Metro Vancouver prepares to vote on slimmed down budget

The Metro Vancouver Board will vote on its budget on Oct. 31.

Next week, Metro Vancouver’s board will vote on whether to approve a slimmed-down budget following major public backlash over the organization’s spending in recent years.

It comes after the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant went nearly $3 billion over budget—and backlash over the level of compensation for directors attending meetings.

But following a costs and services efficiency review, hundreds of millions of dollars in savings have been identified, through $364 million in operating savings and spending $1.1 billion less in capital expenditures between 2026 and 2030.

“For 2026 we have really pushed the limits for what we can get to,” Metro Vancouver Board Chair and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley told CTV News on Wednesday while discussing the savings identified in the budget. “I think to do anything more than that would be a bit irresponsible, because we would miss out on some very important projects.”

The spending cuts would mean households would see an increase in rates of 2.5 per cent next year, then 3.5 per cent in 2027.

That’s a drop from the 5 per cent annual increases originally projected for the next two years.

“So I think we really got it down as fine as we could possibly get it, and still be able to manage the region in the way it needs to be managed,” Hurley added.

But not everybody is convinced.

Among the critics is New Westminister city councillor and mayoral candidate Daniel Fontaine.

“Everybody who lives in Metro Vancouver should be watching this report very carefully and should be clutching their purse and holding onto their wallet,” Fontaine said of the coming budget.

Fontaine expressed concern that household costs will almost double when 2020 is compared with 2030.

“I mean the scope of Metro Vancouver—it now does parks, Invest Vancouver, a $5-million economic development arm,” Fontaine told CTV News. “It does housing. What next? Are they going to be building batteries for electric cars? I mean the scope of this organization is really just, from my perspective, gone way out of control.”

The Metro Vancouver board is scheduled to vote on its budget on Halloween Day.