The $50 Ticket That Costs You $100
These trends show why change is needed—and why it's achievable with the right decisions at the council table.
Since 2021: the cost of bylaw enforcement is up 85%; residents rate bylaw enforcement 15% lower and building inspections 23% lower (Saanich financial plans; BC Stats 2024 Resident Pulse Survey). Download the one-pager →
The True Cost of Enforcement Without Oversight
Figures in this section were compiled on 5 August 2026 and cover two enforcement files. The briefings at the top of this page use figures current to 25 September 2026.
Revised 5 August 2026. Our compilation from District budgets, Statements of Financial Information, court records and freedom of information releases now estimates roughly $555,000 to $1,028,000 in public cost across two enforcement files. The earlier figure of $290,000 to $447,000 stopped at December 2025 and counted the prosecution only. It left out everything that has happened since, and it left out the civil and tribunal proceedings the District is now a party to arising from the same file. The invoice-level billing detail was withheld in the response to freedom of information request 2025-240 and is before the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Documented Public Expenditure — Estimate
District of Saanich Bylaw Prosecution (2022–2025)
Cost estimate — booked to General Government
- Estimate: $388K–$766K, revised 5 August 2026 to run to the appeal now on foot and to include the civil and tribunal proceedings arising from the same file
- Booked to: General Government
- Verified from the District's own filings: $447,510 paid to the barrister who conducted this prosecution, across the six Statements of Financial Information from 2019 to 2025 that we have obtained. The 2023 filing is not yet in hand.
- Bill 44 framework: bylaw provisions at issue repealed and replaced effective June 30, 2024
- No safety hazard demonstrated
- Officers lacked Building Act s.10 qualifications
BC Supreme Court Case (2025 BCSC 1132)
Injunction action against single rural property owner
- Municipal burden: $148K–$234K (89%)
- Provincial burden: $19K–$28K (11%)
- Outcome: Partial success only
- 3 injunctions obtained — cost per injunction: $56K–$87K
- Cost recovery: Only 5–11% via court tariff
- Building Code claims ALL dismissed
- Evidence deemed inadequate by Justice Loo
Pattern of Systemic Failure
- Guaranteed Financial Loss: In both cases, actual costs far exceed any potential recovery. Taxpayers lose money regardless of outcome.
- Evidentiary Failures: In the civil petition against another property owner the Court found the District's building inspection evidence insufficient to prove the alleged Building Code contraventions. Whether the same deficiency affects other files has not been decided.
- Qualification Concerns: Enforcement officers pursued these cases without required Building Act s.10 certifications.
- No Safety Hazards: Neither property posed demonstrated risks to public safety. These are paperwork violations, not dangerous conditions.
- Proportionality Question: Spending between $167,000 and $766,000 per case to address permit paperwork at individual properties warrants serious policy review.
- Resource Drain: These two cases alone consumed a significant portion of Saanich's annual bylaw enforcement budget while resident satisfaction plummeted.