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Atlantic Canada Lags in Financial Transparency: Frontier Centre Report
Winnipeg, MB — June 6, 2025 — NewsWall — Municipalities across Atlantic Canada are lagging behind most of the country in financial transparency, according to the 2025 Local Government Performance Index (LGPI) released by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Moncton ranked highest in the region, while Charlottetown tied for the lowest score nationwide among cities that submitted their financial statements.
The LGPI evaluates 99 of Canada’s largest cities based on the clarity and thoroughness of their financial information reporting to the public. Scoring is based on the accessibility, completeness, and timeliness of financial reports, not on budget performance or fiscal health.
According to Lee Harding, author of the report, Atlantic Canada’s largest cities struggle with basic transparency, stating that better financial disclosure is essential to public trust and civic engagement.
Moncton scored highest among Atlantic cities, earning points for timely audits, capital asset reporting, and inclusion of historical trend data, while Fredericton and Saint John performed moderately well but lacked detailed commentary and separation of goods and contracted services.
Halifax and St. John’s landed in the middle tier; Charlottetown tied with Medicine Hat, AB and Strathcona County, AB for the lowest national score among cities that submitted reports, losing points for late audit submission, lack of breakdowns for expenditures, and missing depreciation data; and Cape Breton dropped one point from the previous year due to minor delays and omissions.
The LGPI does not evaluate how well cities manage their budgets, but how well they disclose financial data to the public. Cities are scored out of 33 points across 10 criteria, including timeliness of audit, receipt of accounting awards, commentary and analysis, reporting of capital assets and depreciation, historical trend data, and breakdown of expenditures by object and service type. Since 2007, the Local Government Performance Index has promoted improved governance by encouraging transparency in municipal financial reporting. The LGPI’s public database at LGPI.ca lets users compare city finances from 2007 through 2023.
Contact: Lee Harding, Research Fellow, Frontier Centre for Public Policy, lee.harding@fcpp.org
Marco Navarro-Genie, Vice President of Research and Policy, mng@fcpp.org