Financial strain isn't the same as inability to pay, arbitrator reminds municipal employer
An Ontario municipality that pointed to its debt load and economic pressures to justify modest wage increases for registered nurses has been ordered to implement the union's full wage grid proposal, after an arbitration board found it had not formally argued an inability to pay.
In a decision dated May 1, 2026, Chair Eli A. Gedalof, sitting with nominees Robert Little and Marcelle Goldenberg, awarded RNs at the District Municipality of Muskoka's two long-term care homes wage parity with Ontario's Central Hospital rates, a new nine-step grid, and general wage increases of 3.5 per cent in 2023 and 3 per cent in 2024.
The award settles the first collective agreement, running from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2025, for a merged bargaining unit of approximately 17 RNs at The Pines, a 160-bed home in Bracebridge, and approximately 8 RNs at Fairvern, currently a 56-bed home in Huntsville. The merger followed a Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act ruling that combined two groups represented by the Ontario Nurses' Association after Fairvern was transferred to the District of Muskoka effective June 30, 2022.
The District had proposed retaining the Pines wage grid structure, which includes a 25-year step, with general wage increases of 2.5 per cent in 2023 and 2.75 per cent in 2024, citing its debt load and broader economic conditions. The...
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