The review of Vancouver’s 2026 draft budget is off to a tense start, with one city councillor warning the financial plan is so thin on detail that council is being asked to vote “blind.”
Coun. Pete Fry says the document put forward by city staff — centred on Mayor Ken Sim’s “Zero Means Zero” property-tax freeze — is missing key information about what services or departments could face cuts to make the mayor’s promise work.
“I’ve been on council for [almost] eight years. This is the leanest document I’ve ever seen for a budget presentation,” Fry told 1130 NewsRadio, describing the draft pamphlet as “barely two dozen pages” compared to the typical “330 to 400 pages.”
“It’s an astounding lack of detail, and it makes it impossible for an informed decision to be made.”
Fry says even direct questions, like about the future of the city’s sustainability department, could not be answered on Wednesday.
Something he calls “telling” as the council tries to understand how the mayor’s zero-increase can be achieved without cutting front-line services.
“It puts us in a very difficult position, for those of us who are on the outside, and don’t have the benefit of understanding where the mayor’s office direction to trim the budget is.”
“What we heard was a lot of evasive sort of non-answers from staff, which is also quite frustrating,” Fry added, saying the council won’t get more details in advance of voting on the budget.
The $2.39-billion operating budget halts property tax increases for 2026, but requires the city to find $120 million in savings and new revenue to make the math work.
While property taxes would remain frozen, utility fees — including water, sewer, and solid waste — would rise by an average of more than 4 per cent, due to Metro Vancouver levies and ongoing replacement of aging underground infrastructure, according to city staff.
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Some resident parking, development, and permitting fees would also go up.
Police and fire would remain fully funded “for the first time in decades,” Mayor Sim said on Wednesday.
Additionally, the operating budget includes the equivalent of a 1 per cent property-tax increase for long-term infrastructure renewal.
At least three unions representing city workers say they’ve been told as many as 400 full-time jobs could be eliminated, with two-thirds being union jobs, if this budget is approved.
Union leaders warn losses on that scale would impact essential services that taxpayers depend on.
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“Everything from community centres, childcare, streets, maintenance, garbage collection — this would be broadly felt by everybody in Vancouver,” a CUPE official told 1130 NewsRadio last week.
The city has not confirmed which departments or positions could be impacted.
Public interest is high.
More than 600 people have registered to speak to the council about the proposed budget.
It’s a list so long that Councillor Fry said he submitted a procedural motion to ensure people who miss their time slot aren’t forced to wait days to be heard.
The back-and-forth with residents will likely last several days, with a final budget expected before the end of the month.
As for whether Fry plans to back the draft budget right now? He says the lack of transparency makes it a non-starter for him and other non-ABC councillors.
“I’m not going to jump into a pool if I don’t know how deep it is.”