Looking back, looking ahead, part 1: Mayor Ritsma
- Connor Luczka
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
During deliberations for last year’s budget, Mayor Martin Ritsma warned of “gray skies” for Stratford.
Now, a year after that prediction, Ritsma is happy that things weren’t as gray as he originally thought.
“I know negative things do exist, but I tend to take a more positive approach,” Ritsma shared with the Times. “And so my reflection is positive. I thought we had lots more positive going on in our city, a lot of things that connected us, whether it was businesses, whether it was residents, etc. I thought it was a good year.”
Focusing on the economy, Ritsma pointed to November figures from the Four County Labour Market Planning Board which indicated that Stratford and region had a 3.9 per cent unemployment rate, far lower than the provincial average of 7.2 per cent and the lowest in the province.
U.S. trade tariffs were a thorn in the region’s manufacturing side, but through the work of the provincial and federal governments, the impact was mitigated. Heading into 2026, Ritsma estimated 85 per cent of the manufacturing sector, which makes up about two-thirds of the city’s economic base, continues to be in good stead.
“Then I looked at the tourism sector, probably our best years since COVID,” Ritsma said. “Especially with the (Stratford) Festival. We saw numbers of Americans coming back as strong as or almost as strong as pre-COVID, so those numbers were solid with the Stratford Festival.”
Furthermore, being named as one of the country’s top 10 destinations to travel to in 2026 by CBC’s The Current was another feather in the city’s cap, as area tourism organizations worked to prolong the tourism industry into the shoulder season.
Small businesses were also on the up, Ritsma said. More storefronts opened in the city last year than closed, and where other municipalities are struggling to keep their downtowns vibrant, Stratford’s continues to thrive.
From a corporate perspective, one of Ritsma’s highlights of the year was seeing André Morin return to the City of Stratford as its newest chief administrative officer (CAO). While some may not fully realize how important a CAO is to the health and future of the city, Ritsma said it was a significant milestone for the city in 2025 and will continue to impact Stratford exponentially in the years ahead.
Morin’s hiring followed a national search with 75 applicants from sea to sea to sea applying.
Stratford’s keystone development, the Grand Trunk renewal (GTR) project, was also a highlight for Ritsma. As reported by the Times in the latter part of 2025, the project’s ad hoc committee disbanded with mixed reactions from committee members who were by and large not satisfied with the committee’s work. Later, many city councillors had expressed frustration with how the project had been handled from the start.
Through a past council decision, the current council was obligated to strike an ad hoc committee, Ritsma explained, within 90 days of a new council forming. Over two years that committee did tremendous work, he said, distilling the hundreds of community ideas into a few, manageable guiding principles.
While many had concerns about what has been done this year, for Ritsma there was a lot of foundational work done.
“If you're in the business world, if you see a problem, you look at it, you assess it – ‘Okay, this is our next step.’ But when you're accountable to a municipality and its residents, it's businesses, it's downtown core, you have to be accountable and you have to take the time … We only get one shot at this, and we want to make sure we do it right.”
On that note, Ritsma praised Emily Robson, corporate initiatives lead with the city, for her work in keeping the committee and project on track.
Another highlight has been Stratford’s continued work to close the infrastructure gap in the city. In 2025, $37 million was spent updating the aging infrastructure in the city.
Turning to 2026, and on the subject of infrastructure, Ritsma said that it is a top priority for the city. $56 million is earmarked to be spent in 2026 on 98 projects.
Facing an annual capital deficit of $11.5 million, according to the latest update in the city’s asset management plan (AMP), Ritsma is hopeful that the gap will be reduced. AI is one of the tools the city hopes to implement to better assess and identify the infrastructure needing to be repaired and replaced.
“We're going to be in a better spot than I would have anticipated in 2024 going into 2025,” Ritsma said.
This coming year will be an important one for the municipality. It is the last year of this term of council, as an election looms for Oct. 26, 2026.
Ritsma revealed he will be seeking re-election this year and is looking forward to seeing who else will put their name forward to be a part of council.
As 2026 gets underway, Ritsma reflected on his prediction the year prior.
“I am an optimist, so I do believe we're going to have blue skies, but I do believe we're going to go through some storms,” Ritsma said. “I really do believe that.”