MAPLE RIDGE · BORROWING REFERENDUM · SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2026

Your city property taxes go up 13% — and stay up for 25 years.

+19%already approved
by council
+
+13%this referendum,
if it passes
=
+32%*your city property
taxes by 2030

That is on top of the 19% the current council has already approved.

Vote no on all three borrowing questions — the pool, the arena and the park are separate questions on your ballot, and each one needs its own no. Let's send council back for a plan we can afford, on a location we can agree on, and one our children inherit rather than pay for.

Calculate what it does to your property tax bill if the referendum passes

The chart below is set to the average Maple Ridge home. Change the number and it redraws to yours.

Type your own tax amount in the box below

$

Just the city portion. Not water, sewer, school tax or Metro Vancouver. Don't have it handy? Leave it as is — that's the average home.

What you pay now (2026)
Increase council already approved (4.5%/yr)
Added by this referendum (3%/yr)
The grey block is the property tax you pay now. Everything to the right of it is new property tax.

And it doesn't stop in 2030.

What this referendum costs you in totaladded up over the life of the loan
$9,035

The city published $90 for 2027 and $385 for 2030 on an average home — one assessed at $1.04 million, paying $2,980 in city property tax in 2026 [2] — and said the amount stays at that level until the loan is repaid [1]. 2028 and 2029 fall between those two figures. The green is the increase council has already approved [3], which happens whichever way you vote. The amber is what this referendum adds on top.

What you are voting on

$393 million of borrowing, in three separate questions. Each one passes or fails on its own [4].

THE THREE BORROWING QUESTIONS ON YOUR BALLOT
Hammond Aquatics and Recreation CentreRemoves Larry Walker Field and Hammond Stadium ball fields$227M
Albion Twin-Rink Arena ExpansionOn Agricultural Land Reserve land the province has not approved$143M
Hammond Multi-Use Community ParkPermanently closes Maple Ridge Golf Course$23M
These three borrowing questions sit on the same ballot as mayor, council and school trustees. Leaving one blank is not a no — it lowers the bar for yes. You have to mark no on each of the three separately.

The city confirms you receive one ballot with the three questions alongside the candidate races [4]. Amounts are the maximum each bylaw authorizes, over a term of up to 25 years, based on Class C estimates [6].

We need the facilities. But at what cost?

Four things are still unsettled on a plan asking for 25 years of borrowing.

The province has not approved the arena

The Agricultural Land Commission refused the Albion twin-rink application [16] on 24 October 2025 over drainage on neighbouring land. The city retains a 2024 approval for one additional sheet; the application for the second was refused, and a reconsideration request is pending and undecided [14].

The drainage study has not been done

$75,000 set aside. Not yet started.

No grant money has been awarded

The city has applied to the federal Build Communities Strong fund. Nothing confirmed [1].

40% of the cost depends on building that hasn't happened yet

About 40% is meant to come from fees charged on new construction rather than from your taxes [13]. That only works if enough gets built. Council asked what happens if it doesn't, and staff confirmed the money would come from reserves or from raising the tax rate instead [15]. The 40% is a forecast, not a guarantee. If it falls short, it lands on your bill.

Your property tax bill goes up before anything is built. Construction on the aquatics centre, the largest project at $227 million, is currently targeted to begin in 2029 [5] — two years after the increases start. A yes vote grants borrowing authority only: it awards no contract, and the incoming council still has to adopt the loan bylaw [6].

Let's get back to planning for the long term.

Maple Ridge already has an Official Community Plan (OCP) — the city's long-term plan for how this town grows, updated by council in November 2025 [8]. Projects this size belong inside the OCP: sequenced against the roads, bridges and utilities we also need, with the location agreed and the land and funding settled before anyone is asked to borrow for 25 years.

A no vote doesn't cancel recreation. It asks council to do the planning first.

The amenities we need aren't on the ballot

Think the traffic is bad now? Wait until Silver Valley fills up. The city's own transportation strategy sets out what this town needs. None of it is on your ballot. $393 million of recreation is.

A second way out of Silver Valley

Eleven thousand people live north of the Alouette River, next to the forest. Maple Ridge Moves, council's adopted transportation strategy, lists the 240th Street Bridge Crossing among its priorities and budgets it at $60 million [9]. The city calls it a second emergency access, and the mayor has said a second route out should be a priority for anyone interested in disaster preparedness [10]. It is not on any ballot.

The Abernethy Way corridor

The city calls it a key transportation and economic link to the industrial lands at 256 Street [11]. Council approved the alignment in 2025. The road is still not built, and it is not on the ballot either.

Everything else council has already committed to

The same 2026–2030 capital plan funds evacuation planning for areas at higher risk of flooding or wildfires, and road widening at Dewdney Trunk Road and 256 Street to reduce collisions [12]. None of that went to a referendum. $393 million of recreation did.

They can't get the road built. They can't get the arena approved. But there's a lazy river in the design.

The leisure pool with a lazy river is how the city describes the $227 million facility [1].

The city has named these as priorities. It has put a different $393 million in front of voters instead. October 17 is when residents get a say.

Send this to your neighbours

Most people still don't know what is on the ballot.

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How and when to vote

ADVANCE VOTINGOct 7, 10, 14, 15
VOTING DAYOct 17, 8am–8pm
MAIL BALLOTApply from Sept 17

Mail ballots must be received by 8pm on October 17, not postmarked. Locations and rules are on the city's elections page [7], or call 604-467-7423.

Own property here but live somewhere else?

You may be able to vote as a non-resident property elector. You pay this either way. Check with the Chief Election Officer well before voting opens — jointly owned property has extra steps.

Every source

Every number on this page comes from a public document. They are all listed here.

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