Vancouver to open up more city-owned assets to corporate sponsorship
Posted November 13, 2024 7:37 am.
More corporate branding is coming to Vancouver, after city council decided to expand which city-owned assets can be renamed by private sponsors.
City staff made a recommendation during Tuesday’s council meeting to revoke the 2006 Naming Rights Policy and the 2019 Sponsorship Policy and implement a new framework for both.
The idea is one of 17 recommendations issued in January, in order to tackle the annual funding gap in infrastructure funding and rising property taxes.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!Speaking to CityNews on Tuesday, Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung explained that the city has a lot of aging facilities, as “our city is getting older and people deserve good quality amenities.”
The proposal applies to a broader range of city-owned assets and programs, including property, services, publications, vehicles, and digital platforms, to maximize revenue generation opportunities.
“At council today we supported a new sponsorship policy and this is a recommendation that came from the mayor’s budget task force. It is also a forward way of looking at helping to fund the significant infrastructure deficit that we have in the city without continuing to place undo burden on taxpayers,” Kirby-Yung explained.
The City Manager will be authorized to approve sponsorship agreements up to $3 million, and a City Manager-designate will approve agreements up to $50,000.
However, naming rights would be subject to approval by council, and sponsorships won’t be allowed for a number of things, including public parks, libraries, or street names.
“We will look at what opportunities will be of interest to sponsors, as well as to the city,” Kirby-Yung added.
“For example, we have the BMO Theatre in Olympic Village … so that would be one example of something public-facing. It could be a theatre or it could be something like a recreational facility, such as Kitsilano Pool,” she said.
“It really is about identifying which assets make sense from a naming perspective for the city and for potential sponsors and supporters.”
