Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Orillia is run by an elected council of 9 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the city day to day.

Current council

• MayorDon McIsaacmayor@orillia.ca
• Councillor, Ward 1David Campbell
• Councillor, Ward 1Whitney Smith
• Councillor, Ward 2Ralph Cipolla
• Councillor, Ward 2Luke Leatherdale
• Councillor, Ward 3Jay Fallis
• Councillor, Ward 3Jeff Czetwerzuk
• Councillor, Ward 4Tim Lauer
• Councillor, Ward 4Janet-Lynne Durnford

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

• Yes
  Budgets posted online

  The approved operating and capital budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026, and the 10-year capital plans, are posted as PDFs on one page. The page says the Mayor was granted strong-mayor powers in 2025, including proposing the annual budget, and that Council approved a 1.48 per cent levy increase for 2026 on December 10, 2025. Source

• Partly
  Audited financial statements

  Statements are posted for 2020 to 2024. The newest, for 2024, carries a clean opinion ("present fairly") from BDO Canada LLP dated August 17, 2026. We did not find 2025 statements on the page on October 5, 2026. Source

• Unknown
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  We did not find the yearly statement on orillia.ca. Council documents sit on a CivicWeb portal whose robots.txt asks automated tools to stay out, so we did not look there. We filled in no pay table. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  The City's council meetings page links a 2026 meeting schedule. Agendas and minutes are on the CivicWeb portal, which we did not read, so we cannot say whether minutes are up to date. Source

• Unknown
  Procurement results

  The City has a procurement page (build-and-invest/business-opportunities-and-resources/procurement). We did not read it. Source

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

• List of investments held at December 31, 2024 and 2025

  Note 4 groups $188,695,227 by bank and type. A list by holding, amount, maturity and rate shows how the $9,581,542 of 2024 investment income was earned. Related question: Why did Orillia earn $9,581,542 on its investments in 2024 when the budget expected $2,120,912, and what does the budget do as interest rates fall?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the City's schedule of investments held at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2025, showing for each holding the issuer, type, amount, purchase date, maturity date and rate, and the City's most recent investment report to Council.

  Copy the wording

• Development charge reserve balances and recovery forecast

  Note 21 gives one net deficit figure of $27,444,620. The City's own forecast would show when it expects to recover it. Related question: Why did development charges come in at $2,312,621 against a budget of $8,193,000, while the money the City has lent itself to build ahead of growth rose to $27,444,620?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the City's development charge reserve fund balances by service at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2025, the interest rate charged on internal borrowing from other reserves, and the forecast of when each deficit is expected to be recovered.

  Copy the wording

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

1. Integrity Commissioner

   The City's page lists a Code of Conduct and a complaint form, and posts one Integrity Commissioner report, a 2020 complaint investigation. We did not find any later report on the page.

2. Closed meeting investigations

   The City's closed meetings page links a Meeting Investigation Request Form and the Municipal Act, 2001. We did not find any investigator reports on the page.

3. Registry of declarations of interest

   The City says the registry of declarations made under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act is on its CivicWeb portal, or can be seen at the Clerk's Office. We did not read it: the portal's robots.txt asks automated tools to stay out.