Inflation: a salary increase of 6 to 7% for the elected officials of several municipalities in Quebec

Several municipal elected officials in Quebec, including those of Quebec and Montreal, will benefit from a 6 to 7% increase in their salary in 2023, due to inflation.

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Several cities in Quebec have regulations that provide for the indexation of the remuneration of their elected officials each year.

This increase is usually calculated based on the consumer price index (CPI), or inflation.

However, in 2022, inflation was galloping. The most recent data from Statistics Canada indicates that the CPI increased by 7% in August in the country, compared to the year before. In July, this increase was 7.6%.

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To calculate the indexation, the formulas differ from one city to another. But all are based on the variation of the CPI.

For example, in Quebec, the increase will be calculated according to the variation for the period from 1^er September to August 31 of the previous year in the region.

For its part, Longueuil uses the index for the Montreal region. In Montreal, the rate used is that for all of Quebec, as in Saguenay.

More than in the population

Thus, elected officials can expect to obtain a significant indexation of their salary, including salary and additional remuneration for participation in committees.

In the general population, employers in Quebec are planning salary increases of 4.1% in 2023, according to forecasts by the Order of Certified Human Resources Advisors.

“Exceptional” indexing

For Danielle Pilette, associate professor of municipal management at UQAM, “the period from 1^er September 2021 to August 31, 2022 has been exceptionally inflationary, at least for many years. So that the indexation granted in 2023 would be exceptional”.

In this particular context, it emphasizes that high indexation contributes to fueling the inflationary circle.

For her, it would be better to set a maximum for rates this year.

“It would seem relevant to me that the municipal by-law be amended to exceptionally cap the indexation of the salary of elected officials for 2023 at, for example, the increase in the CPI minus 3% or minus 3.5%.”

The City of Lévis has chosen this approach. Indeed, the regulation which provided for indexation according to the CPI will be modified.

“The current indexation clause […] is currently being revised for adoption by the city council before the end of 2022. The indexation will be capped,” said Nicole Rodrigue, to communications from the City.

What is the CPI?

• The Consumer Price Index represents price changes experienced by consumers.
• It measures price change by comparing, over time, the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services divided into eight components: food, housing, current expenses, household furnishings and equipment, clothing and footwear, transport, care health and personal care, recreation, education and reading, and recreational alcoholic beverages, tobacco and cannabis.
• The CPI is one of the most commonly used measures of inflation.

Recent year-over-year changes in the CPI

• May 2022: +7.7%
• June 2022: +8.1%
• July 2022: +7.6%
• August 2022: +7%

Source: Statistics Canada