Compensation concerns over Calgary water utility board members
Posted May 5, 2026 7:39 pm.
Last Updated May 5, 2026 7:48 pm.
Some on Calgary city council are expressing concern about proposed compensation rates for members of a yet-to-be-formed Water Utility Oversight Board, one of the recommendations that stemmed from the independent review of the beleaguered Bearspaw South Feeder Main.
Council will now decide on an annual retainer of $70,000 for the board chair and $30,000 for board members part of the Water Utility Oversight Board, after a 8-3 vote at Executive Committee in support of it along with other recommendations about compensation and selection of members.
“When you are looking at potentially executives who have earned their careers in very specialized public utilities, the amount that we are paying is relatively nominal compared to what their salaries would otherwise be,” says Mayor Jeromy Farkas.
The compensation will cover eight board meetings per year, but if there are more than that within a year, the chair and members will receive an additional $1,000 per meeting.
“Given the significant amount of work in years 1 and 2 of the board’s operations we anticipate there will be more than eight annual meetings, and therefore compensation will be slightly higher,” says Heather Johnson, the city’s director of Water Transformation.
Councillors Jennifer Wyness, Andre Chabot, and Raj Dhaliwal voted against the recommendations.
“We had so many people with so many professional designations apply to be on our boards in the past and with zero compensation, and now we have this separate entity that is coming into all of this, and because there’s this hype about water, we feel like we have to create this Water Utility Oversight Board to pay them quite significant funds to sit on this board,” Coun. Andre Chabot said.
This comes as the Alberta government also requests information from the city on the province’s own review into Calgary’s water system.
“I’m hoping as quickly as possible a resolution from the provincial inspection, because it could be the province ultimately orders actions that are contrary to our independent panel report,” said Farkas.
The proposed compensation, along with the other recommendations, will be presented at the May 12 public hearing meeting of council.
