Tax dollars subsidized IKEA, The Brick electric vehicles, Metro Vancouver board hears

UPDATE: On Monday, B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix addressed confusion over the electric vhec subsidy program.
New questions are being raised about Metro Vancouver spending after it was learned taxpayer funds were given to IKEA and The Brick, to purchase zero-emission delivery vehicles.

IKEA, one of the world’s largest companies, had a profit of over three- billion dollars Canadian in 2024.

Delta Councilor Dylan Kruger told Global News “It’s good for IKEA. I don’t think Metro Vancouver taxpayers should be paying for it.”

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West made a motion to stop the $300,000 grant.

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The grant was given to the Fraser Basin Council, which then gave the money to IKEA and The Brick.

When Global News asked Metro Vancouver Chair Mike Hurley about the money, he said “I’m not really well aware of that one. That one caught me a bit off guard, so I’m not sure.”

2:05 Metro Vancouver funding debate

It was the only cost-saving approved during the four-hour-long Metro Vancouver Services and Cost Efficiencies Review meeting on Friday.

The board decided to continue with a number of services, including Invest Vancouver. Additional cost savings will be discussed when the board meets again next week.

Two other reviews are also underway, into Metro Vancouver’s governance and the estimated three-billion dollar over-budget North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.