Northwestern Ontario towns are receiving relief from escalating Ontario Provincial Police expenses for the upcoming year. The provincial government has announced that any cost hikes for municipalities under OPP coverage will be limited to an 11% increase in 2026, along with modifications to how discounts are computed.
This decision follows concerns raised by municipalities in northwestern Ontario last year regarding substantial jumps in OPP costs for 2025 compared to the previous year. For instance, Red Lake saw a 22% increase, Marathon faced a 23% rise, and Pickle Lake experienced a staggering 315% surge.
In September, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner informed mayors and CAOs of OPP-policed municipalities that the Ministry had reviewed the OPP’s cost recovery model and amended the Community Safety and Policing Act accordingly.
In addition to capping any 2026 cost increases at 11% compared to 2025, the Ministry is also reducing the threshold that municipalities must meet to be eligible for a discount.
According to an email from OPP spokesperson Gosia Puzio, the revised billing regulation now employs a statistical measure called a standard deviation to identify municipalities with more frequent or complex service calls per property than the provincial average. Previously, a municipality had to exceed five standard deviations above the provincial average to qualify for a discount; this has now been lowered to three standard deviations.
Mayor Rick Dumas of Marathon pointed out that an 11% increase translates to approximately an $80,000 rise in OPP costs for the town in 2026. He emphasized that calls for police service, often linked to socioeconomic challenges and complex situations, can significantly impact a municipality’s policing costs.
Dumas highlighted that a 1.5% tax increase would be necessary in a small northern community like Marathon to accommodate the 11% rise in policing costs. He emphasized the broader financial impacts on operations and infrastructure maintenance that come with escalating costs across various sectors, such as policing, fire services, and public works.
The 2025 cost escalation was primarily due to hikes in OPP officer compensation, with some funding assistance provided by the province, Dumas explained.