Metro Vancouver has a culture of continuous improvement in which we search for opportunities to innovate and reduce costs through all the work we do. In November 2024, we launched a Services and Cost Efficiencies Review to identify areas where operational cost savings can be made and assess the financial and service impacts of these potential revisions.
The Metro Vancouver Board completed the Services and Cost Efficiencies Review at a Special Board Meeting on April 9, 2025, directing the organization to apply $364 million in operating budget savings to its 2026 Budget and 2026-2030 Five-Year Financial Plan. This reduced the projected 2026 household rate increase by half.
KPMG advisors validated Metro Vancouver's approach, confirming that the framework and methodology align with leading industry practices for identifying operational cost savings.
As part of this review,
the Board voted in February 2025 on whether to continue select programs and initiatives delivered by the Metro Vancouver Regional District.
What Metro Vancouver has done to manage costs to residents
Over the past five years Metro Vancouver has undertaken significant work to reduce financial impacts on residents
2021-2022 Financial Levers: Metro Vancouver used financial leavers during COVID-19 pandemic to minimize rate increases, keeping them to 3.2 % in 2021 and 3.5 % in 2022.
2023 Deferrals: Metro Vancouver identified $650 million in deferrals within our capital program during the Financial Plan Task Force that were integrated into the 2024-2027 financial plan.
2023 Development Cost Charges (DCCs): Metro Vancouver increased DCCs, which will ensure growth pays for growth, and which will reduce the tax requisition and utility bill rates for residents.
- By increasing DCCs, we avoid double-digit levy increases going forward
- Metro Vancouver was the last local government in BC to enact a water DCC; in many ways, we are playing catch up on a more equitable distribution of capital costs
2023 Task Force 5-Year Financial Plan Reductions: The deferrals combined with the DCC rates reduced our projected rate increases from:
- 2024: 14.3% → 12%
- 2025: 14.1% → 11%
- 2026: 12.4% → 5%
- 2027: 12.1% → 5%
2024 Further Reductions: We achieved further reductions in the 2025 budget, getting everything outside of the NSWWTP cost increase down to a 9.9% increase.
2024 NSWWTP Cost Sharing: The Board has spread the costs for the plant across the region at a higher rate than our standard allocation bylaw. Each household in other sewerage districts took on an additional $10 above their already allocated portion. This reduced the impact on North Shore Sewerage Area ratepayers to $590 per year, phased in over 5 years, instead of $725.
2024 NSWWTP Amortization: To further help manage the levy increase, we amortized the costs of the plant over 30 years for North Shore Sewerage Area ratepayers , instead of 15.
2025 Services and Cost Efficiencies Review: Metro Vancouver found $364 million in savings to the operating budget. This was done in part by deferring $1.1 billion in capital project spending, primarily for water and liquid waste projects that can be built at a later date.
Board and committee videos, meetings, reports
News releases and statements