City wants to charge you more to park all over Vancouver, especially if you have a luxury car
From overnight parking fees to extra charges for residents with larger, more expensive cars, the City of Vancouver is proposing to tax residents for parking just about everywhere in the city.
Residents would be charged an overnight fee of $45 a year if they park on the street, and visitors would be charged $3 a night.
The proposal is part of the city’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, designed to lower pollution and encourage people to buy electric vehicles, and residents can give their input on the plan online.
In addition to paying the yearly overnight fee, owners of new cars would be taxed more, depending on what they buy. Buyers of luxury cars, large SUVs and pick-ups purchased after 2023, would be charged $1,000 more per year.
Sporty sedans, as well as smaller and efficient SUVs would be taxed $500 extra a year.
Electric vehicles and hybrids would be exempt from the additional fees, but not the yearly $45 overnight fee. Some small economical gas-engine cars might also be exempt.
“So we’re really hoping people going out and looking at purchasing a new vehicle, are looking at low pollution vehicles,” said Paul Storer, the city’s Director of Transportation.
Residents in permit parking areas, would continue to pay that tax, and then any additional new-car fees, if applicable.
Storer said this is not a done deal. Instead, the public is being asked for input online through July 5.
City staff will then collect that information and submit the findings to mayor and council.
“Ultimately it’s council’s decision on whether to move ahead with all of it, or some of it, or none of it at all,” added Storer.
The city estimates it will raise $60 million over three years under the plan. Staff will suggest revenue be used to build more electric charging stations, sidewalks, curb ramps and more comfortable bike lanes. However it is up to council how that money will be spent.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.