Vancouver’s land development plan could help pay for city budget, chief of staff says

Vancouver’s ambitious plan to develop thousands of market-rate apartments on city land could eventually bring in enough money to cover almost half of the municipal operating budget, Mayor Ken Sim’s chief of staff says.

That’s the long-term goal, said Trevor Ford, who enthusiastically described the plan as the equivalent of what Vienna, Singapore or the University of British Columbia have done by developing their own land. Vancouver’s current operating budget is $2.34-billion.