The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and

corporate entity A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of sta ...

representing the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 regional districts in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The organization was known as the Regional District of Fraser–Burrard for nearly one year upon incorporating in 1967, and as the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) from 1968 to 2017. Metro Vancouver borders

Whatcom County, Washington Whatcom County (, ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the ...

, to the south, the

Fraser Valley Regional District The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city of Chilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km2 (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995 by a ...

to the east, the

Squamish-Lillooet Regional District The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is a local government federation, consisting of four municipalities in British Columbia, Canada: Lillooet, Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish. It stretches from Britannia Beach in the south to Pa ...

to the north, and the

Nanaimo Regional District The Regional District of Nanaimo is a regional district located on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the south by the Cowichan Valley Regional District, to the west by the Alberni-Clayoquot Reg ...

and

Cowichan Valley Regional District The Cowichan Valley Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia that is on the southern part of Vancouver Island, bordered by the Nanaimo and Alberni-Clayoquot Regional Districts to the north and north ...

across the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

to the west. The MVRD is under the direction of 23 local authorities and delivers regional services, sets policy and acts as a political forum. The regional district's most populous city is

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and Metro Vancouver's administrative offices are located in the city of

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

. The MVRD's boundaries match those of the Vancouver

census metropolitan area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

(CMA) as identified by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

History

The Greater Vancouver Water District and the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District were established in 1924 and 1956 respectively. The Government of British Columbia incorporated a regional district for this western portion of the Lower Mainland named the Regional District of Fraser-Burrard on 29 June 1967. Just under a year later, the regional district was renamed as the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) on 13 June 1968. In 2007, the GVRD applied to change its official legal name a second time to simply "Metro Vancouver", which was deemed more recognizable at the time. British Columbia's Minister of Community Services denied the application due to the absence of the term "regional district" within the proposed new name, though it was suggested that the GVRD could brand itself under the unofficial name of Metro Vancouver. After nine years, with growing public recognition of Metro Vancouver, the overall success of the brand, and confusion between the brand and the official legal name of the regional district, the GVRD moved in 2016 to change its name to the Metro Vancouver Regional District. The regional district was therefore formally renamed a second time by the Government of British Columbia on 30 January 2017 to the Metro Vancouver Regional District.

Geography

The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) is located east of the

and north of the

State of Washington Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

and is bisected by the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

. The boundaries of the MVRD match those of the Vancouver CMA.

Membership

This regional district comprises 23 local authorities as members: 21 municipalities, one electoral area and one treaty First Nation. Electoral Area A comprises all

unincorporated land An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

within the regional district boundaries, which totals about 818 square kilometres. Most of the area is in the northernmost part of the district, including residential areas and isolated dwellings on

Howe Sound Howe Sound (, ) is a roughly triangular sound (geography), sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021. Geography Howe Sound ...

between Lions Bay and Horseshoe Bay, on Indian Arm to the north of Deep Cove and Belcarra/Anmore and on the west side of

Pitt Lake Pitt Lake is the second-largest lake in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. About in area, it is about long and about wide at its widest. It is one of the world's relatively few tidal lakes, and among the largest. In Pitt Lake, there is o ...

to the north of Port Coquitlam. Other areas included are Barnston Island on the

, Passage Island between Bowen Island and West Vancouver, and finally the urban communities of the University of British Columbia campus and the

University Endowment Lands The University Endowment Lands (UEL) is an unincorporated area in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It lies west of Vancouver and east of the University of British Columbia's Point Grey campus lands. Most of the University Endowment ...

, in which 98% of the population of Electoral Area A lives. There are also seventeen

First Nations reserves In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Res ...

within the geographical area of Metro Vancouver, with a combined population of 7,550 as of 2006. While reserves are not subject to Metro Vancouver by-laws, people living on reserve are still eligible to vote in local and Electoral Area A elections and therefore help select the Metro Vancouver board of directors. The cities of Abbotsford and

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

and the district of

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

, located to the east, although often linked to Vancouver in promotions and tourism, are part of a separate regional district, the

Demographics

As a

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

in the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

conducted by

, the Metro Vancouver Regional District had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The Metro Vancouver Regional District is the densest and most populous regional district in British Columbia, and the second-densest and second-most populous census division in Canada behind

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Governance

Metro Vancouver technically comprises four separate corporate entities: the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District (GVS&DD), the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD) and the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation (MVHC). Each of these is governed by a board of directors. The board of the MVRD has 40 directors coming from the 23 local authorities who are MVRD members. The number of directors coming from each local authority is determined by population, and the number of votes allocated to each director further helps proportionally represent the population distribution of the region. Each board director is also an elected official of one of the local authorities, with the exception of the elected representative for Electoral Area A (which has no council). As of 2017, the organization had about 1,500 employees. The current organizational structure shows ten departments reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer: Human Resources & Corporate Services; External Relations; Financial Services; Legal Services & Aboriginal Relations; Board & Information Services; Liquid Waste Services; Parks & Housing Services; Planning & Environment; Solid Waste Services; and Water Services.

Administrative role

The principal function of Metro Vancouver is to administer resources and services which are common across the metropolitan area. The Metro Vancouver Board has defined its strategic priorities for 2015 through 2018 in its Board Strategic Plan. The organization categorizes its work into action areas as described in the following subsections. However, 84% of the organization's budget is spent in three of those areas – the three utilities (water, liquid waste, solid waste). Metro Vancouver's commitments and its members' commitments to each action area are outlined in eight board-approved management plans as referenced below.

Water

Metro Vancouver's

tap water Tap water (also known as running water, piped water or municipal water) is water supplied through a Tap (valve), tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used f ...

is provided by four legal entities that operate under the name Metro Vancouver: the GVWD, the GVS&DD, the MVRD and MVHC. They collectively serve 2.8 million residents in the region and provide of water during peak summer days. The GVWD provides tap water to a land area covering more than 2,600 km² with all of the water coming from three sources: the Capilano reservoir, the Seymour reservoir and the Coquitlam reservoir. Metro Vancouver controls the

Cleveland Dam The Cleveland Dam is a concrete dam at the head of the Capilano River in Upper Capilano, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that holds back Capilano Lake, also known as Capilano reservoir. Part of the Capilano River Regional Park, it st ...

on the Capilano reservoir, which supplies 40 percent of the district's water. The system includes 26 storage tanks, 19 pump stations, and of

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Defi ...

Liquid waste

Metro Vancouver operates and maintains the liquid waste facility, which includes managing "the network of trunk sewers, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants that connect with municipal sewer systems".Wastewater Collection & Treatment
. Metrovancouver.org. Retrieved on 26 July 2013. Throughout operations, the organization is committed to protecting public health and the environment, and recovering as much resources (energy, nutrients, etc.) as possible out of the waste stream. The liquid waste utility is committed to the goals and strategies in the Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management plan, as approved by the board. The three goals are to: * Protect public health and the environment * Use liquid waste as a resource * Effective, affordable and collaborative management

Solid waste

Metro Vancouver's solid waste utility is committed to the goals and strategies in the Integrated Solid Waste and Resource Management plan, as approved by the board. The four goals are to: * Minimize waste generation * Maximize reuse, recycling and material recovery * Recover energy from the waste stream after material recycling * Dispose of all waste in landfill after material recycling and

energy recovery Energy recovery includes any technique or method of minimizing the input of energy to an overall system by the energy transfer, exchange of energy from one sub-system of the overall system with another. The energy can be in any form in either sub ...

One initiative of the organization was the Ashcroft Manor Ranch Mega-

Landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

Proposal in

Ashcroft, British Columbia Ashcroft is a village municipality that straddles the Thompson River in the Thompson Country region of south central British Columbia, Canada. East of British Columbia Highway 1, BC Highway 1 and on British Columbia Highway 97C, BC Highway 97C, t ...

, in the

Thompson Country Thompson Country, also referred to as The Thompson and sometimes as the Thompson Valley and historically known as the Couteau Country or Couteau District, is a historic geographic region of the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of Britis ...

of the

British Columbia Interior The British Columbia Interior, popularly referred to as the BC Interior or simply the Interior, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. While the exact boundaries are variously defined, the British Columbia Interior ...

, as there is no more room in the Lower Mainland for Metro Vancouver's garbage. A similar project nearby adjacent to the town of

Cache Creek, British Columbia Cache Creek is a historic transportation junction and incorporated village northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is on the Trans-Canada Highway in the province of British Columbia at a junction with Highway 97. The same i ...

has almost reached capacity. Environmental concerns about the area's sensitive

shrub–steppe Shrub-steppe is a type of low-rainfall natural grassland. While arid, shrub-steppes have sufficient moisture to support a cover of perennial grasses or shrubs, a feature which distinguishes them from deserts. The primary ecological processes hi ...

climate and ecology are strong, while

Highland Valley Copper The Highland Valley Copper mine is the largest open pit, open-pit copper mine in Canada, located near Logan Lake, British Columbia. It is an amalgamation of three historic mining operations: Bethlehem (later Valley Copper), Lornex and Highmont. H ...

, near

Logan Lake Logan Lake is a district municipality in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. History It was founded in the 1960s and 1970s to support copper, molybdenum and other mineral mining operations located south of the town. The Villag ...

, has offered the use of its mine-pit instead. Other MVRD landfill locations serving the regional district in the past have been in the Fraser Mills area, between the Trans-Canada Highway and the Fraser, and at

Port Mann Port Mann townsite was created in 1911 in the municipality of Surrey, British Columbia. The new town was to adjoin the new railway yard and roundhouse forming the terminus of the new trans-national rail-line operated by Canadian Northern Railway. ...

, beneath the south foot of the

Port Mann Bridge The Port Mann Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Fraser River in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. It carries 10 lanes of British Columbia Highway 1, Highway 1 (itself part of the Trans-Canada Highway) and ...

Housing

Metro Vancouver owns and manages housing complexes throughout the region via the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation (MVHC); it also forms policy on

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

and

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

for the region. The MVHC's board-approved goals, as outlined in the Affordable Housing Strategy, are to: * Expand the supply and diversity of housing to meet a variety of needs * Expand the rental supply and balance preservation of existing stock with redevelopment while supporting existing tenants * Meet housing demand estimates for very low and low income earners * Increase the rental housing supply along the frequent transit network * End homelessness in the region The MVHC's sole shareholder is the Metro Vancouver Regional District. The number of directors of the housing corporation is 13.

Regional planning

Metro Vancouver works in collaboration with its members to achieve a shared vision of livability across the generations, as laid out in the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS), which was approved by the board in 2011, replacing the Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP). The RGS requires each member local authority to provide a Regional Context Statement to "demonstrate to the Metro Vancouver Board how its Official Community Plan Supports the RGS." The five goals of the RGS are to: * Create a compact urban area * Support a sustainable economy * Protect the environment and respond to climate change impacts * Develop complete communities * Support sustainable transportation choices Regional planning also includes planning and policy-making in agriculture and the food industry. The organization is committed to the goals and strategies in the Regional Food System Strategy, as approved by the board. The goals are to: * Increase capacity to produce food close to home * Improve the financial viability of the food sector * Have people make healthy and sustainable food choices * Provide everyone with access to healthy, culturally diverse and affordable food * Maintain a food system consistent with ecological health In 2018, the organization's board also adopted the Ecological Health Framework, which encapsulates Metro Vancouver’s collective efforts around ecological health and provides guiding principles, goals, and strategies to help achieve the vision of a "beautiful, healthy, and resilient environment for current and future generations." The goals are: * Goal 1: Build

ecological resilience In ecology, resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a perturbation or Disturbance (ecology), disturbance by resisting damage and subsequently recovering. Such perturbations and disturbances can include stochastic events such as ...

and minimize impacts * Goal 2: Protect natural areas and conserve

ecosystem service Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from ecosystems. The interconnected living and non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean air and water, decomposition of wast ...

s * Goal 3: Nurture nature within communities

Air quality

The organization runs programs and set policy to protect public health and the environment with respect to air quality, improve visual air quality and minimize the region's contribution to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. The organization is committed to the goals and strategies in the Integrated Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Management Plan, as approved by the board. The three goals are to: * Protect public health and the environment * Improve visual air quality * Minimize the region's contribution to global climate change

Regional parks

The parks department of Metro Vancouver oversees the development and maintenance of 23 regional parks, as well as various nature reserves and greenways. The organization is committed to the goals and strategies in the Regional Parks Plan, as approved by the board. The four goals are to: * Promote ecological health * Promote outdoor recreation for human health and wellness * Support community stewardship, education and stewardships * Promote philanthropy and economic opportunities Regional parks are distinct from municipal parks in that they are typically more "wild" and represent unique geographical zones within the region, such as

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s and mature

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

Regional economic prosperity

Regional economic prosperity is a service of Metro Vancouver organized to advance a shared prosperity in the region. The service is structured around three functions: fostering collaboration, conducting regional data collection and research, and attracting investment.

Regional federation

Metro Vancouver undertakes support functions that underpin the rest of its service areas. In these areas, the organization commits to "contribute to the effective and efficient performance of our regional roles through leadership and collaboration with our members and other stakeholders." There are eight strategic directions guiding work in this area: * Livable and sustainable region: Use livability and sustainability objectives to guide Metro Vancouver services and operations. * Effective federation: Strengthen the alignment of member and regional objectives. * Public education: Increase Metro Vancouver's profile by leveraging events and news related to regional services. * Engagement: Enhance relationships between Metro Vancouver and other orders of government, First Nations and stakeholders. * Regional transportation: Advocate the merits of integrating regional land use and transportation planning. * Regional prosperity: Clarify and strengthen Metro Vancouver's role in pursuing a collaborative approach to regional prosperity. * Emergency preparedness: Collaborate with stakeholders to prepare for major emergencies. * Fiscal responsibility: Use value for service to guide Metro Vancouver operations and service provision. The organization's board has also adopted the Corporate Climate Action Plan, the purpose of which is to, "set out strategies and actions to achieve Metro Vancouver's commitment to corporate

carbon neutrality Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

and to adapt tscorporate infrastructure and activities to the anticipated

consequences of climate change Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an Instrumental temperature record, overall warming trend, Effects of climate change on the ...

." The strategies of the plan are to: * Reduce energy consumption * Switch to renewable energy * Maximize energy recovery * Sequester and remove carbon * Adapt existing infrastructure and operations * Plan and build resilient new infrastructure and facilities

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Geography of Vancouver Metropolitan planning organizations Politics of Vancouver Waste management in Canada Water supply and sanitation in Canada Regional districts of British Columbia