Windsor's next mayor will earn less and councillors $5,000 more as new term starts Nov. 15

Mayor's pay drops and councillors get more starting Nov. 15. Council voted 7 to 3 on July 13 to reduce the mayor's base salary to $182,840.01 and add $5,000 per councillor. Against: Fred Francis, Angelo Marignani, Kieran McKenzie.

Topics: Council and City Hall

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Windsor's mayor will be paid less and each city councillor will be paid more when the new council term begins on Nov. 15, 2026.

City council approved the change on July 13, 2026, in decision CR324/2026. It has three parts:

The mayor's base salary is reduced to $182,840.01.

Each councillor gets an additional $5,000 on their base salary.

Mayor and council salaries continue to be adjusted each year by the same cost of living percentage given to the City's non-union management staff.

Where the numbers come from

A June 30, 2026 report from City Clerk Steve Vlachodimos compared Windsor's council pay with six other Ontario municipalities. Its comparison table, based on the previous year's pay reports, listed Windsor's mayor at a $218,949 salary, or $228,843 with taxable benefits. It listed Windsor councillors at $54,723.

The new mayor's figure, $182,840.01, is the same to the cent as the comparison's average total pay for the heads of council in the six other municipalities: five mayors and one regional chair. That average includes salary, taxable benefits and committee pay.

The report said council could consider changes to the mayor's and councillors' pay for the next term "to better align with the averages of the comparable municipalities analyzed." Its formal recommendation was only that council receive the report for information.

How they voted

The minutes list how each member voted. Councillor Mark McKenzie was absent.

Mayor's pay reduction and councillor increase (clauses I and II): carried 7 to 3. For: Mayor Drew Dilkens and councillors Renaldo Agostino, Frazier Fathers, Jo-Anne Gignac, Gary Kaschak, Jim Morrison and Ed Sleiman. Against: Fred Francis, Angelo Marignani and Kieran McKenzie.

Yearly cost of living adjustments (clause III): carried 8 to 2. Kieran McKenzie voted for this part. Francis and Marignani voted against it.

Before those votes, Francis moved, seconded by Kieran McKenzie, to defer the report to a future meeting "to allow for all members of Council to be in attendance." That motion lost 2 to 7.

The minutes do not record the reasons members gave for their votes, and the staff report does not address them.

Other decisions that night

Council voted 10 to 0 to set up a Compensation Review Committee that will report to council in 2028 on future council pay and on whether a councillor's job should be part time or full time (CR325/2026). It also voted 10 to 0 to start a ward boundary review, with results going to the next council (CR322/2026).

In a 9 to 1 vote, with Francis against, council left future meeting start times to the council in place at the time and asked staff for a report on public engagement (CR323/2026).

The mayor-elect

Francis was elected mayor on Oct. 26, 2026. The results were certified on Oct. 28. The reduced mayor's salary takes effect on Nov. 15, the day the new term begins, so it is the salary that will apply to him.

The July vote came more than three months before the election. Francis, then the Ward 1 councillor, voted against all three parts of the pay decision. The minutes do not record his reasons.

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