City of Vancouver goes from COVID-19 bankruptcy fears to building development boom in two years

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Mayor Kennedy Stewart points to “massive spike in (building) permit applications from builders and businesses,” just 26 months after declaring the city could go bankrupt due to COVID-19

Construction continues on the Broadway SkyTrain line as city councilors and the public debate the redevelopment of the surrounding area, known as the Broadway plan, at Vancouver City Hall on May 18.
Construction continues on the Broadway SkyTrain line as city councilors and the public debate the redevelopment of the surrounding area, known as the Broadway plan, at Vancouver City Hall on May 18. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

What a difference two years makes.

On Tuesday, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said that he wanted to investigate a guaranteed permit wait time policy due to a “massive spike in (building) permit applications from builders and businesses.”

“It is clear our economy is in full recovery as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede,” Kennedy said in a statement.

This came 26 months after the mayor made his declaration that the City of Vancouver was at risk of going bankrupt, citing a poll that showed more than half of property owners were not expecting to pay full property taxes in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Kennedy’s statement was made a month after the first COVID-19 death in BC and before the real estate market took off as the federal government engineered the economy so that interest rates became historically low.

The idea behind that was to keep the economy going as pandemic restrictions were established.

Kennedy’s 2020 statement also came a week after he asked the provincial government to give the city $200 million to help manage the pandemic.

According to the city’s 2021 statement of financial information (released on Mar. 23, 2022) the city’s financial position and outlook improved throughout 2021 as provincial COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

“The City of Vancouver is optimistic of its ability to fully recover from the negative economic effects of the pandemic but remains cautious if its financial planning as the pandemic continues to evolve,” the statement said.

As of 2021, the city has $940 million in net assets (assets minus debts), which was a $202 million improvement over 2020.

The city’s revenues were $2.35 billion in 2021, compared to $1,858 during the COVID-19 year of 2020.

“The City of Vancouver’s consolidated statement of operations shows evidence of the city’s recovery from the negative impacts of the pandemic,” said a city report from the director of finance.

“This is reflected by increases in revenue from developer contributions, program fees and license and development fees.”

According to Stewart’s Tuesday statement, the city’s development and permit task force (that was established mid-pandemic) had reported a significant drop in wait times for development permits.

Kennedy said that he had full council support in his request that the task force “investigate the risks and rewards of guaranteed permit wait times.”

“With Council’s support, I have directed the task force to review the learnings from other jurisdictions, as well as consider any financial and legal considerations as part of this new work to improve our development and permit timelines,” Stewart said.

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