Medicine Hat council ratifies three-year wage deal for senior police officers

Medicine Hat city council has ratified a three-year collective agreement with the Medicine Hat Police Service Officers Association, giving sworn members holding the rank of inspector and above wage increases totalling roughly 11 per cent, with the first increase backdated to January 2025, council voted Monday.

Coun. Varga moved the motion during the Nov. 2 regular council meeting, saying the memorandum of agreement covers the period from Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2027, and sets general wage adjustments of 3.75 per cent effective Jan. 1, 2025; 3.75 per cent effective January 2026; and 3.5 per cent effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Varga said the increases are consistent with what the city previously agreed to with the Medicine Hat Police Association, which covers sworn members below the rank of inspector, and are also generally consistent with wage adjustments for senior police officers in other Alberta municipalities.

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The previous collective agreement between the city and the Senior Officers Association expired Dec. 31, 2024. Varga told council the city and the association reached a memorandum of agreement in October 2026, after bargaining began following ratification of the lower-rank officers' deal in December 2025.

Because the first wage increase is retroactive by more than a year, the city owes back pay to the officers covered by the agreement. Varga said that cost will be absorbed without additional spending authority.

"The retroactive cost of wage adjustment will be managed within the approved operating budget," Varga said during Monday's council meeting. "There is no budget amendment required."

The motion carried. The vote count was not recorded in the available transcript.

Council's next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 17, 2026, in council chambers, after the Nov. 16 meeting was rescheduled to that date at the same session.