WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1 2023
$1.25
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NEWS5
MADELEINE POLLOCK
Renovation ruling
Condo owners ordered to repair structural damage to building
LIFESTYLE13
Cyclo-cross star
North Van’s Madeleine Pollock races her way to junior worlds
SPORTS18
Shrine Bowl
Football player Theo Benedet earns spot in prestigious all-star game
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CMHC REPORT
Rental rates soar despite addition of 1,200 new units JANE SEYD
jseyd@nsnews.com
The price of rental housing in Metro Vancouver continues to outpace rents across most areas of the country. And rents on the North Shore are among the highest in the region, despite recent increases in supply of rental housing, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Renters are continuing to feel the squeeze because demand for rentals is still outstripping supply, according to CMHC’s latest Rental Market Report, which examines trends in rental housing across Canada. Lower-income renters in B.C. are particularly pinched, according to the report. That’s despite the addition of 3,805 units of purpose-built rentals added to the market in B.C.’s major communities between mid-2021 and mid-2022 . The city and district of North Vancouver were among four municipalities that contributed 87 per cent of the new purpose-built rentals in Metro Vancouver. After decades of little rental construction across the country, in the last 10 years, municipalities have Continued on page 19
GOOD SPIRITS Sons of Vancouver founder and general manager James Lester (middle) toasts the distillery’s national award-winning whisky with partners Max Smith and Jenna Diubaldo. See page 16 for the full story. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN
BUDGET TALKS
Inflation driving up municipal property taxes for 2023 BRENT RICHTER
brichter@nsnews.com
Municipal budget season is kicking off on the North Shore with higher-than-usual tax increases coming thanks largely to inflation, supply chain problems and disruptions in the labour market.
District of West Vancouver property owners are looking at a 6.07-per-cent increase in municipal property taxes, on average, in 2023 if the current proposed budget passes. For the owner of a home assessed at the $3.76-million average, the proposed budget would add about $350 dollars on
to the municipal portion of their taxes over last year’s bill. For a strata owner whose home is assessed at the $1.7-million average, it would amount to an extra $158. Metro Vancouver and TransLink taxes are expected to rise even more dramatically, and utility costs will all be
escalating as well. Most of that increase – 4.57 per cent – would be in West Vancouver’s operating budget. If approved as is, there will be 14 full-time equivalent staff positions added. Among the positions staff are hoping to fill: parks maintenance, trail workers and Continued on page 20
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