The City of Vancouver is actively exploring a new initiative to install digital billboards at several high-traffic locations as a creative method to generate non-tax revenue. This move is part of a broader strategy to identify new income sources and make budgetary cuts, with the explicit goal of preventing an increase in property tax for the upcoming year.
Proposed Locations and Billboard Sizes
In a request for expressions of interest posted in November 2025, the city has identified preliminary sites for potential digital advertising. The proposal categorizes billboards into three distinct sizes to suit different urban landscapes.
Large billboards, measuring 4.5 metres high by 14.6 metres wide, are being considered for highways and major corridors. Proposed locations include the Oak Street Bridge, Southeast Marine Drive and Knight Street, the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, and Expo Boulevard.
Medium billboards, which are about half the width of the large ones at 3.6 metres high by 7.3 metres wide, are more in line with typical city signage. A potential location is Southwest Marine at Manitoba.
Small billboards are also part of the plan, with dimensions of three metres high and either six or nine metres wide. Sites under consideration for these include West 4th and Granville Street, Boundary Road between Marine and 45th, and Cambie Street.
Community and Safety Considerations
The city's proposal emphasizes that residents are valued first as community members and secondly as consumers. The request for interest states, "The city recognizes that advertising contributes to the identity of the city while generating non-tax revenue to fund public infrastructure, amenities and its services."
Strict safety and aesthetic guidelines are a cornerstone of the plan. All billboards must be positioned at least 14 metres away from traffic signs and intersections, and maintain a distance of 4.5 metres from the roadway and 2.75 metres from sidewalks. Crucially, they cannot obstruct or compete with a driver's view of traffic signals.
Additional regulations address brightness and content. The digital signs would have requirements for automatic dimming and must feature smooth transitions between advertisements. Flashing, animation, and sound are explicitly prohibited to minimize distraction.
A Step Towards Financial Stability
This exploration of digital outdoor advertising is a direct response to the city's financial pressures. Finding new ways to raise money is a key step in the effort to make cuts and stabilize the budget for the next fiscal cycle.
The city is not limited to the preliminary locations listed and is inviting respondents to propose other sites, provided the proposed signs comply with the city’s overarching advertising policy. This open approach allows for innovative ideas that could benefit both the city's coffers and its community character.
