FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 17, 2026
SURREY, BC — Mike Starchuk today set out two commitments to lower the cost of living in Surrey: cutting recreation fees for seniors in half and making select seniors’ programs free, completely free recreation for residents above the age of 70, and a plan to lower transit fares.
The City’s own 2026 rates put a recreation pass for a Surrey senior aged 60 to 69 at $436 a year. Under a Starchuk council that drops to $218 and passes and programs for seniors over 70 will be free.
“Seniors built this city, and a lot of them live on a fixed income,” said Starchuk. “City Hall keeps raising the price of the same pool and the same gym. I spent my career as a firefighter walking into people’s homes on their hardest days, and I know what a fixed income looks like at the kitchen table. Imagine Surrey will immediately be cutting that bill in half.”
On transit, fares are out of reach for too many. TransLink raised fares by an average of 5% on July 1. An adult monthly pass now starts at $117.20, and a nurse riding SkyTrain from Surrey Central to a shift in Vancouver pays a three-zone fare, with a monthly pass that now costs more than $210.
Victoria has shown there is a better way. The City of Victoria buys transit passes in bulk from BC Transit and gives one to every resident aged 13 to 18. When the program launched, the city paid $11.25 a month for a pass that sold for $45 at the counter, and it covered most of the cost with parking revenue. The program is still running today. Post-secondary students across Metro Vancouver already ride for a fraction of the regular fare for the same reason: their institutions buy in bulk. Mike Starchuk and Imagine Surrey will work with Translink and other levels of government to bring in an initiative that gets Surrey residents better access to transit for less. Starchuk will direct the City to negotiate a bulk fare agreement with TransLink for Surrey residents so that you pay less, and we will target supporting youth, seniors, people living with disabilities, and low-income residents.
“Victoria is a city of about 95,000 people, and it worked out how to buy in bulk and hand the savings to its residents,” said Narima Dela Cruz, Imagine Surrey candidate for city council. “Surrey is on its way to a million. We have the buying power. It’s time City Hall used it. This October, put out the fire at City Hall and elect a team that will lower your bills by voting for Imagine Surrey.”
Both pledges are part of the Imagine Surrey pledge for lower costs. Imagine Surrey will release its full platform in the coming weeks.
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About Imagine Surrey
Imagine Surrey is a civic party running a full slate of candidates in the October 17, 2026 municipal election. Led by mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk – a former firefighter and Chief Fire Prevention Officer, former City Councillor, and former MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale – Imagine Surrey is committed to making Surrey the City of Champions by delivering: safe streets, fast commutes, smart investments, lower costs, and strong services.
Council candidates: Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat, Chandan Chahal, Perminder Chohan, Narima Dela Cruz, Ashiyana Hanif, William Li, Dr. Margaret Mubanda, and Kevin Wilkie.
Contact
Trevor Loke, Campaign Manager
604-838-5178