B.C. rings in the New Year with new fees, higher expenses

You may find your pockets — or your bank account — a little bit emptier after some fees and expenses have increased in the New Year, or are expected to in the months ahead.

In some cases, it’s nickels and dimes, but in others, it’s dollars and more.

Let’s start with the extra dimes you’re dropping every time you get a paper bag with a purchase in Vancouver.

Plastic shopping bags are banned in Vancouver & fees are charged on paper & new reusable bags.

Starting Jan. 1, minimum fees increase to $0.25 for paper & $2 for new reusable bags.

To avoid fees, Bring Your Own Bag when you shop. Learn more at ➡️ https://t.co/JZDAb4G1qz pic.twitter.com/rTUmDTz14y

— City of Vancouver (@CityofVancouver) December 31, 2022

As of January 1st, the fee has gone up 10 cents to a minimum 25 cents as part of the city’s efforts to reduce single-use items.

New reusable bags are also more expensive, with the minimum price doubling from one dollar to two dollars.

The fee for single use cups remains 25 cents.

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There are also significant increases in fees relating to building and development permits around Vancouver.

A new fee schedule kicked in with the New Year, with hikes from tens to hundreds to even thousands of dollars more, depending on what is being applied for.

What’s going up in the months ahead? Probably your power bill — BC Hydro has applied for a two per cent increase to electricity rates in April.

BC Ferries also plans to increase its ticket prices by an average of 2.3 percent across the fleet in April.

Still with travel, the price of gas is expected to remain volatile to start 2023.

The price at the pump increased 1.6 cents per litre over the last week of December, and rose another 5 cents Monday morning, Jan.1, to $1.749 for a litre of regular at many stations across Metro Vancouver, according to GasBuddy.com.

Read more: 

• Metro Vancouver businesses say rising costs top of mind

• Metro Vancouver gas prices expected to rise on Jan. 1

• Premiers’ New Year’s messages talk economic improvement, health care, cost of living

“Canada’s average price of gasoline rose sharply last week, as extremely cold weather led to many refinery issues, shutting down over a million barrels of refining capacity, pushing wholesale prices up,” says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“In addition, China’s reopening plans gave markets inspiration that global oil demand will start to recover, as China’s nearly three year Covid-zero policies appear to be coming to an end,” De Haan added. “While the jump at the pump will likely be temporary as most refiners get back online after cold-weather related issues, some regions like the Rockies may see more price increases than others.”

He predicts most areas have seen the bulk of the latest jump at the pump already, but should oil continue to rally as more increases could be on the way.

There are also predictions that grocery prices will continue to climb in the months ahead.

Related story: B.C.’s living wage increases amid grocery and housing costs: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

“We were hoping for better news for 2023, but unfortunately the first half of 2023 will be challenging. We’re not out of the woods yet,” Sylvain Charlebois, a professor and the director of the Agri-Foods Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, recently told CityNews.

For a family of four, the total annual grocery bill is expected to be $16,288 — $1,065 more than it was this year, according to the 13th edition of Canada’s Food Price Report released December 2022.