Municipal spending jumps 94% in B.C. over 14 years

Municipal spending across British Columbia has grown at an alarming rate, according to a new report from the Business Council of British Columbia.

Operating spending in Metro Vancouver jumped 97 per cent between 2010 and 2024, compared to just 31 per cent population growth and 36 per cent inflation. The BCBC warns that municipalities across the province have accumulated an estimated $6.5 billion in excess spending over that period — roughly $1,280 per resident.

The three biggest spending increases came in housing, development services, and sewer services. Provincially, taxes on owner-occupied housing have risen 110 per cent since 2010, compared to 62 per cent nationally.

Of 153 B.C. municipalities, 135 increased real operating spending faster than population growth. Jairo Yunis, director of policy at BCBC, acknowledged that growth and inflation naturally increase service costs, but questioned whether municipalities are delivering services as efficiently as possible.

"The concern is that, in most municipalities, spending has consistently grown well beyond those pressures," Yunis said. "Unless residents are receiving significantly better services, it's reasonable to ask whether local governments are delivering those services as efficiently as they could."

The BCBC made three recommendations: anchor municipal operating spending growth to population and inflation, re-establish provincial oversight of municipal and regional district spending, and re-evaluate Metro Vancouver's governance and role.