MANITOULIN—While the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) may have been capped at an 11 percent increase for policing costs in 2026, the costs being provided by municipalities, including those on Manitoulin Island, are still considerable, say local municipal officials.
“I looked at the calls for services included in their (OPP) letter. Billings is getting billed an awful lot for what they are doing in terms of calls for service,” stated Billings councillor Ian Anderson at a council meeting last week.
The OPP noted in a 2026 annual billing statement that cost increases for the total 2026 billing amount have been capped at 11 percent over the total 2025 billings amount. 2025 grand total billing amount is $214,308, 11 percent of which is $23,574 meaning capped payable for 2026 is $237,883. The capped payable for 2026 is lower than the calculated billing amount by $41,052.
“At the end of the day it is a lot of money,” Councillor Anderson told The Expositor after the meeting. “It is becoming a major issue, when you look at all the costs that municipalities share in and have no control on, such as the District Services Board (DSB) which had about a 3.5 percent increase in its budget this year, the nursing home (Centennial Manor) had an increase of about two percent, public health increases and then an 11 percent increase (policing), albeit capped, is a significant increase. It makes it hard for councils to plan for while trying to keep tax rates at low levels when we have all these increases in fixed costs. And, we have many residents who are retired and are on fixed incomes. All of this makes it difficult to keep costs down for taxpayers and continue to see increased costs on things we have no control on. It’s a challenge.”
“And we can’t opt out of any of these services,” said Councillor Anderson.
In Gore Bay, treasurer Michael Lalonde said, “If the OPP had not capped the increase by 11 percent everyone (municipalities costs) would have been increased a lot more. The change (increase) for this year is $14,000. And for 2026 the billing cost have gone up from $168,000 to $187,000 which is an $18,600 increase (for Gore Bay), which amounts to a 1.2 percent tax levy increase.”
“I heard from Michael (Lalonde) what our policing costs would be,” said Gore Bay Mayor Ron Lane. “But there is little we can do—policing and other services send us a bill and municipalities are expected to pay it.”
“I don’t think we have ever been satisfied, especially in terms of what is driving the costs up,” said Mayor Lane. “Obviously we are not happy with the increases, as these costs are turned over to taxpayers, and it means there are some initiatives that we can’t do in town. Policing costs is a no-win situation for municipalities.”
“Local residents need to understand when we plan to carry out projects, but can’t, it is because in part due to costs that we have no control over,” said Mayor Lane. He said when the town has had delegations at its meetings from OPP officials, council was not provided much in the way of justification as to why the costs are increasing. “And when we were told the OPP had received extra officers and had a full complement we asked if we would get 24-hour policing in Gore Bay, we were told no. We need better answers,” continued Mayor Lane. “There is no value added for the extra costs we are paying, for Gore Bay and all of Western Manitoulin.”
Denise Deforge, CAO/clerk of Central Manitoulin told The Expositor the calculated OPP cost estimate for the municipality for 2026 is $710,919, but was capped at 11 percent, so is in total $595,654 and in comparison to 2025 billing figures, there is over a $59,000 increase, which makes up approximately over one percent on the municipal tax mill rate.
Dave Williamson, CAO of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI) explained the OPP provided an 11 percent cap on last year’s payment, so the town budgeted what the actual costs were going to be estimated at, “and in the end the costs were $140,000-150,000 less than we had budgeted for,” keeping in mind, “there is no assurance the next year that the OPP won’t be asking for the actual service cost.”
Alton Hobbs, CAO of Assiginack Township said its increase is about $28,000 over last year’s OPP actual costs (to $303,000). “That is the cost of the service being provided, and we are happy to pay our share if we are getting the service. The OPP cost shared billing is transparent in relation to the services we are receiving.”
Micheal S. Kerzner, Ontario Solicitor General explained in a letter to OPP-policed municipalities, dated December 5, “Dear heads of council and chief administrative officers of OPP policed municipalities. Further to my letter on September 26, 2025, I am pleased to confirm the release of the 2026 (OPP) annual billing statements. These billing statements include confirmation of policing costs before and after the implementation of the 11 percent cap on OPP policing costs for 2026.”
“The cap was introduced to provide municipalities with greater predictability and stability for the 2026 billing year, ensuring costs do not rise by more than 11 percent between 2025 and 2026, excluding any service enhancements. This measure reflects the province’s commitment to responsive and responsible cost management, particularly in the context of the cost pressures identified for the upcoming year. Without provincial intervention costs for OPP policed municipalities would be significantly higher in 2026,” wrote the Solicitor General.
“In determining the methodology for the cap on OPP policing costs for the 2026 billing year, a number of items were considered, including the OPP Association salary increases and managing year-over-year cost variability. In addition, factors relevant to all municipalities across the province were considered, such as the rate of inflation, typical salary increase trends, and municipal fiscal capacity including grants,” wrote the solicitor general.
Bradley McCallum, chief superintend commander crime prevention and community support bureau with the OPP wrote in a letter to municipalities, “Please find attached your OPP annual billing statement package including 2026 estimated costs and a statement of the 2024 year-end reconciliation The final cost adjustment from the 2024 reconciliation process has been applied as an adjustment to the calculated billing amount for the 2026 calendar year.”
“As noted in the letter sent to you by the Solicitor General dated September 26, any increase in total policing costs for calendar year 2026, including the 2024 year-end adjustment, has been capped at 11 percent over the final amount billed in 2025 (after 2023 year-end adjustment and all applicable discounts),” wrote Mr. McCallum. “To provide clarity and transparency, your statement includes the actual calculated billing amount for 2026, a capped amount, based on the final 2025 payable amount plus 11 percent. The municipality will be billed the lower of these two amounts during the 2026 calendar year. The final reconciliation of your 2026 annual costs will appear in your 2028 annual billing statement. The reconciled 2026 cost will reflect the 11 percent cap applied for that year.”
It was noted by the OPP that the costs allocated to municipalities are determined based on the costs assigned to detachment staff performing municipal policing activities across the province. A statistical analysis of activity in detachment is used to determine the municipal policing workload allocation of all detachment-based staff as well as the allocation of the municipal workload between base services and calls for service activity. For 2026 billing purposes the allocation of the municipal workload in detachments has been calculated to be 51.9 percent base service and 48.1 percent calls for service.
