BURST
Vancouver residents could see reductions in service levels as a result of city council’s direction this week to tighten the budget, the city manager advised staff in an internal memo obtained by Postmedia News.
On Thursday, Vancouver city manager Paul Mochrie emailed municipal staffers across departments, notifying them the city is “implementing immediate measures across the city,” including delaying “non-essential hiring” and restricting spending on travel, training, equipment and external service contracts.
Mochrie’s email came one day after council directed city staff to find efficiencies for next year’s budget to reduce pressure on property taxes.
Against a “backdrop of escalating costs,” council has asked city staff to figure out how to mitigate tax and fee increases for residents and businesses, Mochrie wrote.
He noted that “some scenarios may involve real impacts on service levels, operational budgets and future capital plan investments.”
Mochrie wasn’t available for an interview Friday, but responded to Postmedia by email, saying: “Although we are aiming to protect direct public services as far as possible, we expect that deferred hiring and other interim expenditure reductions will impact department operations. It is too early to identify specific departments or quantify potential impacts.”
A challenging financial environment has put pressure on both public and private sector employers in B.C. and across the continent .
Seattle City Hall has had a hiring freeze in place since last year, and in April, staff were instructed to reduce or eliminate spending in several areas, The Seattle Times reported . Earlier this month, The Ottawa Citizen reported that the City of Ottawa is freezing hiring and spending. Other North American cities have implemented similar measures.
Mochrie said that while Vancouver is “implementing immediate restrictions on hiring and other expenditure control measures,” this does “not amount to a full hiring freeze.”
“Through the remainder of 2025, we will continue to fill vacant positions as necessary to avoid significant reductions in services to the public,” Mochrie wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear which types of positions would be deemed “non-essential” or “necessary.”
Earlier this week, the city’s finance department delivered a mid-year budget update to council, projecting that maintaining existing service levels and planned infrastructure investments for the 2026 budget would likely mean a property tax increase between six and seven per cent.
At Wednesday’s council meeting , Mayor Ken Sim said local residents and businesses can’t bear further tax increases right now, and introduced a motion directing staff to prepare budget “scenarios” for next year with property tax increases of 3 1/2 per cent or less.
In an emailed statement Friday, Sim said: “Pretending that we are not in a tough economic climate is not an option.”
“Vancouverites are facing challenging times. We are doing everything within our power to ensure that we are easing the burden on taxpayers while protecting front-line staff and core services,” Sim said.
“Having had additional conversations with the city manager and city leadership team, I am fully confident that planning for the 2026 budget and interim measures to keep costs under control will result in minimal impact to city service levels.”
City council is expected to finalize the 2026 budget in December.