeting investigation), including one on the Mayor's expense claims (October 25, 2025). In the April 4, 2026 decision on an application about one councillor and a 2025 vote on a non-profit housing corporation, the Integrity Commissioner found no breach of the Code and decided not to ask a judge to rule on the conflict-of-interest law.

  2. Closed meeting investigator

    Anyone can ask for an investigation of a closed council meeting. The City's page names Aird & Berlis LLP as its investigator and posts one report, on the closed session of August 12, 2025. That report, dated November 10, 2025, was written by a different law firm (Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham LLP) and sent through the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's Local Authority Services. We do not know why the firm differs from the one on the City's page.

  3. Conflicts of Interest Registry

    The City runs a searchable registry of declarations of interest by council member and meeting. We did not run searches, so we did not read any declarations.

  4. Council attendance records

    The City posts attendance for the Mayor and each councillor at council, committee and board meetings. Online reporting began in 2026, with figures backdated to 2023. We did not read the individual pages.