CBC News
Collectively, B.C. municipalities have likely never been in better financial health.
Yearly data aggregated by the provincial government showed that in 2021, municipalities had a combined $3.1-billion surplus, the highest number on record.
That includes surpluses of $583 million in Vancouver, $305 million in Surrey and $432 million in Burnaby — which continues to have the largest financial reserves of any city in the province, at $1.9 billion in net financial assets. …
There are a few reasons for the culture of municipal financial caution in British Columbia.
One is the fact that municipalities aren’t legally able to go into debt for their yearly operating budget.
“We have to budget fairly conservatively on the expenditure side … and we have to go the other way in terms of revenue, we have to be a little conservative on that as well,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
“So that leads to a small surplus usually every year.” …