North Shore Mayors take $3.86B sewage plant cost crisis to Premier Eby

Two North Shore mayors are calling on Premier David Eby to intervene in the North Shore Wastewater Plant fiasco, which has seen the project cost balloon from $700 million to $3.86 billion.

City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan and District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little said they met Premier Eby in Victoria on March 5 to deliver a message on behalf of the 130,000 people they represent.

The mayors brought three requests to the Premier. They are asking for a public inquiry into the cost overruns of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant under the Local Government Act, an independent governance review of Metro Vancouver, and a new fairness mechanism so no municipality can ever again be locked into absorbing costs that were never part of the original agreement.

According to their press release, North Shore households could face between $590 and $1,182 in additional costs per year by 2028, with payments continuing for 30 years. Some costs, including decommissioning the existing site, have not even been calculated.

 North Shore bears 37% of the project’s total costs while representing only about 8% of Metro Vancouver’s population. The projected costs are also so high that the City of North Vancouver would exceed its legal borrowing limit under the Community Charter, the press release states.

The mayors also raised concerns about how Metro Vancouver handles debt. Under the current framework, Metro Vancouver can borrow money and assign that debt to member municipalities — without residents getting a direct vote. This stands in contrast to standard rules for local governments in BC, where significant long-term debt requires public approval. The mayors called this “a fundamental accountability gap.”

The problem extends beyond this one project, the press release notes. Metro Vancouver’s draft 10-year spending plan shows $24.7 billion in planned projects, with more than half funded through long-term borrowing. If that plan moves forward, residents across Greater Vancouver could face $1 billion in annual debt payments by 2035.

The mayors said they raised concerns through every available channel within Metro Vancouver and were met with inadequate responses. They stressed they are not seeking to leave the regional body, but they want it fixed.  Premier Eby has previously said publicly that he would step in if Metro Vancouver failed to reform itself. The mayors say that the moment has come. “The time to act is now,” they say.