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 2024 for Thunder Bay, and 2024 for 10 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 Thunder Bay, budget documents

   City of Thunder Bay · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. Annual Financial Report for the year ended December 31, 2024 (audited consolidated financial statements, trust funds, statistics)

   City of Thunder Bay (auditor: MNP LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   87 PDF pages. Auditor's report dated December 3, 2025; Treasurer's letter dated December 2, 2025.

4. Annual Financial Report 2023 (audited consolidated financial statements)

   City of Thunder Bay (auditor: BDO Canada LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Auditor's report dated October 28, 2024.

5. 2026 Operating Budget (approved)

   City of Thunder Bay · retrieved 2026-10-05

   About 270 PDF pages. Passed by resolution January 28, 2026.

6. 2026-2027 Capital Budget (approved)

   City of Thunder Bay · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Approved by council on December 2, 2025 according to the City's budget page.

7. Report 123-2026-Corporate Services-Internal Audit: Internal Audit Charter and 2026 Internal Audit Work Plan

   City of Thunder Bay · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Standing committee report prepared March 13, 2026 for April 14, 2026.

8. 2025 BMA Municipal Study; Long Range Financial Plan; S&P Global Ratings report of May 15, 2025

   City of Thunder Bay (documents it posts on its Accountability page) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Downloaded and kept in data/raw/thunder-bay/ but not used for any finding in this pack.

9. 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 single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 10 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.