2026 Budget | This is Your Niagara

Your dollars are doing things

Every year as a homeowner, you pay your Regional property tax bill. Or if you're renting, you pay your landlord who then pays their Regional tax bill. By paying that bill, those dollars go towards the Niagara Region budget.

Learn how the budget is made.

Putting the budget together takes about a year and lots of people work on it, including:

Niagara Region staff
Independent services like Niagara Police and Niagara Transit
Budget Committee
Regional Council

You can watch all of the budget meetings to learn how the final budget comes to life throughout the year.

What your budget supports

The 2026 Niagara Region Budget focuses on programs, services and projects that affect everyone.

A lot of what we do is required by the Ontario provincial government. Some of what we do is delivering traditional services that you and your neighbours believe to be important to your community. The rest of what we do are the good things that make the community function safely and smoothly, and in the end, better.

The way we make these things happen is guided by our Council Strategic Priorities and the budget pays for all of it.

Key areas

In 2026, we are focused on two key areas:

Programs and services
Key priorities

Your dollars are doing things. So, what do they do?

Here are a few examples of what your dollars support.

Seniors

1,500 residents in long-term care homes

Seniors

10,500 companion visits to help families caring for loved ones

Children

20,525 elementary school dental screenings

Social support

6,200 affordable homes created by supporting 51 housing providers

Healthy families

86 per cent decrease in drivers speeding in automated enforcement zones

Healthy families

18,000 face-to-face mental health visits

911 services

Emergency services provided 99,625 responses to 911 calls

Growth

500,000 potholes patched

Other highlights

Service area	Community impact
Children	21 EarlyON Centres
Children	750 children cared for across home and child care centres
Healthy families	25 family physicians recruited in 2024
Healthy families	30,171 vaccinations administered
Healthy families	15,007 health inspections completed
Growth of the Region	1738 km of Regional roads maintained
Seniors	2,600 seniors supported through Seniors Community Programs
Seniors	1,000 seniors in need helped by rapid response support
Social assistance	5,588 people kept in housing through emergency benefits
Social assistance	2,438 rent supplements to create affordable housing
Social assistance	3,072 community housing units operated

Learn about all the programs and services we support.

Key priorities

In 2026, we are looking forward and focusing on the four areas we think are most important. Here's what we'll do.

Infrastructure

Strengthen and modernize the Region's infrastructure to support future growth and climate change impacts.

Housing

Address housing shortages and affordability, ensuring that community needs are met through sustainable solutions and partnerships.

Homelessness

Implement initiatives to combat homelessness, focusing on prevention, support services and long-term solutions.

Advocacy for funding

Pursue funding opportunities, advocate for resources and align the organization's needs with provincial and federal funding programs.

Council Strategic Priorities

The Council Strategic Priorities look at the future of Niagara and tell us the sort of community we want to create for everyone. Niagara Region is focusing on these areas because they work to get the most positive impact possible for our community.

Four strategic priorities

Being an Effective region by boosting the efficiency of Regional services

This means using your tax dollars as efficiently as possible.

We want to always get better at what we do and how we work for you. Our decisions are smart and based on good information.

We look for opportunities to work together with local municipalities to learn from each other and achieve economies of scale. This also means looking at the workforce needed in Niagara and supporting people to learn new skills.
Being a Green and Resilient region by protecting and nurturing our environment

Our goal is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.

We're also preparing our buildings, roads, bridges, wastewater treatment plants and other infrastructure for climate change.

Partnering with local municipalities and community organizations is an important part of helping all of Niagara be environmentally friendly and prepared for change.
Being an Equitable region that promotes affordability while being diverse, inclusive and equal for everyone

Niagara should be welcoming and free of discrimination.

Listening to the voices of others and taking their perspectives into account matters. An important part of supporting equality is making sure everyone has an affordable place to live.
Being a Prosperous region by creating economic welfare and a healthy business environment

Economic well-being extends to everyone in Niagara.

To achieve that, we're building the region's global brand, attracting businesses that create jobs and keeping them here.

We want to be an effective and unified voice when talking to provincial and federal government officials about what Niagara needs.

Investing in transit helps every part of the region, including people getting to work.

Get involved

Let's talk about what your dollars are doing for your community.
Tell us what is important for you and your Regional tax dollars.

Want to follow along throughout the budget process?
Watch all of the budget meetings live.