City of Peterborough Maintains AA+ Credit Rating

Peterborough, ON – Standard & Poor’s has maintained the City of Peterborough’s credit rating at “AA+” with a stable outlook in its recently released credit report on the municipality, citing the City’s financial management practices as well as its political and managerial commitment to disciplined fiscal policies.

“We expect the financial administration and council will keep political consensus to implement reforms and support fiscal sustainability in the future. This has been demonstrated by higher-than-historical tax levies to support a growth-oriented capital plan,” Standard & Poor’s states.

The ”AA+” rating is the second highest rating on Standard & Poor’s credit rating scale. 

Standard & Poor’s commented in its credit report that the City benefits from a diversified economy, and specifically cited an active tourism industry as well as growth in the manufacturing and aerospace sectors that is fostering advancements in technology and creating jobs.

“We expect Peterborough's stable economy and prudent management will continue to support strong operating balances of 14.6% of operating revenue, on average, from 2024-2026. While we expect significantly elevated capital spending on large projects will lead to high after-capital deficits in the short term, as the projects near completion, we expect deficits will decrease in 2025-2026,” the credit rating agency states.

Standard & Poor’s commented that the local economy is “somewhat constrained” by an older population and that aging demographics could lead to greater spending on social services and budgetary pressures in the future.

Among the observations for the City of Peterborough’s strong credit rating, Standard & Poor’s has cited: 

• The City's exceptional liquidity position and supportive institutional framework continue to bolster its credit profile

• Peterborough demonstrates good financial management practices

• An extremely predictable and supportive local and regional government framework that has demonstrated high institutional stability and evidence of systemic extraordinary support in times of financial distress

• The City’s after-capital deficits will stay elevated in the short term, primarily driven by substantial spending on transportation projects and the new community complex
• The City’s debt burden will remain manageable and supported by robust liquidity