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Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Older reportDetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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
An older report. We have no 2024 report for Stratford in the Province's latest release, so these pages use its 2023 report. It may simply be filed late.
Read by hand. We read Stratford'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

Stratford 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, 2024 to 2025.

In 2025, the whole council cost $470,533 in pay, benefits and expenses, about $30 per home. The mayor's pay went up 7% from 2024 to 2025; prices went up 2% over the same years.
Pay, and benefits and expenses, for each council member by year
Member20252024
Martin Ritsma
Mayor		$90,066+ $35,532$84,231+ $25,795
Harjinder Nijjar
Deputy Mayor		$25,250+ $15,046$23,617+ $16,861
Brad Beatty
Councillor		$23,229+ $20,517$21,724+ $24,472
Lesley Biehn
Councillor		$23,229+ $9,773$21,724+ $7,948
Taylor Briscoe
Councillor		$23,229+ $5,943$21,724+ $5,824
Jo-Dee Burbach
Councillor		$23,229+ $13,929$21,724+ $12,851
Bonnie Henderson
Councillor		$23,229+ $6,061$21,724+ $7,132
Mark Hunter
Councillor		$23,229+ $9,383$21,724+ $7,153
Larry McCabe
Councillor		$23,229+ $8,262$21,724+ $7,717
Cody Sebben
Councillor		$23,229+ $9,843$21,724+ $9,530
Geza Wordofa
Councillor		$23,229+ $11,867$21,724+ $13,148

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 yearly statements of council remuneration and expenses (Municipal Act, 2001, s. 284) for 2025 and 2024. "Pay" is the base remuneration column. "Other" is the printed total less base remuneration, so it includes per diems, the amount in lieu of benefits (4,000 each), conference and meeting expenses, amounts paid by local boards and employer remittances. The 2025 statement says some 2025 amounts paid after December 31, 2025 will be reported in 2026. The 2023 statement was not entered because some of its columns have blank cells that do not line up in the text layer.

How open is Stratford?

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

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The 2026 Mayor's Budget, the earlier 2026 draft budget, the Mayor's direction and the Mayor's decision not to veto are posted. Budget pages for 2023 to 2025 also exist. Source

  • Partly
    Audited financial statements

    The finance reports page posts statements for 2021 to 2024. The 2024 auditor's report is dated June 15, 2026, and we did not find 2025 posted on October 5, 2026. Source

  • Yes
    Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

    Yearly statements are posted for 2021 to 2025 on the finance reports page. Source

  • Unknown
    Meeting agendas and minutes

    The City says agendas, meetings and minutes can be searched in its Council Calendar. We did not read any minutes. Source

  • Yes
    Closed meeting reports

    The investigator's reports are posted on the Accountability and Transparency page. Source

How to raise a concern

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

  1. Integrity Commissioner

    Council has appointed an Integrity Commissioner for the Code of Conduct for members of Council and local boards. The Council Code of Conduct page names the officer and gives contact details and a request-for-inquiry form. We did not find any Integrity Commissioner reports on the pages we read.

  2. Closed meeting investigator: Local Authority Services (LAS)

    Council has appointed Local Authority Services Ltd. as closed meeting investigator. The City posts the investigator's reports on its Accountability and Transparency page (dates listed there run from 2023 to April 29, 2025). We read the April 29, 2025 and the two 2024 reports we downloaded.

  3. Declaration of Pecuniary Interest Registry

    The City has a registry page under City Council. We did not read it.