SURREY, B.C. - Every dollar spent on public transit in Canada comes back as more than $3.50 in economic output, according to new national research released this week alongside TransLink, the Metro Vancouver transportation authority.
The research, produced by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab for the Move Canada report, finds that transit supports $65.6 billion in annual GDP (gross domestic product – the total value of goods and services produced) and more than 500,000 jobs across the country.
“Transit is essential economic infrastructure. It connects people to jobs, helps businesses reach the workforce they need, and keeps our region moving,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.
The other side of the ledger
The release also points to TransLink’s own 2024 study of what happens when service shrinks instead: significant reductions to transit service in Metro Vancouver could raise household costs by up to $1,000 a year, as families are pushed toward driving, and increase road congestion by up to 20 per cent.
Why it lands in Surrey
Surrey is one of the fastest-growing cities in British Columbia, and thousands of its residents depend on TransLink buses and SkyTrain for work, school and medical trips. TransLink is the regional authority that runs SkyTrain, the bus network, SeaBus and the West Coast Express across Metro Vancouver. The Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension is now under construction, and Surrey council has also called for rapid transit down King George Boulevard to Newton – decisions that will shape how much of the national transit benefit Surrey actually sees.
For Surrey families weighing a second car against a transit pass, the study’s household-cost finding is the practical takeaway: when transit service is cut, the cost does not disappear – it moves onto household budgets.
(Source: TransLink, November 10, 2026)
By Apna News
