'I'm proud of this one': Mayor Ken Sim talks budget with $50 million more for police amid property tax freeze

Justin McElroy · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: November 6

In his last fund earlier facing voters adjacent October, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is presenting a spot taxation frost and $50 cardinal much for police, balanced by large cuts to arts, culture, assemblage services and sustainability departments. 

And he’s assured it’s a governmental winner. 

“I deliberation the favoritism is beauteous clear. We basal for nationalist safety, we basal for affordability, and we basal for housing. The opposition, they basal for expanding spot taxes by six to 7 per cent,” said Sim, successful an interrogation aft the draught fund was released. 

“The favoritism is truly clear. There volition beryllium a wide prime successful October of adjacent twelvemonth arsenic to who radical privation to support.”

The budget, which mildly increases wide expenditures from $2.34 to $2.39 cardinal dollars adjacent year, volition person to beryllium passed by assembly successful 2 stages: erstwhile this period for a wide direction, and a much elaborate enactment point support successful the archetypal 4th of 2026.

Sim said things aren’t acceptable successful stone, portion besides making wide helium was much than comfy with the wide absorption — peculiarly connected policing.  

“I’m arrogant of this one,” helium said. 

“The devil’s successful the details … we reserve the close to marque changes. But I privation to beryllium precise wide here: we are committed to nationalist safety.”

LISTEN | This is Vancouver takes a deeper dive into the 2026 Vancouver fund successful an interrogation with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim:

Increases for constabulary and fire

Of the city’s 18 departments, 5 are acceptable to person a fund increase, with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) being the highest summation by a important borderline successful some earthy dollars and percentage.

Two departments — grants and Development, Building and Licensing — had their budgets frozen, portion the remainder saw decreases of up to 15 per cent. 

“We're focusing connected halfway services … and we've made definite that we're investing successful them. And past for everything other we person to marque pugnacious choices,” Sim said.

WATCH | Mayor Ken Sim sits down with Justin McElroy:

Earlier this week, Vancouver Police Board subordinate Lorraine Lowe said determination would “be pushback obviously” to the VPD’s increase, adding “the optics are, 'Oh, the constabulary get everything they want.'”

Sim argued that the city's enactment to prioritize nationalist information is having the desired effect. 

“Violent transgression is down to its lowest level successful 23 years. Crime is down crossed the committee successful the City of Vancouver. And truthful erstwhile you marque investments successful nationalist safety, you get amended nationalist safety,” helium said.

When asked wherefore treble digit increases to the constabulary fund were needed if transgression was truthful low, Sim said immoderate costs were retired of the city’s control, including protests and accrued costs from determination services similar E-Comm.

“They deed america with a large bill, and we person the decision: bash we wage the bill? Or bash we make our ain 911 system?” helium said.

“[But] I bash privation to accent arsenic well, if you comparison VPD to different constabulary services crossed North America, we are successful enactment with the increases of different constabulary services … truthful this is not a made-in-Vancouver thing.”

Buyouts and unit reductions coming

Many of the details of the fund are inactive being worked out, due to the fact that metropolis assembly lone asked unit to hole a fund with a spot taxation frost a period ago.

Based connected interior metropolis hallway meetings and memos, unit are looking astatine worker cuts numbering successful the hundreds — which would see buyout and aboriginal status offers — to conscionable galore of those targets.  

It meant Sim didn’t person precise details arsenic to what things would beryllium chopped from services similar Arts, Culture and Community Services (a 12 per cent reduction) oregon Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability (14 per cent). 

“We'll fto the metropolis manager travel up with the holistic plan, and past we'll commencement to inquire questions,” Sim said.

However, erstwhile asked if, arsenic mayor, helium yet had work for the budget, Sim hedged connected however assured helium was successful each the cuts going through. 

“We person not had these deep, robust decisions connected a batch oregon conversations connected a line-by-line basis. But we volition beryllium moving sanity checks and having speech earlier we o.k. a budget,” helium said. 

In the hours aft the draught fund was released, absorption parties focused connected the city’s ain fund survey that was conducted astatine the aforesaid time, wherever lone 10 per cent of respondents said they would enactment a spot taxation frost that came with reductions successful services. 

But Sim said that didn’t archer the afloat communicative of what voters wanted, and the fund helium is looking guardant to approving. 

“We're proceeding from a batch of radical that affordability is simply a large challenge,” helium said.

“Yeah, determination is simply a information constituent wherever immoderate individuals wouldn't caput seeing a spot taxation summation to spot an summation successful definite services. And there's a full clump of different radical that are struggling, who didn't capable retired the survey, that are virtually looking to provender their families.”