Vancouver council voted on Wednesday to proceed with installing a large permanent Vancouver sign.
The exact location of the sign has yet to be decided.
The sign will 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 were asking the council to commit up to $300,000 for the project.
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“I don’t anticipate it will cost that much, but we need to prepare for contingencies,” Vancouver councillor Peter Meiszner said.
“And these signs are permanent. They are aluminum. They are located in an iconic location where there will need to be electricity ran to it, space created around the sign.”
Some critics are raising concerns about the price tag.
“Look, life is hard for taxpayers right now,” Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told Global News.
“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.”
The goal is to have the sign fully installed by early 2026, ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
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