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From Sooke to the Province: Why Two Petitions Are Demanding a Fairer Funding Model for BC Cities

By S. Jones,
Sooke
Nov 27, 2025

Sooke residents are not just talking about property taxes anymore, they’re organizing.

What began as a local response to runaway property tax increases has now expanded into a province-wide call for reform. Two petitions now frame the issue:

• Stop Runaway Property Tax Increases in Sooke
https://www.change.org/RunawayTaxSooke

• A Fair Funding Model for BC Cities – Not Just Property Tax
https://www.change.org/FairFundingModelBCCities

One is local. One is provincial.

Both respond to the same reality: the current funding model for municipalities is no longer working for many households.

Federal Level: Support That Flows Through the Province

At the federal level, funding for municipalities typically flows through the Province, not directly to cities.

A key example is the Canada Community-Building Fund (formerly the federal gas tax fund), which supports infrastructure like roads, water systems, flood protection, recreation facilities, and transit. In British Columbia, this funding is delivered via provincial agreements and administered through UBCM to local governments.

So while the federal level plays an important role in capital funding, the responsibility for how municipalities are financially supported ultimately falls
within the provincial framework.

Provincial Level: Some Support, No Broad Tax Sharing

British Columbia municipalities receive grants and some limited revenue sharing (such as traffic fine revenues), and UBCM administers various infrastructure and capacity funding programs.

However, BC does not have a broad tax-sharing model with municipalities.
Cities do not currently receive a fixed or legislated share of PST, income tax, or the property transfer tax.

Despite repeated calls for reform from UBCM and local governments across the province, most day-to-day municipal services are still funded largely through property taxes.

Municipal Level: How This Is Hitting Sooke

In Sooke, property tax increases have been:

• 2023: 6.99%
• 2024: 10.53%
• 2025: 15.29%
• 2026: Not yet determined

That’s a 36% increase in just three years.

Sooke Councillor Tony St. Pierre has stated residents should expect minimum increases of at least 10% year over year, which would effectively double property taxes in roughly seven years if sustained over time.

Residents are feeling it.

One Sooke homeowner shared publicly:

“My taxes went up $700 last year, not $76. They went up $500 the year before.”

At the November 24, 2025 Sooke Council meeting, resident Veronica Pemberton asked:

“Where is the compassion for residents?”

Why This Is Happening Now

This isn’t happening in isolation.

Recent reporting in The Globe and Mail shows that many Canadians feel financially worse off, even as the country avoids a technical recession. High grocery costs, rising mortgage interest, insurance increases, and general living expenses have created widespread cost-of-living fatigue. Food bank usage and consumer insolvencies continue to rise.

What we’re seeing in Sooke isn’t just local budget pressure, it’s the friction of an outdated system colliding with modern realities. Municipalities are now responsible for housing pressures, climate adaptation, emergency services, and social fallout, but they’re still funded largely like it’s the 1980s. When senior governments don’t update the model, the pressure moves downward, and it lands on homeowners.

Property tax is simply the easiest lever to pull, not the fairest one.

And at a time when cost-of-living fatigue is real, when people feel it daily not through economic charts, but through groceries, fuel, and mortgage payments, repeated double-digit tax increases aren’t just numbers anymore. They become a breaking point for families trying to stay afloat.

Why These Petitions, and Why Now

The Sooke petition calls for more responsible, sustainable tax planning and transparency at the local level.

The provincial petition asks the BC government to modernize how municipalities are funded, so communities aren’t forced to rely almost entirely on property tax to support expanding responsibilities.

Together, they reflect two realities:

• Sooke residents are under real pressure now.
• Long-term solutions require provincial action, not just local adjustment.

This isn’t about targeting the Sooke Council or any Council.

It’s about a system that needs updating before the burden becomes unsustainable.

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Sources & References

Federal & Provincial Municipal Funding
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/ccbf-fdcc/index-eng.html
https://www.ubcm.ca/resources-tools
https://www.ubcm.ca/advocacy/local-government-finance

BC Local Government Finance Framework
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/finance/local-government-finance

Cost of Living & Household Pressure
Tim Shufelt, Forget a recession. What Canadians are living through is worse
The Globe and Mail – Nov 22, 2025
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-forget-recession-canadians-cost-of-living/

Petitions


Stop Runaway Property Tax Increases in Sooke
https://www.change.org/RunawayTaxSooke

A Fair Funding Model for BC Cities – Not Just Property Tax
https://www.change.org/FairFundingModelBCCities

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See also:

Index of articles regarding Sooke – CRD Watch Homepage

Re: Bill M216, View Royal Mayor Calls Out Pattern of Legislation Reshaping Local Governance Without Consultation – CRD Watch Homepage

Excerpt:

“XII. Growth and Taxation Evidence

Across British Columbia, a clear pattern has emerged: the fastest-growing municipalities are experiencing some of the highest increases in taxation. This trend reflects a simple reality — growth demands immediate investment in infrastructure and public services, while revenue from development arrives slowly, unevenly, or in constrained forms when cost-recovery tools are limited. This pattern is visible across the West Shore, Surrey, Kelowna, Sooke, and other rapidly expanding communities.

Growth does not pay for growth under the current model — existing taxpayers do.

Removing municipal authority while increasing growth pressure exacerbates this imbalance.”