The City of Maple Ridge has adopted amendments to the Fees and Charges Bylaw to bring together service and fees from multiple departments into one easy-to-navigate bylaw. These updates simplify processes, improve customer service, and ensure fees are fair, transparent, and aligned with the actual cost of delivering services.
This work supports Council’s Strategic Plan objective to consolidate fees under a single bylaw with consistent review dates and reflects the City’s One City approach to improving equity and accountability across departments.
Notice of Fee Changes: Credit Card Surcharge
What's Changed
- Removed outdated or duplicate fees
- Applied consistent inflationary adjustments
- Aligned fees with regional benchmarks, actual service costs, and increased infrastructure costs to help with cost recovery
Fees become effective as noted in the consolidated bylaw available online. Please refer to the notes section in the schedules for the effective dates for Fees and Charges.
See All Recreation Fees, Rates and Memberships
Admission and Membership:
- Free admission for children under 5 (previously under 3)
- 50% discount for seniors aged 65–79 (was previously for 75+)
- New 30% discount for full-time adult students
- Modest increases (2–5%) for other age groups (approximately $0.06 increase for children (5–12), $0.56 for families)
- No change to:
- 1-year drop-in membership
- Outdoor pool admission
- Sports field fees
- Free admission for Super Seniors (80+)
Rental Rates:
- 5% increase for below-market rates (rooms, arenas, fields, pool, fairgrounds)
- No change to rentals already at or above regional averages
- 3% inflation adjustment applied across most service fees
- Pre-application meeting/review fee updated to a flat $1,000
- Updated administrative fees introduced for document handling and service processing
- Updated fee structures to remove duplication and improve clarity for service users
- Consolidation of Planning and Building fees under one department and bylaw
- 30% increase to pavement restoration fees (first since 2011)
- New fees: Shoring, Hoarding, Works and Services Agreements, and Latecomer Agreements
- Updated engineering servicing review fees
- Standardized towing fees (ICBC rates apply)
- Outdated/duplicate fees removed
- $25 fees for credit balance refunds and payment transfers
- $35 property apportionment fee (per child parcel)
- New security deposit exchange fee
- Updated online tax certificate and mortgage listing fees
- Standardized record search fees for high-demand FOI topics (e.g. property information on historic grow ops, underground tanks)
- Most information request fees increased (first update since 2013)
- No charge for volunteer police checks
- No charge for fingerprints for Indigenous applicants for name changes
- New fee for digital media transfers
- Fees consolidated into the main bylaw
- Tiered fee structure based on production scale (student to commercial)
- Updated admin and permit fees to reflect staff time
- Clearer rates for road closures, public space use, and support services
- Variable fee model for flexibility
- Penalties added for late cancellations
Frequently Asked Questions
2% Merchant Fee for Credit Card Payments
Credit cards are a safe, fast, and convient way to pay for your taxes, utilities and development services and building permit fees. Paying at online from your home or office via our My City or Eservices sites is the fastest way to ensure you pay on time without incurring penalties and without delaying receiving your permits or other services. This saves you a trip out of your busy day to visit City Hall in person to pay.
The City is charged a merchant fee by its financial institution to receive and process credit card transactions. Having service users cover part of this cost when they choose the convenience of credit card payment helps offset the need to use other City funds.
No, the City must pay a merchant fee to its financial institution. This merchant fee is not collected to increase revenue for the City.
Council limited the 2% merchant fee to property taxes, utilities and development services rather than applying the fee to all credit card payments for all services. This is where the highest volume of credit card transactions occur that cost the City extra to process. You will only be charged the 2% fee if paying by credit card. There are ways to pay your bill that do not include the 2% merchant fee.
The 2% merchant fee only applies to those chosing the convenience of credit card transactions. You can pay by e-payment at your financial institution, and by cheque via mail or in person, or with cash at the Revenue Services counter at City Hall. However, cash is not encouraged for property tax payments to avoid the need to carry large amounts of cash when coming to pay your bill.
No, the current bylaw restricts the merchant fee to property tax and uitility payments, and development services permits and related fees only. Credit Card payments for licences, fines, and admission or booking fees are not subject to the merchant fee in the current bylaw.
The current limit of $6,000.00 on credit card transactions will be increased to $100,000.00 per transaction.
For tax and utility payments partial credit card payments are possible and the 2% merchant fee will apply only to the part of the bill paid by credit card. For development services permit fees customers must choose either credit card, or other forms of payment. No partial payments are allowed for development services permit fee payments due to the way payments are processed in the system.
Cemetery
The Cemetery Bylaw is being updated, and this presents an opportunity to remove fees from the bylaw and consolidate them with all other fees and charges into the Maple Ridge Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 7575-2019. The previous fees expired in 2024. Fees are being updated to provide more clarity on rates until 2030. The fees were last updated in 2020 and expired in 2024.
There are different fees for residents and non-residents of Maple Ridge to reflect that the cemetery services are primarily funded by Maple Ridge taxpayers and service users and this is a public amenity for this community. Non-residents can apply to use cemetery services but pay a slightly higher fee to reflect our focus on first serving Maple Ridge Residents and those with long-standing ties to this community.
The fees are adjusted by 3% for inflation each year to reflect the increasing costs to the City to deliver the service for labour, groundskeeping, maintenance etc. The schedule shows the rates clearly for each year to enable residents to plan for future costs.
Fire Services
Fees for Fire Services beyond emergency services have not been updated in several years and were formerly contained in multiple bylaws. These have now been consolidated into the Fees and Charges Bylaw for clarity. New fees and updated charges for existing fees include things like inspection fees, review of fire safety plans and serving compliance orders. Fees for specific permits such as outdoor burning and fireworks are also updated in the bylaw.
Attending false alarms carries a significant cost for the City and takes valuable resources away from real calls for service. In some cases, four or even five false alarms have been called to the same properties and as more false alarm calls occur at the same address, the fee increases dramatically to deter false alarm calls.
The Fire Service staff are sometimes called upon to prepare investigation reports into a fire. Where damage exceeds $5,000 these can require a great deal of time and specialist expertise to prepare a thorough and complete investigation report. These reports help support insurance claims and identify areas that prevent future fires and are critical. The cost reflects the time required for these investigations.
Outdoor Burning
Burn permits allow the City to regulate outdoor burning to ensure it is done safely and responsibly. This helps prevent fires from spreading, protects neighbouring properties, and reduces impacts on the air we breathe.
The previous fee of $25 had not changed since 1997. The new fee reflects today’s costs to administer permits, respond to complaints, and ensure fire crews are ready to respond if needed.
The fee for an outdoor burning permit has been $25 since the Outdoor Burning Permit Bylaw was put in place in 1997. It has not changed as the City’s costs have increased. The change is part of an update to many fees across the city which have not increased in over a decade.
Fees vary across the region. Some municipalities charge less, while others charge more or do not allow residential burning at all. Maple Ridge’s fee is within the typical range.
The City partners with the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society to offer a free chipping program for yard waste in Spring and Fall for residents to get rid of tree clippings and yard waste that may otherwise be burned. Residents can also safely dispose of yard waste and tree clippings by drop-off at the Maple Ridge Recycling and Waste Centre. Minimum fees for yard waste disposal start at $10 (for up to 80kg) and increase by weight at a rate of $124 per tonne.
Tree Permits
The Tree Protection and Management Bylaw has been updated to reflect new approaches to permitting of tree cutting in the City. As such the fees have been updated to reflect the new approach. Specifically, there are two streams for tree permit applications, Residential Stream, and Development Stream.
Tree removal for individual homeowners in the residential stream is intentionally more affordable for residents. The fee for the first tree removed has been reduced to $70.00 with $100 for each additional tree. The development stream charges a base fee of $300 and then $100 for each tree removed per lot.
In the past, fees were based on the size of the property, now fees are determined based on whether the trees are within the residential stream or the Development Stream.
No, fees for replacement trees do not apply to a tree removed due to death from natural causes (confirmed by an Arborist or the Manager for non-development applications).
Yes, please see the bylaw for a full list of fees and changes. New fees have been added to:
- Tree cutting applications
- Tree replacement securities (refundable)
- Tree reserves | Cash in lieu
- Tree permit re-inspections
- Tree permit change
- Tree retention securities (significant, and protected trees)
See All Tree Protection and Management Bylaw Updates and Changes
To improve fairness, reflect inflation, and align with other cities. Some fees were also lowered to improve access for families, seniors, and students.
Children under five (5) are now free, seniors aged 65–79 receive a 50% discount, and full-time adult students are eligible for discounted rates. 1-year membership remains the same.
Modest increases (2–5%) were made where Maple Ridge was below regional averages. These help recover service costs while keeping fees affordable.
If you meet the income criteria, yes. The Access Pass program is still available; visit Financial Access for details.
Admission fees are now set through 2027 to provide certainty. Rental fees may be reviewed annually.
To reflect inflation and better align with service delivery costs. Many fees had not been updated in over a decade.
Existing permits and licences remain valid until their renewal or expiration.
This depends on when your fees are due and where you are at in the process with your application. For existing applications, any fee amounts applied and paid on or after September 1, 2025, will be charged per the new rates.
It replaces older fees that charged separately for planning, building and engineering staff time to review before an application is submitted. The new fee is one flat rate and covers the full scope of early-stage consultation with planning, building, and engineering staff.
Yes, outdated or duplicate fees were removed to simplify the process and make fees easier to understand and anticipate for service users.
These fees have been updated to reflect the costs of the City to have staff time diverted to undertake records searching, copying and distribution to the requester. The complete list of fees for Planning and Building records searches and Engineering records searches is now covered in the updated bylaw.
Our previous fees have not been revised since 2011. The 30% increase is meant to close the gap due to the increased cost of pavement restoration and bring fees closer to the rates charged by nearby municipalities. The new rates reflect a higher proportion of the City’s actual expenses to restore pavements.
These fees are commonly charged by other municipalities but were not previously charged by Maple Ridge.
The Hording Fee covers staff time and administrative processing for projects that involve temporary encroachments in public rights-of-way for signage and awnings (usually for businesses).
The Shoring Fee relates to a common stage of construction works for developments which were not previously part of a separate fee and permit.
There is now a $100.00 Security Deposit Exchange Fee to recover the cost of updating financial instruments in our system.
Developers and permit holders who request specific services related to building and permitting bear part of the cost of the work through these fees, as they benefit directly from the services.
These fees have been updated to reflect the costs of the City to have staff time diverted to undertake records searching, copying, and distribution to the requester. The full list of fees for Planning and Building records searches and Engineering records searches are now covered in the updated bylaw.
These reflect the staff time required to process customer-initiated account adjustments and are consistent with other municipalities.
This update allows for commonly requested documents to be released as part of a streamlined, consistent practice.
A $35.00 fee is applied per new parcel created from a parent property, commonly during subdivisions.
Fees had not been updated since 2013. The new rates reflect inflation and align with what other municipalities charge.
Yes—volunteers for community organizations and Indigenous applicants undergoing name changes are exempt from some fees.
This fee covers the cost of retrieving and securely sharing electronic records (e.g., videos or documents).
To better reflect the resources required to support productions, including road closures, staff time, and other coordination with production companies and filmakers.
We expect filming to continue to thrive. These changes ensure productions contribute fairly to the use of public services and amenities.
Yes, filming rates are scaled depending on the type and size of production. Student and non-commercial shoots may qualify for reduced fees.
The inclusion of variable fees allows the City to fairly consider the specific context of each production and its impact on public services and amenities and ensure equity so that all levels of production can film in Maple Ridge.
The penalties help encourage timely communication and accountability from productions, ensuring agreements are honoured and City resources are used efficiently. This allows the City to recover costs from last-minute changes and ensures all productions have fair and reliable access to services and amenities.