The City of Vancouver paid out severance to what might be a record number of non-union employees last year, but the municipality is refusing to say how much those payouts cost taxpayers, despite the fact it has released this information in past years.<\/p>\n
Carson Binda, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation\u2019s B.C. director, said the ABC-majority city council\u2019s efforts to shrink the bloated civic bureaucracy are overdue, but a \u201cgood move\u201d for the city. But, he says, there\u2019s no legitimate reason to prevent taxpayers from knowing how much these cuts are costing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly seems like the City of Vancouver is trying to hide these dollar figures and that\u2019s unacceptable,\u201d Binda said. \u201cThe city can and should be releasing that information proactively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every B.C. municipality is required by law to publicly report the number of severance agreements it enters into each year, among other financial details<\/a>, in its annual statement of financial information. However, cities aren\u2019t required to release the total dollar figure for those severance agreements \u2014 but they can choose to do so.<\/p>\n Last year, city hall promptly provided the aggregate dollar figure to The Globe and Mail<\/a> upon request, reporting just over $2 million in severance paid to 34 non-union employees over 2023 and 2024. In the 2010s, when Vision Vancouver had a majority on council, the city went further still, publicly releasing<\/a> individual severance payouts for former employees.<\/p>\n B.C.\u2019s second most populous city, Surrey, also shared dollar figures last year with The Globe (16 severance agreements over 2023 and 2024 totalling almost $2.5 million). Surrey also provided the 2025 total to Postmedia News this month upon request ($1.8 million for six severance agreements).<\/p>\n This year in Vancouver, it\u2019s a different story.<\/p>\n In April, Vancouver\u2019s statement of financial information<\/a> revealed the city entered 79 severance agreements last year with non-union workers. That\u2019s as many as the previous seven years combined, and almost nine times the annual average of the previous 22 years, as far back as the records go on the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Postmedia asked the city in late April for the total dollar figure for last year\u2019s 79 severance agreements. Initially, the city said it wouldn\u2019t disclose any severance information beyond what\u2019s required by law, \u201cto respect the confidentiality of impacted employees.\u201d<\/p>\n Our email correspondence continued over the next few weeks. I wrote that I failed to see how ex-employees\u2019 confidentiality could be affected by releasing aggregate totals, as Vancouver and other cities previously disclosed, and the city replied: \u201cWhile similar information may have been provided previously, that disclosure was outside the city\u2019s standard process and does not reflect our current approach to reviewing and releasing this type of information.\u201d<\/p>\n The city then directed Postmedia to submit a request through the freedom of information process.<\/p>\n Binda says the city\u2019s argument about respecting former employees\u2019 confidentiality \u201cholds less water than a pasta strainer. There are no privacy concerns with releasing total dollar figures.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason for the City of Vancouver to be forcing journalists to go through the freedom of information system instead of proactively disclosing that information like they\u2019ve done in the past, and like other municipalities in the Lower Mainland continue to do,\u201d Binda said. \u201cGovernments use the FOI system to stonewall, delay and deny the release of records, just like this.\u201d<\/p>\n The surge in severance deals comes as the ABC-led government tightens the belt on spending. Over the first three years of ABC\u2019s four-year term, property taxes increased by a cumulative 22 per cent and the city workforce saw a net gain of more than 700 full-time-equivalent employees.<\/p>\n For 2026, the final budget before this October\u2019s municipal election, ABC\u2019s council majority directed city staff last year to freeze property taxes by finding $120 million in spending cuts and revenue increases. The staff cuts that started ramping up last year have continued into this year. The city declined to share the number of severance agreements with non-union employees so far in 2026, but this year has seen continued departures of high-profile employees, including the city clerk and deputy city clerk last month, and the chief building official just this week.<\/p>\n In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the mayor\u2019s office wasn\u2019t involved in the decision not to release information about severance payouts this year, and said they wouldn\u2019t comment further because this is \u201can operational matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Who, then, is accountable for this decision? The city declined to answer that question or make anyone available for an interview.<\/p>\n Geoff Teoli is one former city employee who believes taxpayers deserve to know an aggregate total they\u2019re paying for severance agreements like his own.<\/p>\n Teoli worked as Vancouver\u2019s film commissioner, liaising between city hall and the local TV and movie industry, until his job was cut in April 2025, and now he\u2019s making his first political run, as a council candidate this year with the new party Vote Vancouver.<\/p>\n Teoli said he supports transparency, and agrees with the rules requiring municipalities to report salaries of all employees earning more than $75,000 a year. Vancouver\u2019s 2024 statement of financial information shows Teoli earned a salary of $179,828 in his last full year on the job.<\/p>\n He can\u2019t, however, think of any valid reason for the city not to promptly disclose severance payout totals, he said: \u201cIt just comes back to the importance of transparency and building trust with the taxpayer, and this kind of thing just erodes that trust further.\u201d<\/p>\n Many Vancouver taxpayers will applaud ABC Vancouver\u2019s attempt to rein in the trend of a municipal workforce that has, for many years, outpaced population growth. And although ABC will, inevitably, attract criticism from some corners, including unions, for the cuts, they have the authority and mandate to make these decisions. (Last month, B.C.\u2019s Labour Relations Board ruled in the City of Vancouver\u2019s favour<\/a>, dismissing CUPE 15\u2019s complaint<\/a> alleging the employer had bargained in bad faith ahead of the job cuts).<\/p>\n But even for taxpayers who support these cuts, it\u2019s reasonable for them to want to know the cost.<\/p>\n Postmedia has submitted a freedom of information request seeking these details.<\/p>\n