CITY COUNCILOR COMPENSATION - PART TIME JOB - FULL TIME PAY

Part-Time Politics, Full-Time Pay? A Closer Look at Nanaimo City Councillor Compensation

By Voice of Nanaimo | Editorial Desk

In Nanaimo, serving as a city councillor is technically considered a part-time role. Yet when you tally up the numbers, it begins to look more like a lucrative contract than a civic duty. As taxpayers feel the squeeze of rising property taxes, inflation, and crumbling core services, it's worth asking: Are we getting value for money from those elected to represent us?

💰 The Pay

Let’s start with the basics. According to the 2024 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI), Nanaimo councillors each earn $52,014 in base remuneration. That number doesn’t include their expense accounts—which add another $8,000 to $11,000 annually, depending on the individual. So right out of the gate, we're looking at a compensation package worth around $60,000 per councillor.

This for a job that is still officially labelled part-time.

But it doesn’t stop there.

🌐 Double-Dipping at the RDN

Most councillors also sit as directors on the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) board, where they receive an additional $22,700 in base pay, plus $150 per meeting (and more if meetings run long or they hold chair/vice-chair roles). With modest participation, this adds another $8,000 to $10,000 annually, pushing many councillors’ total public compensation to over $90,000 per year.

That’s approaching full-time salary territory—but with few of the accountability metrics seen in the private sector.

📦 The Benefit Package

It doesn’t end with cash. Councillors are eligible for the same benefit package as senior City staff. This includes:

• Extended health, dental, and vision care

• Life and disability insurance

• Employee & Family Assistance Programs

• Paid technology: laptops, printers, smartphones

• A monthly internet allowance

• Optional City-paid cell phone plans

• Covered legal consultations (e.g., for conflict-of-interest guidance)

• Paid memberships to professional organizations

• Training and travel stipends, including $1,000/year for development, plus attendance at high-profile conferences like UBCM, AVICC, and FCM

All told, the value of these benefits could easily push the total compensation package toward $100,000 per councillor.

Again—for a part-time job.

🕒 So How Many Hours Do They Work?

Here’s the crux of the issue. According to council’s own calendar, formal Council and Committee of the Whole meetings are typically held every two weeks, often lasting 2–5 hours. Add a few hours for reading agenda packages, answering emails, and attending the occasional committee or ceremonial event.

Even with generous estimates, most councillors would be hard-pressed to exceed 15–20 hours per week, and that’s during peak budget season. For others, the time commitment may be closer to 10 hours/week—meaning that taxpayers are footing the bill for a role that pays six figures but doesn't require consistent full-time hours.

And unlike private-sector roles with performance benchmarks or accountability metrics, councillors have no formal obligation to attend a minimum number of meetings, aside from public scrutiny. Some councillors have even gone months missing key meetings with few consequences.

📉 Taxpayers Foot the Bill

All of this comes as the City of Nanaimo faces budget crunches, double-digit tax increases, and growing calls for a Core Services Review. Residents are being told to do more with less, while the City’s elected officials operate in a silo of insulation—paid well, benefiting richly, and rarely held to measurable performance standards.

For context: many frontline municipal workers—sanitation, parks, or public safety—earn less, work harder, and face stricter attendance and productivity requirements. Meanwhile, councillors set their own pay, vote on their own expense budgets, and enjoy benefits few part-time workers in the private world could dream of.

🧭 Time for a Reset?

Is this a call to underpay councillors? No. We need qualified people in public office. But if the role is truly part-time, the pay should reflect that. Alternatively, if it has evolved into a full-time commitment, then let’s formalize expectations: attendance minimums, performance tracking, and full transparency on all benefits.

Either way, Nanaimo deserves better value for its tax dollars. Public service is a privilege—not a pension plan.