6 charts that break down the City of Vancouver's finances for last year

Justin McElroy · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Every year, it's the biggest disclosure of each municipality successful British Columbia. 

The City of Vancouver is expected to o.k. its 2024 Statement of Financial Information connected Wednesday, a 165-page papers that outlines precisely however wealth was spent successful the metropolis past twelvemonth and however overmuch wealth virtually each person and worker made. 

The yearly disclosure is required by provincial law, and each municipality successful B.C. indispensable publically release their fiscal statements by June 30. Aside from metropolis hall's budget, it indispensable see the remuneration for each employee, the magnitude fixed to antithetic companies for services implicit $25,000, and the remuneration for each elected authoritative and unit subordinate implicit $75,000.

As such, determination are plentifulness of stories that travel retired of the yearly statements — not conscionable erstwhile they're released but successful the weeks and months afterward. 

But present are 4 contiguous stories from Vancouver's connection that caught our eye. 

A $3 cardinal city

It was conscionable 20 years agone that Vancouver's revenues eclipsed $1 billion for the archetypal time, and since then, they person steadily risen, with the objection of a one-time pandemic successful 2020.

But past year, they went up astatine a complaint ne'er seen before.

For the archetypal time, Vancouver's revenues eclipsed $3 cardinal successful 2024, a $548.5 cardinal summation from 2023. 

According to the city, the bulk of that summation was owed to a $333.3 cardinal summation successful developer contributions, which the metropolis attributed to "phased assemblage amenities [and] improvement outgo levies."

Because astir of that summation was unplanned, the metropolis recorded an $860,634 yearly surplus, continuing a agelong enactment of ample surpluses that the metropolis reinvests into assorted contingency funds and superior projects. 

Overall, the city's operating expenditures remained akin twelvemonth implicit year, with the highest enactment point going to constabulary extortion ($474 million), followed by utilities, parks and recreation, and engineering. 

Highest paid employees

Every year, plentifulness of attraction is paid to the city's highest paid employees, but the database is mostly rather stable, with the apical managers successful assorted departments mostly receiving dependable increases successful their basal pay. 

So it was again successful 2024 successful Vancouver, arsenic retiring constabulary Chief Adam Palmer received $487,224, erstwhile again the highest successful the city. 

That was a 5 per cent summation from his 2023 salary, and his 3 lawman chiefs were the 3rd to 5th highest paid employees successful the city, with metropolis manager Paul Mochrie 2nd astatine $387,110. 

The apical 10 paid employees with the metropolis each made much than $300,000, conscionable the 2nd clip that has happened. 

6-figure councillors

For the archetypal clip successful Vancouver's history, each sitting councillors received implicit $100,000 successful basal compensation for their twelvemonth successful office. 

The 10 elected councillors made betwixt $102,674 and $119,749 for their roles, with their basal complaint of $101,937.68 being augmented by assorted stints arsenic lawman politician oregon acting mayor. 

(Those salaries bash not see further compensation for sitting connected assorted Metro Vancouver boards.) 

Mayor Ken Sim made $207,958, with $22,756 successful section expenses and $28,034 charged for question and assorted conferences.

There person been respective stories astir Sim's question arsenic mayor, and portion the magnitude he's expensed the metropolis is importantly higher than his predecessor Kennedy Stewart, it's comparable with that of Gregor Robertson, Vancouver's politician from 2008 to 2018, who re-entered political beingness this period arsenic a national campaigner for Parliament with the Liberal Party.

A reminder that what goes astir successful authorities often comes around.