Explore the Project

• March 2, 2026 – Council endorses opening date for summer 2026 (see March 3, news release)
• March 29, 2022 – Ground breaking with City representatives and dignitaries (see April 1, 2022 news story).
• February 28, 2022 – Council gives greenlight to start development of the new HJCRC.
• January 2022 – Council approves new financial strategy for HJCRC, ensuring project remains on track.
• November 22, 2021 – Council directs staff to keep the current centre open until the new one is complete.
• April 12, 2021 – Council approves a new design for Harry Jerome.
• January 2021 – City announced it will align the delivery of the new facility with the development of the surrounding Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands to mitigate financial risk.
• March 2020 – Council directed staff to redesign Harry Jerome based on the prioritization process of the City’s Community Recreation Strategy. 
• February 2020 – The Community Recreation Strategy – “A Healthy City for All – The Role of Community Recreation” was endorsed by Council at the February 24 meeting. 
• May 2019 – The deferred report was received and filed at the May 13 Council meeting. Staff were directed to undertake a Community Recreation Strategy, inclusive of HJCRC and associated projects.
• March 2019 – A report outlining potential cost reductions and risk mitigation measures was brought forward for Council’s consideration. The report was deferred at the March 4, 2019 Council meeting.
• November 2018 – Council requested that staff consider additional risk mitigation and cost containing strategies for the HJCRC project.
• July 2018 – Council directed staff to proceed with detailed design and refined costing of the HJCRC facility and program. 

Review our Key Reports to Date webpage for more details. 

The new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre and Silver Harbour Senior’s Activity Centre are being financed from multiple sources, with a total project budget of $230 million. While delivering this important project, minimizing financial impacts on taxpayers remains a key priority.

Amenity Levy

The City began collecting property taxes dedicated to the Project in 2013, through an amenity levy. The amenity levy continued into 2026 and contributed a total of $31.8 million to the project.

Harry Jerome Neighborhood Lands Disposition

The disposition of the Harry Jerome Neighborhood Lands--the site of the existing recreation centre and Silver Harbour Seniors Activity Centre--is an important component of the overall project funding. Disposition of the Phase 1 lands, now the location of “Lonsdale Square Apartments” and “Sunrise at Lonsdale Square”, generated $50.4 million through a pre-paid lease arrangement. 

Community Amenity Contributions and Density Sales

A Community Amenity Contribution is a cash or in-kind contribution provided by a developer to help fund community amenities needed to support growth. A Density Transfer payment is paid by a developer to a land owner (such as the City) when the land owner’s density, as approved in the Official Community Plan, is reallocated from its site to the developer’s, as approved by Council under CNV Density Bonus & Community Benefits Policy.

Project funding of $29.9 million was secured from Community Amenity Contributions and Density Sales.

Accumulated Surplus

The City’s unappropriated, accumulated surplus must be between 5% and 10% of total operating revenues--any excess may be used to fund capital projects. CNV’s December 31, 2020 accumulated surplus, then at 11.9% of total operating revenues, was in excess of policy requirements so $5.4 million was allocated to the HJCRC/SH Project. 

Development Cost Charges – Parks

Development Cost Charges are monies collected from developers to offset costs associated with servicing growth. The City’s DCC program allows DCC funds to cover 49.5% of eligible citywide parkland development costs. The Project’s funding includes using $3.4 million of DCC funding for HJCRC park improvements

Municipal Finance Authority Loan

In 2022, the Province of BC’s Inspector of Municipalities and the Municipal Finance Authority (“MFA”) approved the City for a $109 million loan to fund the Project. The MFA carries top credit ratings, so the borrowing rates it provides to Municipalities in BC are very competitive. CNV’s $109 million MFA loan is currently provided through a short-term borrowing facility, with the first draw on the loan taken in March 2025. Repayment is initially interest only, however, after 5 years from that first draw, all principal must be either be repaid in full or converted to long term MFA financing. CNV’s Funding and Financing Strategy for the Project has the MFA loan repaid from the proceeds of the remaining parcels of the HJNL (the “Phase 2” disposition). CNV’s January 21, 2022 “Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre Financial Strategy” Council Report estimated the value of these Phase 2 lands at $167 million based on then current market conditions.

The funding sources for the Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre and Silver Harbour Senior’s Activity Centre Project are summarized in the table below:

View the full details of the project’s Financial Strategy, in our Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre and Silver Harbour Seniors’ Activity Centre Funding and Financing Council Report (PDF).