Calgary council pockets pay raise as families feel the squeeze

While Calgary families struggle with sky-high costs, city councillors have once again pocketed an automatic pay raise, boosting their compensation by nearly three per cent.

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While Calgary families struggle with sky-high costs, city councillors have once again pocketed an automatic pay raise, boosting their compensation by nearly three per cent after voting against freezing their own salaries.

According to the City of Calgary’s council accountability disclosures, councillors’ base salaries increased by 2.97 per cent effective Jan. 1, bringing annual pay to $128,159.14. The mayor’s salary rose to $226,841.71.

Council compensation has increased by a cumulative 12.46 per cent since 2021, including raises of 1.6 per cent in 2022, 2.41 per cent in 2023 and 2024, and 3.07 per cent in 2025.

Calgary’s current compensation system dates back more than two decades. In September 2002, council passed a bylaw establishing the Council Compensation Review Committee, a volunteer body tasked with reviewing council pay, pensions and benefits and making recommendations based on comparisons with other municipalities.

In 2006, council accepted the committee’s recommendation to tie councillors’ salaries to Alberta’s average weekly earnings, using Statistics Canada data. The formula took effect in October 2007 and has remained in place unless council votes to suspend it for an upcoming term.

Under changes approved in May 2017, council is required to vote before each municipal election on whether to continue using the earnings-based formula for the next four-year term. That same decision reduced the mayor’s salary by six per cent while leaving councillors’ pay unchanged, underscoring council’s ability to modify or reject the mechanism.

The framework has also allowed for freezes. Council voted to freeze its pay for 2019, 2020 and 2021, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the freeze ended, the earnings-based formula resumed, resulting in a 1.6 per cent increase in 2022, followed by annual raises in subsequent years.

However, Calgary’s city council rejected a motion to freeze salaries at the start of 2025, which would have rolled compensation back to 2024 levels.

The motion, introduced by City Councillor Sonya Sharp and supported by former mayor Jyoti Gondek, was defeated after a 7-7 tie. Because the pay formula had already been approved, the motion required a two-thirds majority to pass.

“When you run for Council, you should know what you’ll be paid—and if you’re only running for the prospect of a raise every year, you’re running for the wrong reasons,” said Sharp.

Sharp also pointed to rising costs faced by residents.

“It’s just the fact that when I have constituents calling me about a 60 per cent assessment increase, I have a tough time taking a pay raise,” she said.

Former mayor Jyoti Gondek supported the pay freeze effort last year and said council should set an example during economic hardship.

“Calgarians are struggling with higher grocery bills, increasing utility rates, & inflation. If we’re asking City Administration to find efficiencies & Calgarians to stretch their budgets, we must hold ourselves to the same standard,” said Gondek.

Councillors who opposed the freeze defended the automatic adjustment, arguing it reflects broader economic conditions in the province.

“Our wages go up and down with Albertans’ wages as directed by citizens. Calgary’s economy is doing well and wages are improving,” said Coun. Jennifer Wyness during the January 2025 debate.

Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta director Kris Sims previously told True North that councillors should not only freeze pay raises but refocus on the municipal government’s core purposes: keeping the streets and infrastructure safe, clean and in good repair.

“Being a city councillor was never supposed to be a full-time dream career for politicians who want to save the world,” said Sims. “It was supposed to be a part-time role for people like small business owners, retired teachers, and former cops, so a stipend for their ‘public service’ was just fine.”

Calgary councillors earn more than Alberta MLAs, and the mayor’s salary exceeds that of Premier Danielle Smith, whose annual compensation is about $185,000.