CANADA: Metro Vancouver is asking British Columbia to approve a governance model that would cut the projected next-term Regional District Board from 45 directors to 34.

Three Metrotower office buildings in Burnaby, including Metro Vancouver’s administrative headquarters
Metrotower complex in Burnaby, including Metro Vancouver’s administrative headquarters; illustrative image, not the July 24 board meeting. Photo: Jeff Hitchcock / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Director cap preserves weighted voting

At its July 24 meeting, Metro Vancouver backed a cap of three directors per member jurisdiction while retaining population-based weighted voting, according to the organization’s official decision. The Regional District Board currently has 41 directors; under the existing allocation formula, that figure was projected to rise to 45 in the next term. The approved Metro Vancouver model would instead assign 34 seats.

Metro Vancouver says every member jurisdiction would keep a seat while weighted representation remains. The capped model would also slow growth: under its projection, the board would not return to its current 41-director size by 2050.

If the province enacts the change, the revised structure will automatically extend to the region’s water, sewerage and drainage, and housing corporation boards.

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Provincial changes could take up to two years

Metro Vancouver will ask British Columbia to amend either the Local Government Act or the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act. The required provincial consultation may take up to two years, meaning the 34-member model is approved locally but not yet in force.

Alongside the board-size proposal, Metro Vancouver is developing a select committee called the Major Projects Oversight Board for large and complex water and wastewater infrastructure projects. The planned body would combine elected officials with externally appointed directors who have technical infrastructure-delivery expertise.

The organization is also moving toward a managed, staged transition from four sewerage areas to one. During engagement from April through June 2026, 92% of board directors supported that direction.

The measures follow Deloitte Canada’s independent governance review, completed in May 2025. Metro Vancouver’s implementation tracker covers 47 recommendations; by the July 24 release, 24 were complete and 14 underway.

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