Province pledges relief for northwestern Ontario municipalities facing spike in OPP costs

Northwestern Ontario municipalities will get some relief from a spike in OPP costs next year, the Ministry of the Solicitor General said.

In a media release issued Friday, the ministry said it would provide more than $77 million in relief funding for municipalities who are policed by the OPP.

Earlier this year, municipalities across the province were informed their OPP policing costs would rise sharply in 2025.

For example, Red Lake's 2025 costs were set to rise more than 22 per cent over 2024. Other increases included:

• Dryden, 19 per cent;
• Kenora, 36.7 per cent;
• Pickle Lake, 315 per cent;
• Ear Falls, 14.5 per cent, and
• Marathon, 23 per cent.

In the release, the province said the relief will come in the form of a 10 per cent discount for 2025, as well as a 44 per cent reduction on reconciled 2023 overtime costs, and a 3.75 per cent reduction on total reconciled 2023 costs.

Rick Dumas, mayor of Marathon and vice-president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, said he was happy to hear of the provincial announcement.

"For our community, it makes a huge difference," he said, adding the relief will mean "about $50,000 to $80,000 potential savings."

"That's a huge amount of money for a small northern community."

Dumas had earlier said prior to Friday's provincial announcement, the town was expecting to pay about $890,000 in OPP costs next year, up from about $750,000 in 2024.

In the release, the ministry said the increases were due to 2024's collective bargaining agreement between the province and the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

"I think the government recognized that, yes, there was a need for them to increase the wages of the OPP officers, but also the impact was great for all of the small communities," Dumas said.