Why Surrey’s police budget request dropped by $47M and what’s behind the underspending | CBC News
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Surrey’s police budget has dropped by nearly $47 million than what was initially requested, a move the police union called “reckless,” but the city says it’s adequate after the force underspent tens of millions last year.
Initially, the Surrey Police Board requested a budget of $331.5 million for 2026, a $91.3-million increase from the $240.1-million approved for 2025.
The increase was intended to fund a major expansion of the force, including hiring nearly 240 additional staff, as Surrey Police Service continues the police transition building its own municipal police service.
But after reviewing year-end spending, the police board and city agreed to reduce the proposed budget to $284.5 million.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said the revised figure is the result of the police service not spending its full budget in 2025.
Why the police underspent
Police board chair Harley Chappell confirmed that by the end of last year, police had yet to spend about $40 million.
Ryan Buhrig, president of the Surrey Police Union, said he’s concerned about the underspending despite the police service being in the middle of replacing the RCMP and the dealing with the ongoing extortion crisis.
Surrey’s police union is sounding the alarm over what it’s calling a cut to the city’s planned policing budget for 2026. But the mayor says the force underspent last year. The CBC’s Jon Hernandez explains why the two sides are at odds.
“Citizens in Surrey have been taxed for public safety and that money should be invested into public safety regardless of [whether] it’s in one tax year versus the other,” Buhrig said.
“I think it is important to take a look through that budget carefully just to determine where the money is being spent.”
Chappell says the unspent funds were the result of delays in hiring staff and building the infrastructure necessary for the transition.
“The surplus is largely due to delays in back office infrastructure and systems, IT information management, civilian vacancies that took longer to fill than expected and anticipated,” Chappell said.
He said those delays are common during a large-scale transition.
“The key point to that is public safety is not in jeopardy with the new budget. Things definitely look really good. We’re happy with where we’re at.”
Why the original budget was so high
The initial $331.5-million request reflected plans for rapid expansion as SPS takes over policing duties across Surrey.
The SPS has been taking over from the RCMP since it became the police of jurisdiction in November 2024 — first in the Whalley/City Centre and Newton areas, and most recently in South Surrey. The force announced Wednesday that it will be assuming responsibility for Cloverdale on April 1, with the full transition anticipated to be complete by 2027.
The provisional budget included funding to increase total staffing from 1,039 positions in 2025 to 1,277 positions in 2026, which includes 189 new police officers and 49 civilian staff.
The City of Surrey officially transitioned from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service on Friday. It’s the biggest policing transition in Canadian history, and has been a long, divisive and expensive journey to get here. As Michelle Ghoussoub reports, the full transfer of power will take years to complete.
Salary and benefit costs were projected to rise by more than $62 million, which alone accounts for about $237 million, the largest cost driver.
The proposed budget also reflected costs tied to the rise in extortion threats in 2025. There were 132 extortion attempts in Surrey in 2025, 49 of which involved shots fired at homes and businesses.
It also included major one-time transition costs, which the police board says is required to establish foundational infrastructure for the policing transition, such as building IT systems, training programs, converting and upgrading facilities among others.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke called the $91.3 million increase from the 2025 budget “extraordinarily excessive” and said it would require an 18-per-cent property tax hike if approved.
Last week, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke made a request for 150 extra police officers in her city, amid a wave of extortion threats aimed at residents. While the request has received general support from both the province and the federal government, Wade Deisman, a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley, questions how realistic it is given a lack of policing staff across the country. He also says that the community has a role to play in helping solve extortion cases.
Chappell says the budget requested last year was “based on information available at the time” but after year-end spending reports, “it became clear that SPS would have the same amount it needs to grow as planned in an adjusted budget.”
On Thursday, the revised budget was unanimously approved by the police board members, including Chief Norm Lipinski.
“This is of course a very tight budget, but should the need arise as we move forward, we will be making an application to the city for extra funding as needed,” he said during the meeting.
Surrey city council is expected to vote on the proposed budget in the coming weeks.