City Hall hides the ball on service, staffing cuts in 2026 budget

Vancity Lookout - Nov 14th, 2025 - Summary

Vancouver’s 2026 Budget: What You Need to Know

The City of Vancouver is taking an unusually tight-lipped approach to its 2026 budget, and the shift has sparked strong reactions from councillors, staff, and hundreds of residents who packed this week’s public hearings.

This year’s draft budget is radically different from previous versions. Instead of the hundreds of pages of detailed line-item financials that council has reviewed for years, the 2026 draft clocks in at only 23 pages. It offers a high-level snapshot of each department’s spending but omits the specifics of how money will be allocated, what services will be maintained, and where cuts will land.

City manager Donny van Dyk says those details will not be released until after council votes on the budget later this month, with full specifics coming in early 2026. Several councillors objected to the lack of transparency, including Green Coun. Pete Fry, who warned that council is being asked to approve a budget without the information needed to meaningfully evaluate it.

At the heart of the political tension is Mayor Ken Sim’s direction to freeze the city’s portion of property taxes for 2026. Last year’s increase, which was 3.9 percent, added about $149 to the median single-family tax bill. Property taxes make up more than half of the city’s revenue, so freezing them forces reductions elsewhere.

To make the freeze possible, the city says it will find roughly $120 million in “revenue opportunities and expenditure savings.” In practice, this means higher fees combined with significant cuts across multiple departments. What those cuts will look like has not been fully disclosed, though some details have been formally shared and others have leaked.

According to the draft budget, several civic functions, including arts and culture, community services, sustainability and environment, real estate and facilities management, planning and urban design, and corporate support are all facing reductions of roughly 12 to 14 percent. Meanwhile, core public safety services are going in the opposite direction. The Vancouver Police Department is set to receive a ten percent increase, and Fire and Rescue Services will see a six percent bump, consistent with the ABC majority’s platform.

Some early examples of cuts have already raised concern. Canada’s National Observer reported that the sustainability and climate department is expected to be eliminated. Fry confirmed this is likely based on conversations he has had with staff. Other proposed savings include removing baby-change tables and hygiene product dispensers in some public washrooms, along with reduced maintenance capacity, which could mean slower repairs and decreased service standards.

Parks and recreation offers a mixed picture. Although the department shows a $1.2 million expenditure increase on paper, the park board still has to cut $11 million because of rising fixed costs and new facilities coming online. Park board chair Laura Christensen called it misleading for council to present the expenditure increase as an investment when overall service levels will still fall.

The lack of detail and the scale of potential service reductions drew an unprecedented public response. More than 600 people signed up to speak at public hearings, most opposing the budget. Fry said he had never seen this level of engagement during his seven years on council.

COPE Coun. Sean Orr, who provided nightly summaries of public input, suggested the mayor was frustrated by the long list of speakers. Orr alleged he overheard Mayor Sim call the meeting “an awesome waste of time,” though the mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

The city also recently released the results of its public survey on tax scenarios, and the findings contradict the chosen freeze. Only ten percent of residents supported a zero percent tax increase with service cuts. The most popular option, supported by 42 percent of respondents, was a five percent tax increase to maintain current service levels. Sim dismissed the results, saying many struggling residents did not participate.

Labour impacts are also expected to be significant. A leaked memo reported that around 400 full-time city positions will be eliminated, roughly 270 of them unionized. The city says delaying the release of detailed budget information is partly to honour labour obligations and manage the impact on affected staff. Fry described the current atmosphere among employees as one of anxiety and fear.

The next public hearing takes place November 18, with a council vote scheduled for November 25. For now, residents, city staff, and industry observers are waiting to see what the full picture looks like once the details finally come out.

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