North Shore mayors want premier to mandate equitable funding for new wastewater treatment plant

There may be help coming for North Shore homeowners who are being forced to pay substantially more for cost overruns on a new wastewater treatment plant.

The new $3.68-billion wastewater treatment plant under construction in North Vancouver will service the entire region when it finally opens in 2030.

But under the current funding model, homeowners in West Vancouver and the city and district of North Vancouver — who make up 8 per cent of Metro Vancouver— will carry 37 per cent of the cost of the mega-project.

Starting this year, North Shore homeowners will see their tax bills increase by $118 annually, on average, to fund the project. The extra costs will rise to $590 per year, on average, by 2030, and remain on local tax bills for 30 years.

“Our residents are going to bear the brunt of this,” said North Vancouver City Mayor Linda Buchanan.

“We just think that’s absurd when you have utility regions, subareas within Metro Vancouver that are only paying $250 a year and you have the North Shore paying so much more,” said North Vancouver District Mayor Mike Little.

On Thursday, the two mayors met with Premier David Eby, and asked him to step in and mandate Metro Vancouver to create a more equitable funding model.

“For every $10 the region comes up, we go down $135. That’s just simply because they have so many more households in their area,” said Little. “If we can get the region to come back to the table and increase their contribution, then we should be able to bring our annual number down. We’ll still be the most expensive subregion out there, but it will be more fair and equitable.”

While he didn’t provide specifics on how and when he may step in, the premier seemed to side with the mayors when asked about their request on Friday.

“There needs to be fairness for the North Shore municipalities in this process in terms of the cost overruns and the impact on taxpayers there,” said Premier David Eby.

The mayors also want the premier to order a public inquiry into how the project’s budget ballooned from $700 million to nearly $4 billion.

“In July of 2025, Metro Vancouver shelved the independent review that they were doing. And so we need to put it back to the provincial government: You said if you weren’t satisfied with what Metro (Vancouver) was doing, that you’d step in. How can you be satisfied with what Metro has done?” said Little.

“This is now a matter for him. He has said at many times that he will step in, and we need him to do that,” said Buchanan.

Eby seems open to the province having a role in investigating the massive budget overruns.

“The public needs to know what went wrong and what lessons can be taken from it. If the province has to get involved, we will. We won’t hesitate,” said Eby.

But those answers are likely many years away, and the project’s financial toll on homeowners will be felt for decades.