As Bradford and Innisfil continue to grow, so too must the South Simcoe Police Service (SSPS) — and its cost.
That was the message from Chief John Van Dyke and police services board chair Chris Gariepy as they presented the service’s 2025 budget and funding request during Bradford’s regular council meeting on Dec.17. That included a capital budget of about $1.85 million, an increase of about $400,000 (or roughly 27.59 per cent) over 2024, plus an operating budget of about $28.19 million, an increase of about $2.9 million (about 11.47 per cent) over 2024.
However, after $197,000 in court security and transportation funding, the operating budget is estimated to be about $27.99 million, the same amount approved by the services board on Nov. 27.
That brings the total funding request for Bradford and Innisfil to about $29.85 million, an increase of about $3.23 million — or roughly 12.13 per cent — over 2024, after similar adjustment for $124,485 in court security and transportation funding for that year.
“I acknowledge that this is a much bigger ask than in the past,” Gariepy said.
The new Community and Safety Policing Act introduced in April added requirements expected to cost the service more than $600,000 in 2025, when they’re also expected to see a “full impact” of about $800,000 from contractual cost-of-living and incremental increases for staff, according to the chief.
“Police budgets are under tremendous pressure,” Gariepy explained.
Much like last year, more than 92 per cent of the 2025 operating budget is dedicated to salaries and benefits.
“Police officers are paid well for what they do, because what they do is hard, it is dangerous, it is impactful upon them and it really matters to your community,” Van Dyke said.
Despite “severe overtime pressure,” including long-term absences, the chief explained they were unable to increase their overtime budget for 2025.
“This is still a very tight budget with no room to spare, and no operating reserves to mitigate any potential deficit situation,” he said.
Some of that pressure could be partially alleviated by the 12 “much needed” positions the service plans to add in 2025, including nine new officers (seven constables, one sergeant and one staff sergeant) along with three civilian staff (one special constable, one crown brief/court clerk and one person in human resources), at an estimated cost of about $965,000.
That’s primarily required to help the service deal with increasing demand, with 2024 expected to see a 2.5-per-cent increase in calls for service over 2023, which was already a record year at 29,870 calls.
On top of that, the chief explained the complexity and severity of crime is increasing with some calls requiring multiple officers to respond and requiring follow-up and investigations which can take months.
As the populations are set to increase in Bradford and Innisfil, the chief estimated the service will need to add five to six new officers every each year, and claimed the York Regional Police service is set to add 180 officers over the next two years to deal with the arrival of “big-city crime.”
“Guess where it will end up next? The next spot is our communities right here,” Van Dyke said.
The service estimates Bradford and Innisfil had a combined population of about 96,992 in 2023, with just 115 officers per 100,000 people, less than other local services in similarly sized municipalities including: Sault Ste. Marie (192), Chatham-Kent (172), Sarnia (166), and Peterborough (152).
While some of those services are bigger than SSPS, Van Dyke explained the local service is growing “at a much faster rate,” and “we need to get our cop-to-pop ratio up.”
In the same year, they estimate the South Simcoe police’s cost per capita was only about $276, compared to Sault Ste. Marie ($473), Sarnia ($426), Peterborough ($364), and Chatham-Kent ($351).
“The towns of Bradford West Gwillimbury and Innisfil are getting tremendous value for their money,” Gariepy said.
Of the eight per cent of the operating budget remaining, Gariepy explained about 2.3 per cent goes to insurance, with the chief explaining the service is currently paying about $800,000 annually. The department was told by its carrier it was facing a five-per-cent increase to $835,000.
However, they anticipate bringing that cost down to $650,000 by joining Bradford’s insurance plan.
To further help offset increased costs, the service is projecting an increase in revenue of about $176,000 and delayed six more hires to 2026.
Additionally, the service continually applies to every grant that becomes available, but provincial grants “are not long-term stable sources of funding” and the timing of their release can be “very problematic,” according to Van Dyke.
The service is also facing capital costs including about $200,000 for more body cameras, about $236,000 to replace stun guns that are at end of life, as well as about $100,000 to lease and renovate more office space.
“We understand the need,” Mayor James Leduc said of the budget, adding he was “happy” to see the inclusion of nine additional officers.
The annually updated cost-sharing agreement between the two municipalities remains largely the same as last year with a split for operational costs of about 47/53 per cent for Bradford and Innisfil, respectively, plus a 50/50 split for capital costs.
Based on updated figures for 2025, that would work out to about $15.8 million for Innisfil and about $14 million for Bradford.
That’s slightly more than the $13.2 million estimated in Bradford’s 2025 draft budget, which could require the town to increase the tax levy more than the 2.7-per-cent bump already expected, or transfer funding from other areas, such as its automated speed enforcement program, which was already set to help offset the estimated increase.
The mayor explained Ian Goodfellow, the town’s director of finance and treasurer, is expected to bring the approved budget with updated figures to Bradford council in January.
