Greater Vancouver
The Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) is a partnership of 21 municipalities and one electoral area that make up the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver.*
The first meeting of the GVRD’s Board of Directors was held July 12, 1967, at a time when there were 950,000 people living in the Lower Mainland. Today, that number has doubled to more than two million residents, and is expected to grow to 2.7 million by 2021.
GVRD’s role in the Lower Mainland
Amidst this growth, the GVRD’s role is to:
- deliver essential utility services like drinking water, sewage treatment, recycling and garbage disposal that are most economical and effective to provide on a regional basis
- protect and enhance the quality of life in our region by managing and planning growth and development, as well as protecting air quality and green spaces.
GVRD structure
Because the GVRD serves as a collective voice and a decision-making body on avariety of issues, the system is structured so that each member municipality has a say in how the GVRD is run. The GVRD’s Board of directors is comprised of mayors and councillors from the member municipalities, on a Representation by Population basis.
Other GVRD entities
Under the umbrella of the GVRD, there are four separate legal entities: the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD); the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District (GVS&DD); the Greater Vancouver Housing Corporation (GVHC), and the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
* One Fraser Valley municipality(Abbotsford) lies outside the GVRD boundaries but participates in the GVRD’sregional parks services.