According to an October update from the City of Hamilton’s Human Resources Department, the latest data indicates that the municipality has 9,449 employees.
That means that the number of employees working for the city has increased by over 16 per cent since 2021.
In 2021, just four years ago, the city’s headcount was 8,122.
The number of employees at the city is up by 1,266 since that time.
In terms of costs, in 2025, the City of Hamilton’s employee-related costs surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
City budget reports from September also indicate that employee-related costs are the main driving factor behind the City of Hamilton’s projected 8.9 per cent property tax increase for 2026.
According to budget documents, city spending is projected to increase by 10.6 per cent, or $131.7 million, in 2026.
Property tax would have to cover $106.7 million of that spending increase.
Included in that amount is an extra $44.6 million in “employee-related costs,” $11.7 million in “Boards and Agencies increases,” $10.5 million in “Operating Impacts of Capital,” $10.0 million for servicing requirements of new debt, $9.5 million to address the annual infrastructure funding gap for transportation assets, $7.5 million to address the general infrastructure funding gap, $3.9 million for “Year 10 of the 10-Year Transit Strategy,” and $3.7 million in maintenance pressures in the Housing Division.
That means that employee-related costs make up almost 42 per cent of the tax increase.
Staff say that all City of Hamilton union groups that have an active contract are scheduled to receive cost-of-living increases in 2026.
There are also “merit increases and job evaluation commitments.”
Employee benefits such as health and dental, long-term disability, and life insurance are also anticipated to increase by 10 per cent over 2025.
The Human Resources report also outlines that 77.4 per cent of the city’s workforce is unionized and that employee departures (such as resignations, dismissals, and retirements) were down to 8.36 per cent in 2024.
The city’s attrition rate was 11.92 per cent in 2022.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
