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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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

Trent Lakes is run by an elected council of 5 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

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

How open is Trent Lakes?

What a resident can find online without asking, as of October 7, 2026.

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The 2026 budget and tax rates presentation, and budgets back to 2020, are posted as PDFs on one page. The 2026 and 2025 documents are slide decks, not full line-by-line budget books. Source

  • Yes
    Audited financial statements

    The 2025 consolidated statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from Baker Tilly KDN LLP. Statements for 2020 to 2025 are posted on the budget page. The management report in the 2025 statements is dated April 10, 2026. Source

  • Unknown
    Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

    We did not find a yearly statement of council remuneration and expenses on the council, finance or reports pages, in the site's page list, or in the audited statements. It may be filed somewhere we did not look. Source

  • Unknown
    Meeting agendas and minutes

    Agendas and minutes are on events.trentlakes.ca. Its robots.txt returned a security block page to a plain request, so we did not open the portal and did not read any minutes. Source

  • Yes
    Integrity Commissioner reports

    Annual reports for 2024 and 2025 are posted. Source

  • Yes
    Candidates' 2022 election financial statements

    The Municipality lists the candidates who filed 2022 financial statements, by office, on its election page. Source

Where the town speaks for itself

Trent Lakes' 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 town 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 town clerk (the freedom of information coordinator), on the town’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 town 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 town 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 town’s decision.

The town's request form (on its Forms page) · The law · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

  • Funding plan for the joint fire and roads facility

    The 2025 statements show a $7,605,295 commitment (plus HST). The funding mix is not in the documents we read.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under MFIPPA, I request the council report(s) and funding plan approving the joint fire and roads facility, showing the planned split between reserves, borrowing and the tax levy, the contract award(s), and cost to date, from January 1, 2025 to the date of this request.

  • Council remuneration and expenses statements

    We did not find the yearly statement under section 284 of the Municipal Act on the Municipality's website.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under MFIPPA, I request the yearly statement of remuneration and expenses paid to each member of council and to members of local boards for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Narrow the dates if the town 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 Municipality posts the Integrity Commissioner's yearly reports for 2024 and 2025, and its 2022 code of conduct, on one page. The 2025 report says no complaints were made that year.

  2. Declaration of interest registry

    The Municipality keeps a table of declarations of pecuniary interest made by members of council on its Pecuniary Interest Guidelines page, with the meeting date, the item and the general nature of the interest. We did not build any question on it.