The Metro Vancouver Regional District announced Thursday it is punting $1.1 billion of infrastructure spending down the road, while claiming it has found $364 million of operating savings over the next four years to help cut property taxes and fees.
Among projects being deferred are water service upgrades. The district has cautioned even tighter water restrictions may be needed during droughts.
The root of the recent savings crusade comes from public calls to tighten the district’s budget following a record increase to taxes and fees for 2025.
The average increase this year for a household bill tallied 25.3 per cent. This comes as the district has sought funding for the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is over budget by about $2.8 billion, as well as a suite of new infrastructure projects.
Over the next five years, Metro Vancouver had planned for five per cent increases to its portion of a household’s property tax bill. But with the new potential cost savings, the board is now projecting a 2.5 per cent increase in 2026 and a three per cent increase in 2027.
Households will pay $875 on average for all of Metro Vancouver’s region-wide services this year. Those services include drinking water, wastewater management, solid waste management, air quality regulation, regional parks, regional planning and the Invest Vancouver economic development agency.
Based on the new projections for 2026, households will pay on average $896, down $22 from the previous projection of $918.
“Over the past few months, Metro Vancouver has done a detailed analysis of our operating budget and more than 300 infrastructure projects, identifying significant opportunities to reduce spending,” Metro board chair and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said in a statement.
Of the $1.1 billion in delayed infrastructure spending, $531 million relates to delaying what Metro Vancouver describes as “upgrade projects” such as creating a “phased delivery approach” to the Iona Wastewater Treatment Plant.
There are further proposed reductions of $189 million, which are “mostly attributable to regulatory and engagement delays” in the Northwest Langley Wastewater Treatment program and design delays in the Annacis Wastewater Treatment Plant Stage 5 expansion.
“Staff are working with wastewater treatment plant operations to ensure that these delays have minimal impact to the operation of the existing wastewater treatment processes,” stated an April 9 report to the board.
Delays to the Coquitlam Lake Water Supply and Coquitlam Water Main will save $207 million.
“The impact of delays in completion of these large growth projects can be partially mitigated through enhanced education and enforcement activities at the local level to reduce both the total volume of water needed for the summer as well as the peak water demands.
“More stringent summer water use restrictions might also be required during drought conditions,” stated the report, which added there are further proposed delays for resilience projects, including a supply tunnel in Richmond and an upgrade to the Seymour water main.
The district is expected to save $153 million with reduced debt servicing, and $143 million in “resource optimization and efficiencies.” Those items are the largest pieces of the $364 million of operating savings expected between 2026 and 2029.
The short-term savings are in addition to more than $650 million in deferrals identified within the district’s 2024-28 Five-Year Financial Plan capital program.
Metro Vancouver says it does not have a detailed list of the projects being impacted by the $650 million of delays, only to say it is a “long list,” according to spokesperson Jennifer Saltman on April 11.
Projects have been “slowed down” or “re-scoped” so costs can be deferred and “nothing has been cut,” said Saltman.
This article was updated on April 11
