City of Burnaby plans higher property tax increase of 5.8% in 2025
Metro Vancouver’s third most populous city is planning a higher than usual annual property tax increase for 2025.
This week, Burnaby City Council approved a draft 2025 budget that includes an average 5.8% property tax increase, which is the highest in at least a decade. This is up from the most recent increases of 4.5% in 2024, 3.99% in 2023, and 2.95% in 2022.
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There are two components to the City of Burnaby’s 2025 property tax increase.
The first component is a 3.9% increase toward supporting public safety and municipal core services, including parks, recreation and cultural services, and engineering services, such as road and infrastructure maintenance. Ahead of the deliberations, City staff had originally proposed a 5.37% increase for this component, before lowering it to 3.9% following a direction made by City Council.
The second component is a brand new infrastructure levy of an average 1.9% property tax increase to supplement the City’s new Amenity Cost Charge (DCC)/Development Cost Charge (DCC) program, which will raise about $6.6 million in 2025. This will help fund new and improved community amenities, including childcare facilities and major community and recreational centres.
The City blames the provincial government’s new legislation introducing the use of ACCs. This replaces the City’s previous negotiation-based Community Benefit Bonus revenue stream collected from developers — in exchange for added density during rezoning — with a predictable formula for community amenity contributions.
The City states that due to the new legislation, the municipal government needs to tap into its general revenues, directly from taxpayers, to cover the cost of new amenities and infrastructure projects.
“These are turbulent times, and the City’s budget focuses on stability and cost-effectiveness, while delivering on key community priorities,” said Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley in a statement. “We will continue to provide residents with core municipal services and seek efficiencies wherever possible.”
The City will perform consultation on the 2025-2029 draft financial plan before sending it to City Council for final adoption.
April 2024 revised concept: Artistic rendering of the new Burnaby Lake Recreation Complex. (Architecture49/Ventana)
To better serve its growing population, the City of Burnaby is currently leading the region in a building boom of significant new and improved community and recreational centres, including several facilities with aquatic centres. Not only are there growing construction costs due to inflation, but also growing pressures on the operating costs upon completion and opening.
Major projects include the $146 million Brentwood Community Centre and $280 million Cameron Community Centre at Lougheed Town Centre.
Some projects have been downsized, such as the $253 million Burnaby Lake Recreation Complex, while others have been completely axed. In January 2025, City Council cancelled its plans to build the $240 million Confederation Park Community Centre due to funding issues associated with the ACCs.
Artistic rendering of the preliminary concept for Confederation Park Community Centre. (Revery Architecture/City of Burnaby)
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