Here are some highlights from the December 15, 2025, City Council meeting. For more information – including the full agenda listing – read the Regular Council Meeting Agenda and its attachments.
Downtown security
Council received a report regarding options for a Local Area Service to support overnight security patrols of the downtown area, including financial consideration and process options.
The report explains the choices include reallocating existing bylaw resources, contracting additional security, or exploring broader safety measures like CCTV and environmental design. Funding could come from general taxation, a Local Area Service (LAS) agreement, or a mix of both. LAS can be initiated by property owner petition or Council initiative, each with defined approval processes.
Council received the report for information with an update requested at an upcoming public safety meeting.
Arts and culture plan
Council received an update on the progress of advancing arts and culture planning by the City.
In 2024, Council recognized the need for an updated, comprehensive arts and culture plan that would engage the community and further strengthen arts and culture as a vital part of the city’s identity. Work that has been undertaken this year includes a review of current City strategies and plans, consultation with other municipalities to learn from the development and outcomes of their culture plans, and public engagement – specifically a roundtable discussion that was held in November where over 40 representatives from 31 different local arts, culture, and heritage organizations participated.
The report included a number of options for council to consider on how to progress arts and culture planning for the community.
Council chose option one which uses existing City strategies (e.g., Official Community Plan 2025) and establish an Arts, Culture & Heritage Committee supported by a dedicated staff position to create a stand-alone guiding document.
The dedicated staff ask will be addressed through the 2026 Budget deliberations following Council’s review and conclusion regarding the Heritage Planner service enhancement, where staff have been asked to revise the proposed Heritage Planner role to incorporate responsibilities for arts and culture.
Council contingency fund for seniors
Council discussed a recommendation asking them to approve the use of the remaining balance in the 2025 Council Contingency Fund to provide immediate financial support to the five senior citizens groups in Prince George.
This motion was defeated; however a second motion was approved that asks for administration to host a workshop with representatives from the seniors centres and seniors service organizations to facilitate discussion on identifying shared challenges and operational pressures, exploring opportunities for collaboration and gathering feedback to inform future City support.
Up to $5,000 from the council contingency fund was approved to support the delivery of this session.
Auxiliary RCMP program
Council approved a recommendation in a notice of motion asking administration to return a report on the Auxiliary RCMP program that provides information and considers submission of a formal request to join the program through the local Prince George RCMP detachment.
The program, relaunched in BC in 2024, uses uniformed, unarmed volunteers appointed as peace officers to support community policing and crime prevention. Startup costs are covered by the Province, but municipalities bear ongoing operational costs. Many peer municipalities including Kelowna, Kamloops and Chilliwack have already implemented the program. Joining requires a formal request to the RCMP.
November building permit summary
Council received a building permit and development permit summary for November 2025. The report includes all residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional permits, and the estimated total construction value of each development. The November total is made up of six commercial/industrial permits and 23 residential permits, worth a combined total of $9.27 million. The year-to-date total as at the end of November 2025 is 401 permits worth more than $287 million. This is up from the year-to-date total for the previous year (January-November 2024) was 386 permits totaling $260 million.
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Media contact:
Claire Thwaites, communications manager
Mobile: 778-349-1386
Email: media@princegeorge.ca