City council to vote on permanent Vancouver sign
Vancouver council is expected to vote on Wednesday on whether to proceed with installing a large permanent Vancouver sign outside Canada Place.
The sign would be similar to the temporary signs in Coal Harbour that have proved to be popular with tourists and Instagram users.
A report has found that a permanent sign would cost between $550,000 and $1 million, plus $50,000 to maintain annually.
Local organizations such as Destination Vancouver have agreed to chip in but staff are asking the council to commit up to $300,000 for the project.
2:07
Metro Vancouver condos sitting empty amid housing crisis
Some critics are raising concerns about the price tag.
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'Look, life is hard for taxpayers right now,' Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told Global News.
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'Families and businesses are struggling to make ends meet so it is deeply inappropriate for city council to be proposing to waste taxpayer money in such a flamboyant fashion.'
If approved, the goal is to have the sign fully installed by early 2026, ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
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