Vancouver approves lowest property tax hike in 8 years for 2025 | Daily Hive

Vancouver City Council approves lowest property tax increase in eight years for 2025

Vancouver City Hall. (Margarita Young/Shutterstock)

Vancouver City Council has approved the lowest average property tax increase in eight years for 2025.

At noon today, City Council approved a 2025 average property increase rate of 3.9%, which is lower than the 5.5% hike considered ahead of the deliberations, and considerably below the last few annual increases.

This is the lowest annual increase since 2017, when the property tax also went up by 3.9%.

This follows the higher increases of 7.5% in 2024, 10.7% in 2023, 6.35% in 2022, 5% in 2021, 7% in 2020, 4.9% in 2019, and 4.2% in 2018.

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For the 2025 increase of 3.9%, 1% is attributed to increasing the pace of infrastructure renewal — particularly sewers — and the remaining 2.9% is toward City services. This continues the recent practice of incorporating a 1% increase in the property tax each year for infrastructure renewal.

“This is a win for Vancouver residents and businesses. We are delivering on our promise to reduce the tax burden while maintaining and enhancing the services and infrastructure that make our city one of the best places in the world to live, work, and play,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim in a statement this afternoon.

In addition to the property tax increase, Vancouver residents and businesses will also see a separate utility fee increase of 18.2% in 2025, which is attributed to both inflating operating costs for the municipal government’s service levels and a 50% hike in Metro Vancouver Regional District’s utility fees due to the significant construction cost overruns for building the new North Shore Wastewater Treatment facility.

According to the municipal government, the average 5.5% increase is equivalent to a $54 annual increase for a condominium or strata home with a value of $806,000, plus a $78 increase in utility fees.

Single-family houses assessed at $2.209 million will see an additional $149 property tax bill, plus a $386 increase in utilities fees.

As for businesses, such properties worth $1.268 million will see an additional $286 increase in the property tax, plus an additional $377 in utilities fees.

It should be emphasized that the City of Vancouver’s portion of the property tax only accounts for about half of the total property taxes paid. The remaining approximate half in property taxes are levied by the provincial government (school taxes, BC Assessment, and Municipal Finance Authority), as well as TransLink and Metro Vancouver Regional District.

City Council also approved a $2.34 billion annual operating budget and $880 million annual capital budget (new construction and infrastructure upgrades) for 2025.

The municipal government’s operating budget has escalated in recent years, rising from $2.13 billion in 2024 to $2.36 billion in 2025. With an operating budget of $2.34 billion in 2025, this represents a year-over-year decrease.

The City hit and exceeded the $2 billion mark for its annual operating budget for the first time in 2024.

“I want to thank City staff for all their collaboration and incredible work on this budget, helping us strike a balance between fiscal responsibility and making Vancouver an even better place to call home,” continued Sim.

This is a list of the City of Vancouver’s historical average property tax increases:

2025: 3.9%
2024: 7.5%
2023: 10.7%
2022: 6.35%
2021: 5%
2020: 7%
2019: 4.9%
2018: 4.2%
2017: 3.9%
2016: 2.3%
2015: 2.4%
2014: 1.9%
2013: 1.5%
2012: 2.8%
2011: 2.2%
2010: 2.3%

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