The City of Richmond has been recognized with multiple top honours for its financial reporting and budgeting by the C.D. Howe Institute and Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

“The City of Richmond is known for its sound financial management and strong fiscal responsibility,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “The City strives for clarity, completeness and timeliness not only in our financial reporting, but in everything we do and the services we provide. Budget transparency fosters citizen engagement and supports informed decision making at all levels.”

Richmond received an ‘A’ grade—the highest amongst 32 major Canadian cities – in C.D. Howe’s annual report card on municipal budgeting, financial reporting and fiscal transparency for 2021.

The C.D. Howe Institute is an independent not-for-profit research institute whose work focuses on economic policy and research. Its grading is based on high standards of transparency, usefulness and completeness, and reflects how easily a person can understand key numbers in financial documents and how those documents are presented. Timeliness is also a consideration. The institute suggests a budget should be presented in advance of the fiscal year so Councils have time to deliberate and make informed decisions before resources are committed or spent. 

Richmond also received the GFOA’s Canadian Award for Financial Reporting for its Comprehensive 2021 Annual Report – the 20th consecutive year the City has received this award. In addition, the Annual Report Highlights document was bestowed with the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting for the 13th successive year.

The GFOA Financial Reporting Award Program encourages municipal governments throughout Canada and the U.S. to publish high quality, comprehensive annual financial reports beyond the minimum statutory requirements set by the Community Charter and the Public Sector Accounting Board of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. 

The Popular Annual Financial Reporting Awards Program encourages local governments to produce high quality, abridged versions of their comprehensive annual report that are readily accessible and easily understandable to people without a background in public finance.

To read the C.D. Howe Institute’s report, visit www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/show-us-our-money-fiscal-accountability-canadas-cities-2022. 

Both versions of the City’s award-winning 2021 Annual Reports are available on its website at www.richmond.ca or from City Hall upon request.