The St. Thomas City Council is meeting on March 2, 2026, to discuss a proposed budget and major building projects across the city. The meeting starts at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall in St. Thomas, Ontario, and residents can also watch or participate online through Zoom.
The city is reviewing a draft budget for 2026 that includes almost $79.5 million in tax-related spending. This plan suggests a municipal levy increase of about 8.9 per cent to help manage the fast growth in the area and maintain local services. While the levy itself is rising, assessment growth in the city is expected to ease the actual property tax impact for individual residents to approximately 6.1 per cent.
Much of this growth is driven by the large Volkswagen battery factory currently being built. The project has reached a major milestone this year with about 1,000 tradespeople working on the site to install steel and foundations.
To provide more places for people to live, the city is using a Housing Accelerator Fund to reach a goal of 2,000 new homes by the end of 2026. This includes the Project Tiny Hope development, a partnership with the YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin, which will house 66 people at 21 Kains Street when it opens later this year.
