2026 City Budget presented October 31

The 2026 City Budget was delivered to Council on Friday, October 31 and is now available for public review on the Budget Documents webpage. Community members are invited to speak to Council at a Special Meeting of Council on Friday, November 14 at 9:30 a.m. Delegations will be heard in-person or virtually, with written submissions also accepted. Details on how to participate are available below.

The 2026 Operating and Capital Budget and the Nine-year Capital Forecast reflect the City’s commitment to affordability, delivering exceptional services and ensuring long-term financial sustainability. The preparation of the budget included:

• an extensive line by line review
• a review of best practices and environmental scans
• a full review of operations and maintenance plans
• creation of new revenue sources and cost recovery
• the impact of downloading from other levels of government
• and review of Council approved strategies and plans. 

The 2026 Budget considers the realities of unpredictable economic challenges and uncertainty, the impact of tariffs, supply chain disruptions and rising costs – all while remaining sensitive to affordability challenges facing residents. As part of this thorough and balanced approach, the budget also maintains existing staffing levels, all the while ensuring residents can continue to rely on consistent exceptional levels of services.

Provincial and Regional policy decisions have resulted in unprecedented levels of downloading which have greatly impacted our budget. This includes paying for and providing services for the social challenges that we are facing right here in Oshawa and across Canada. Housing, Homelessness, Mental Health, Addiction and Social Services are the responsibilities of the Region of Durham as they are legislated by the Province as the Service System Manager for Housing and Homelessness and designated by the federal government as the Community Entity. Yet despite these mandates, Oshawa is left to address and respond daily to the impacts of these issues.

The City of Oshawa is compassionate but does not have the capacity to deal with the volume of unsheltered and the associated health and safety challenges. In response, the City now invests:

• Over $5 million to support residents and businesses and address health and safety issues, including
  • a specialized Fire Response Unit, known as our Rapid Response Unit, staffed by 20 dedicated highly skilled Fire personnel, responding to over 3,000 medical calls yearly;
  • increased Security and By-law costs to address the social impacts this crisis has had on our city;
  • an investment in the City’s operations team to help clean up discarded items such as human waste, used syringes, garbage and the removal of graffiti; and,
  • community improvement grants to help businesses make investments in crime prevention through environmental design and repairs to property.

Budget Highlights

• $44.4 million in infrastructure investments, including: 
  • $23.1 million in roads, with major reconstruction of Stevenson Road North to improve connectivity, accommodate future traffic growth and support ongoing development in the Northwoods Business Area;
  • reconstruction of Roselawn Avenue, Bickle Drive and Winifred Avenue in the Sun Valley area for $2 million. This project will be completed in coordination with the Region to deliver water and sewer, a must for the Sun Valley residents;
  • reconstruction of Meadow Street from Avalon Street to Manor Drive including storm sewers for $1.5 million; and,
  • reconstruction of Myers Street from Wolfe Street to Conant Street including the addition of sidewalks and minor storm sewer work for $815,000.

These projects are in addition to the ongoing commitments related to the reconstruction of Conlin Road East from Ritson to Townline. This multi-year project represents a significant investment in Ward 1 estimated at nearly $40 million in addition to the multi-year reconstruction of Thornton Road in Ward 2 in the amount of approximately $20 million.

• Total investment in Parks of $4.9 million, including:
  • Lakeview Park Enhancement at $1.8 million, which will include replacement of the interlocking brick pathways throughout the park to address safety issues, enhance accessibility and gain operational efficiencies. Additionally, temporary washroom facilities will be conveniently located at the Jubilee Pavilion and the beach to address washroom capacity issues.
  • Knights of Columbus Park for $935,000 to construct an accessible pathway supporting access to the sports fields.

These projects are in addition to the $50 million investment to modernize the Tribute Communities Centre committed earlier this year by Council. 

This Budget makes continued investments in our external agencies and community partners. This investment accounts for more than $16.8 million, which includes $2.5 million of in-kind services. Among the organizations receiving support are:

• Oshawa Senior Citizens Centres for $2.2 million plus $251,500 of in-kind services;
• The Robert McLaughlin Gallery for $992,600 plus $551,800 of in-kind services in addition to advancing the replacement of the chillers;
• Parkwood Historical site for $325,000;
• Oshawa Tourism (through the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce) for $701,200;
• The Oshawa Historical Society for $486,600 plus $63,780 of in-kind services; and,
• the Oshawa Public Libraries for $9.6 million plus $1.7 million of in-kind services. The commitment to the Oshawa Public Libraries accounts for almost 70% of the total allotment provided to all our external agencies.

As presented, the 2026 City Budget includes a net levy increase of 4.68% that would result in an increase of about $8.93 per month for Oshawa’s portion of an average household’s property tax bill, or about .29 cents daily per household. Oshawa’s portion of the tax bill is 40 per cent; 46 per cent of the property taxes go to the Region of Durham, and the remainder to the Province for education.

Budget Process

At this time, two special meetings of Council are scheduled for the 2026 City Budget:

1. Friday, November 14 at 9:30 a.m. – Public delegations will be heard on the budget.
2. Friday, November 28 at 9:30 a.m. – members of Council may propose Budget amendments.

The meetings are open to the public, and community members are welcome to attend in-person or online via webstream. Please note that delegations will only be heard at the Friday, November 14 meeting.

For the Friday, November 14 meeting:

• In-person delegations do not require advance registration.
• Virtual delegations and written submissions must be requested in writing to clerks@oshawa.ca by the following deadlines:
• Virtual delegation requests: by 12 p.m. (noon) on Thursday, November 13
• Written correspondence submissions: by 4 p.m. on Thursday, November 13

Visit www.Oshawa.ca/Budget2026 to learn more about the City’s budget process and highlights from the 2026 Proposed Budget.

Quote:

“The development of this fiscally responsible budget was guided by collaboration and thorough analysis, including one-on-one meetings with Council members to understand their priorities, input from residents and businesses and close collaboration with the City’s leadership team. This budget carefully considers all factors, including affordability, health and safety, delivering exceptional service levels, and infrastructure needs now and for the future.”

– Mayor Dan Carter