2022–2026
The work,
in numbers.
I believe City Hall should show its work. These numbers show where Campbell River has moved forward, where pressure remains and where the next term needs to stay focused.
Elk Falls aerial view
01 · Taxes and spending
Keep the pressure down. Keep the books strong.
Property tax comes from the same household budget as groceries, fuel and rent. Restraint matters. So does maintaining the reserves, infrastructure and services people rely on.
The household view
Campbell River ranks fourth-lowest in 2026.
Its $6,085 representative-home bill is fourth-lowest among 11 communities. The illustration reaches lowest in 2036 if current trajectories hold. It is a scenario, not a promise.
Actual bills2022
Baseline before this council's first budget
Campbell River 6th of 11 · $4,870
2022 baseline. 2023–2026: this council's four budgets.2022 to 2026 · Actual billsDrag to compare a year
2022 · Baseline2023 · First budget of this council
Municipal + chargesRegional + hospitalSchool + agencies
Campbell River$4,870
Courtenay$4,508
Langford$3,625
City of Langley$5,375
Mission$5,213
North Cowichan$4,301
Penticton$4,608
Port Moody$7,501
Vernon$4,472
West Kelowna$6,000
West Vancouver$11,524
2022 complete representative-home tax bills. Campbell River is 6th of 11 at $4,870. The peer median is $4,870.
Campbell RiverHome$4,870
Courtenay$4,508
Langford$3,625
City of Langley$5,375
Mission$5,213
North Cowichan$4,301
Penticton$4,608
Port Moody$7,501
Vernon$4,472
West Kelowna$6,000
West Vancouver$11,524
Method and official sources
Why begin in 2022? It is the baseline before the first budget adopted by the council elected in October 2022. The 2022 tax increase is already included in that starting bill. Earlier 2020 and 2021 figures remain in the source series but are outside this playback.
The 2023 budget in context. Campbell River's municipal tax increases were 1.95% in 2021, 3.13% in 2022 and 9.97% in 2023. The City's 2023 financial plan describes base-budget cost pressures from contractual obligations, insurance, utilities, and collective wage and benefit agreements while maintaining service levels. These municipal increases are a different measure from the complete household bills animated here. 2023 financial plan, pages 15 and 101.
Actual years use B.C. Schedule 704 for a representative home in each municipality. The comparison does not use one identical house or one identical service package. Plan years grow only the General Municipal portion of the 2026 bill. Draft years after 2030 apply each municipality's 2026-to-2030 compound annual requirement growth rate; they are a scenario, not a forecast.
B.C. Schedule 704 tax-burden statisticsCampbell River 2026-2035 Financial Plan BylawCourtenay 2026-2030 Financial Plan BylawLangford adopted 2026-2030 Financial PlanCity of Langley 2026 Financial PlanMission 2026-2030 Financial Plan Bylaw 6401-2026North Cowichan 2026-2030 Financial Plan BylawPenticton 2026-2030 Financial and Corporate Business PlanPort Moody 2026-2030 Five-Year Financial PlanVernon 2026-2030 Financial PlanWest Kelowna 2026-2030 Financial Plan BylawWest Vancouver Five-Year Financial Plan Bylaw 5429, 2026
What is in the bill
67% of your property tax goes to City Hall
The complete representative-home bill includes municipal taxes and charges, regional and hospital levies, and school and agency taxes.
2026 total$6,085
- Municipal + charges
- $4,048
- Regional + hospital
- $931
- School + agencies
- $1,106
Financial capacity
Reserves up. Debt down.
Reserves help pay for future infrastructure and unexpected costs. Debt reflects long-term obligations. Both need to be read alongside the services and capital work they support.
2022$64.3Mreserves
+$12.4M
2025$76.7Mreserves
2022$9.8Mlong-term debt
-$2.7M
2025$7.1Mlong-term debt
Method, limits and sources
The municipal-increase comparison includes five annual increases from 2022 through 2026. It includes the previous council's 2022 budget and the four budgets adopted by the council elected in October 2022. Its calculation and individual municipal sources appear directly below that chart. The separate complete-bill comparison starts with the 2022 household bill and uses each community's own representative home, not an identical property. These are different measures.
02 · Safety and public spaces
Fund the work. Measure the result.
I will not pretend one number tells the whole story. Staffing, call volume and public confidence need to be read together. Progress is visible. So is the unfinished work downtown.
Capacity and confidence
More capacity. Fewer calls. Stronger confidence.
Authorized positions, funded staffing, calls and public confidence are different measures. Together, they show progress and the work still unfinished downtown.
2022 authorized / funded45 / 43
2026 authorized / funded55 / 44
RCMP capacity
+10 authorized · +1 fundedAuthorized growth outpaced funded positions. These are budgeted complements, not officers available for duty.
20223
20268
Bylaw officers
+5 positionsBudgeted front-line positions rose to eight, including temporary project roles.
202217,808
202516,124
RCMP calls
-1,684 · -9.5%Calls fell 9.5%, and 12.6% from the 2023 peak. Calls measure workload, not crime.
202347%
202565%
Downtown revitalization satisfaction
+18 pointsSatisfaction improved, but only 39% called downtown safe in 2025. The street-level work is not finished.
Outcomes and perception
Calls fell while resident satisfaction rose.
Calls measure police workload. Survey results measure perception. Neither is a count of crimes.
Calls for service
18,4412023 peak
16,1242025
Resident satisfaction
Policing
Bylaw and enforcement
Downtown revitalization
20232025
Method, limits and sources
Authorized, funded and available-for-duty policing are different measures. Calls can change with reporting behaviour, deployment and classification. Survey results measure perception rather than incidents.
03 · Housing and affordability
Housing is still tight, but improving.
Affordability is not one number. Home prices, rent and available units all matter. City Hall cannot control every force, but it should understand the pressure before adding to it.
Method, limits and sources
Benchmark prices are not average sale prices. Rent and vacancy cover the surveyed purpose-built apartment stock. B.C. shelter inflation is calculated from Statistics Canada's annual-average CPI index, which rose from 142.8 in 2022 to 164.6 in 2025. That is a compounded increase of 15.3%. Comparing the 19.5% rent increase with that shelter-cost benchmark leaves an inflation-adjusted increase of approximately 3.7%. The 257 and 351 figures are residential units in issued building permits, not completed homes. The 2025 total includes 270 multi-residential units. Council cannot claim sole credit because private development activity also matters. The 1,277-unit Housing Accelerator Fund target is not shown as achieved. CMHC reported 241 year-one permits against a 327-unit forecast, while noting a sufficient pipeline to meet the overall target.
A separate connection
The airport is opening another door.
WestJet added seasonal non-stop service between Campbell River and Calgary in May 2026. A direct link to a major hub gives residents more choice and helps visitors, workers and investment reach our city.
City and WestJet service announcementYBL→YYC
May to October. Four days a week, with daily service through peak summer.
202216,116
→202518,591
2022 to 2025. Up 2,475, or 15.4%. These are takeoffs and landings, not passenger counts.
Statistics Canada movement data04 · Infrastructure and delivery
Capital spending is on track.
Plans matter when the work is completed, the asset is in service and the cost is understood. The City is carrying a large program. The public should also be able to see delays and overruns.
Audited capital investment
$53.9M in City-funded assets over three years.
From 2023 through 2025, Campbell River added $53.9 million in City-funded tangible capital assets. Annual acquisitions were $14.6 million in 2025, up modestly from $13.7 million in 2022.
2022$13.7M
2025$14.6M
Annual audited capital acquisitions
+$0.9M · +6.4%This is an accounting measure of assets acquired. It does not show whether every project was on time or delivered good value.
Year-end delivery
Where 115 projects stood in the first usable snapshot.
The Q4 2025 report shows how much planned work had reached completion or service. Earlier reporting does not provide one directly comparable status snapshot, so this is a baseline for measuring movement, not proof that delivery has improved.
63Complete or in service
23In progress
27Delayed
2Cancelled
Method, limits and sources
The acquisition total comes from audited financial statements. The project counts come from a separate Q4 status report. They are related views of City delivery, not one accounting measure.
05 · Community and recreation
NON - profit Support
Grants, leases, maintenance and tax exemptions
Method, limits and sources
The comparator values come from the City's November 2024 staff report. The combined row is derived by adding the report's grant and municipal tax-exemption averages. The report's executive summary uses approximately $720,000 for Campbell River's 2024 municipal exemptions; its financial-considerations table uses $668,000 in the full support baseline. Both figures are shown only in the context where the report uses them. Comparator programs and accounting methods differ, and equivalent lease values were not available for every municipality. The 2024 grant figure and $700,000 policy ceiling come from the Financial Assistance Policy adoption. The policy allocates up to $150,000 for Community Grants and $550,000 for Operating Grants. Council approved $146,189 in Community Grants and $652,450 in Operating Grants for 2026, for a transition-year total of $798,639. The permissive tax exemption limit is 1.4% of the previous year's general tax levy. Council may review and amend the funding limits in a future year.
Some numbers are encouraging. Some are not.