Thunder Bay, Ont., police chief says proposed budget covers 'absolute needs' for the service

Thunder Bay, Ont., police chief Darcy Fleury says the proposed police budget for 2026 is not a “wish list” for the service.

Fleury offered his thoughts during a news conference on Friday after the city's 2026 proposed operating budget was released.

"These are the absolute needs we must have for the organization in order to meet some of the objectives that we've set out, and definitely the demands and the priorities of the community, " he said.

City administration are recommending a four per cent municipal tax levy increase. While the city achieved its 2.6 per cent target for city-delivered programs and services, budget submissions from some agencies, boards, and commissions — including the Thunder Bay Police Service — exceeded this amount.

In December, the Thunder Bay Police Service Board approved a proposed operating budget of nearly $64 million for the city’s police service, an increase of just over 9 per cent compared to 2025.

Fleury said the bulk of the proposed budget is related to hiring eight additional officers, which would bring the service’s complement to 256.

He said if the police service had kept its budget request to under 2.6 per cent, as per council’s request, that would have led to a risk of losing more officers.

Current city police officers, Fleury said, are “getting tired” due to the number of calls they respond to.

“We go from pillar to post,” Fleury said. “There's a lot of work going on in this building. They're always on the go.”

“We're trying to avoid having that burnout, the risk of losing more officers, and having those numbers really will help with the workload,” he said. “And I think that's what's really at risk is, if we don't have those numbers, we don't have the appropriate staff.”

Thunder Bay mayor Ken Boshcoff was the only member of the Thunder Bay Police Service Board to vote against the proposed budget, telling CBC News the next day that he wanted to see city councillors appeal to the province for police funding assistance.

City manager John Collin told members of the media on Friday that municipalities need to discuss other funding models for emergency services in the near future, as budget increases for these services aren't sustainable at the local level.

Fleury said police are looking to find additional funding sources.

“There are some models that we're looking at as far as provincial funding, perhaps some funding from the federal government that will include … certain areas that we want to look at, especially with our Indigenous community,” Fleury said.