In today’s City of Victoria committee of the whole meeting, VicPD’s newly named Chief Constable Fiona Wilson answered questions on requested budget increases, which she says are critical.
In 2025, VicPD’s budget cost Victoria just under $79 million, making up around 23% of the City’s entire budget.
This year, VicPD is requesting $89.8 million—a 13.73% increase from last year.
Of this increase, 9.82% accounts for VicPD’s core budget, and 3.91% is a provisional budget request regarding the City’s ‘Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan.’
Chief Wilson says that much of the increased cost has to do with the anticipated staffing increases.
Wilson and the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board have already hired nine officers, who were hired before the City was able to approve any budget increase.
Additionally, Wilson told city council today that she wants to hire eight new officers for crime reduction, four for traffic and four for patrol.
Currently, VicPD has 269 sworn officers, but Wilson claimed that the City needs between 50 and 55 new officers in order to combat street disorder—though in this year’s budget, she is only looking to fund 25 new positions.
VicPD is seeking new positions and officers to fill them in order to re-launch a “beats and bike” program, which would see more officers walking and biking throughout the community.
Wilson also claimed that for every officer hired, VicPD needs new cruisers, and she said that on her first day she was “embarrassed” by the vehicle given to her to use.
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Ultimately, VicPD and the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board were unmoving on any budget item while answering council’s questions and hearing their comments.
“There’s nothing in this budget that isn’t critical,” said Wilson.
In 2015, VicPD’s budget in its entirety was around $48.9 million. In just ten years, this figure has nearly doubled, while the estimated population has only increased by 20,000.
Victoria’s city council has only just begun their work to establish a 2026-30 Financial Plan, with the first budget meeting being last week.
The City’s current Draft Financial Plan would result in a property tax increase of 13.3%.
However, city council’s mission is to get that figure down to just a 4% property tax increase. As the draft budget stands, $38.5 million in spending would have to be cut from the current fiscal plan, over five years.
If VicPD cannot bring their request down, the City may be unable to get down to their 4% property tax goal, which will cost homeowners in the region.
