Windsor's 2027 budget can't be tabled until January

Windsor's 2027 budget can't be tabled before Jan. 1. Under a provincial rule in force since June, a strong mayor can propose the budget for the year after an election only in that year. The deadline is Feb. 1, then council has 30 days to amend.

By Kyle L. Stewart | Published Oct. 31, 2026, 10:07 a.m. ET | Windsor, Ontario

Topics: Election 2026 Council and City Hall Money and taxes

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Windsor's 2027 city budget can't be tabled until January. A provincial rule that took effect June 22, 2026 says a strong mayor can propose the budget for the year after a regular municipal election only in that year.

The new rule

Ontario Regulation 189/26 added subsection 7(1.1) to O. Reg. 530/22, the regulation that sets out how strong mayor budgets work. It reads that the head of council "may propose a budget for a year immediately following a year in which a regular election is held only in the year to which the budget applies."

In a June 23, 2026 letter to heads of council, Ontario's municipal affairs minister said the change limits outgoing heads of council from proposing the budget for the year after an election, aligning strong mayor municipalities with existing municipal budget rules.

For Windsor, that means the 2027 budget has to be proposed in 2027.

The deadline

The same regulation says the head of council proposes the budget on or before Feb. 1 each year, gives it to every member of council and the clerk, and makes it public. If the head of council does not propose a budget by Feb. 1, council prepares and adopts the budget itself.

What council can do

Once the budget is tabled, council has 30 days to pass amendments, and can vote to shorten that period. The head of council then has 10 days to veto an amendment, with written reasons. Council has 15 days after that to override a veto, which takes a vote of two-thirds of council members. When those periods run out, the budget is deemed adopted.

Last year

The 2026 budget was tabled under Mayoral Decision 26-2025, which directed the clerk to make it public no later than Dec. 29, 2025. It proposed a 0% municipal tax levy increase, and council held budget delegations Jan. 12, 2026 and deliberations Jan. 26, 2026.

Across the county

Amherstburg, Essex, Kingsville, Lakeshore, LaSalle, Leamington and Tecumseh are also designated strong mayor municipalities in the same regulation, so the same budget rules apply to them.

Windsor's new term of council starts Nov. 15.