July 25, 2024 – New user fees and incremental increases to other rates and fees in
2024 to 2026 will help the City of St. Catharines cover the costs for certain programs
and services that directly benefit users. The fees are critical for the City, which has a
mixed approach to funding its services – relying on rates and fees and the tax levy, and
other sources such as grants and reserves.
There are 13 new fees, 10 have been updated and two have been removed. Some
increases will be phased in over three years to support the transition. The update to the
2024 to 2026 schedule of rates and fees was approved by City Council on Monday, July
22. User fees include charges for things such as swimming lessons, dog licences, park
and facility rentals, plus building and demolition permits.
During a recent review, the City prioritized best practices, including a balanced
approach to ensure fees are in line among comparable municipalities and accounted for
ratepayer affordability. Factors that are considered when setting individual rates include
legislation, market conditions, cost recovery and municipal comparators.
New and updated fees include:
• Fire Services fee for attending collisions on municipal roads similar to the existing
fee applied to collisions on provincial highways. The fee will apply to non-
residents. It will support the recovery of costs including clean-up of spills and
time of service. Over the last three years, roughly 10 per cent of collisions
responded to each year on municipal roads involve non-residents.
• Some fees to support cost recovery on the principle that “growth should pay for
growth”, including a Master Plan Review Fee - for large multi-phased
redevelopments; a building permit pre-consultation fee; and a concurrent building
permit review fee.
• The Garden City Golf Course is introducing a number of options allowing
participants to play nine holes as opposed to a full 18.
• Three-year phased-in increases to business licence fees that were identified as
not being in sync with the average of municipal comparators.
The business licence compliance letter fee and paper / magazine vending box fee have
both been eliminated for 2024.
A full list of the City’s 2024 schedule of rates and fees is available at
www.stcatharines.ca/2024RatesandFees.