Mayor Ashe is the king of Durham Region Mayors when it comes to salary. He even tops Mayor Chow of Toronto by nearly $100,000. Can you believe that?
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By Tim Kelly
Whitby This Week
When it comes to being mayor of a Durham Region municipality, it’s best to go west young man — or woman.
Durham’s top three mayors all come from its three most western municipalities, with Pickering’s Kevin Ashe topping those who hold the chain of office.
Ashe tops the salary list
Ashe’s total compensation in 2025 came in at $319,890.65, which includes pay from the municipality, the region and the Elexicon board, upon which he sits as a director. Also added in are benefits and pension payments.
Third on the list is Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier, with a total compensation package of $308,125.76.
All three are chairs of committees at the Region of Durham, which enhances their income by around $7,000 (finance committee) for Ashe and Roy (social services committee), to about $14,000 for Collier (police services board).
Though all three serve municipalities smaller than Oshawa, they make more than Mayor Dan Carter. Part of the reason is they are all members of the Elexicon Board (Oshawa is not part of Elexicon) and Carter, though a member of the police services board, receives a smaller stipend. Carter’s expenses are lower as well.
Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster was at the bottom when it comes to remuneration, expenses, pension pay, and all compensation in 2025 in south Durham mayors with just over $227,000.
Jason Liebregts/Metroland
Carter’s complete compensation package for 2025 was $270,719.12 for an estimated Oshawa population of 213,000. Whitby’s estimated population for 2025 is 162,000. Ajax’s estimated population at the end of 2025 was 141,000. Both Pickering and Clarington have estimated populations of 115,000 at the end of 2025.
All four mayors made more in total compensation than Regional Chair John Henry, whose package comes in at $257,463. His remuneration for the position is $224,823. Durham Region’s estimated population at the end of 2025 was 810,075.
4 Durham mayors top Toronto mayor in pay
Coming in next on the list is Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster, who received a total of $227,378.37. Foster doesn’t sit on the Elexicon board, nor is he a chair of any other regional committee and his expenses are comparatively low.
