Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver, legally the Greater Vancouver Regional District, is the inter-municipal body, or regional district, charged with certain aspects of governance for the metropolitan area surrounding and including the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The territory under Metro Vancouver's authority is essentially synonymous with what is usually meant by the colloquial term Greater Vancouver, and Statistics Canada defines the Vancouver CMA (Census Metropolitan Area) as having perfectly coterminal boundaries with Metro Vancouver. Although the region's principal city is Vancouver, its seat is in the suburb of Burnaby.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District was formed in 1967^[3], following the creation of Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District (GVSDD) in 1914 and Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD) in 1926. In 2007, the GVRD board unanimously supported a proposal to the provincial government to change its official name to Metro Vancouver.^[4], and the new name took effect in September 2007. The body's letters patent have yet to be amended.

1 Geography
2 Municipalities
3 Administrative role
4 Demographics
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Metro Vancouver occupies the southwest corner of mainland British Columbia. It comprises the western half of the Lower Mainland.

Thirteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located in Metro Vancouver.^[5]. The official land area of the district is 2,878.52 km² (1,111.4 sq mi). It is the most densely populated regional district in British Columbia.

[edit] Municipalities

The Regional District consists of 21 incorporated municipalities and one unincorporated area. The 21 municipalities are:

Municipality	Type	Population	Year
Anmore	village	1,992	2007
Belcarra	village	701	2007
Bowen Island	island municipality	3,551	2007
Burnaby	city	216,336	2007
Coquitlam	city	120,512	2007
Delta	district municipality	101,668	2007
Langley	city	25,134	2007
Langley	district municipality	100,049	2007
Lions Bay	village	1,394	2007
Maple Ridge	district municipality	73,248	2007
New Westminster	city	62,607	2007
North Vancouver	city	47,463	2007
North Vancouver	district municipality	86,954	2007
Pitt Meadows	city	16,757	2007
Port Coquitlam	city	55,735	2007
Port Moody	city	30,004	2007
Richmond	city	186,628	2007
Surrey	city	423,935	2007
Vancouver	city	611,869	2007
West Vancouver	district municipality	44,097	2007
White Rock	city	19,839	2007
Unincorporated Areas	regional district remainder	19,252	2007
Greater Vancouver Regional District	Metropolitan Area	2,249,725	2007

The unincorporated areas like Greater Vancouver Regional District Electoral Area A comprises all unincorporated land within the Regional District boundaries, including the University Endowment Lands and Barnston Island in the Fraser River and are classified as Regional District Remainders^[6].

There are also seventeen Indian reserves within the geographical area that are not subject to governance by the municipalities or the Regional District; they have a combined population of 7,550 (2006).

The cities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack and the district of Mission, located to the east, are commonly referred to by residents and tourists as being part of Greater Vancouver,^{[citation needed]} but they are technically part of the Fraser Valley Regional District.

[edit] Administrative role

The principal function of Metro Vancouver is to administer resources and services which are common across the metropolitan area. These include community planning, water, sewage, drainage, housing, transportation, air quality, and parks.

There are four legal entities of Metro Vancouver: 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 (GVRD).

Metro Vancouver Regional Parks oversees the development and maintenance of nineteen regional parks, as well as various nature reserves and greenways. (The regional parks are distinct from municipal parks in that they are typically more "wild" and represent unique geographical zones within the region, such as bogs and mature rainforests.)

Although, the Greater Vancouver Water District comprises a system that covers more than 2,600 km², all the water for the district comes from three sources: the Capilano reservoir, the Seymour reservoir, and the Coquitlam reservoir. Metro Vancouver controls the Cleveland Dam on the Capilano reservoir, which supplies 40 percent of the district's water.^[7]

Metro Vancouver also oversees South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink), which administers public transportation and major bridges and highways throughout the region. TransLink also runs the AirCare program, which primarily aims to improve air quality by reducing harmful emissions from automobiles. In the period 1992 to 2002, this program is credited with reducing the air emissions in the urban area by 35%.

One current initiative of Metro Vancouver is the Ashcroft, British Columbia, Ranch Mega-Landfill Proposal.

[edit] Demographics

According to the 2001 census, 1,986,965 people lived in the metropolitan area, about half of the population of British Columbia. The 2006 Census has placed the population at 2,116,581, representing 6.5% growth since the last census^[8].

In 2006, Metro Vancouver had a population of 2,116,581 living in 870,992 dwellings. The regional district has a land area of 2,877.36 km² (1,111 sq mi) and a population density of 735.6/km² (1,905.2/sq mi).^[2]

[edit] Notes

British Columbia Portal

^ Metro Vancouver. Boards and committees. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
^ ^a ^b ^c Statistics Canada (Census 2006). Greater Vancouver Regional District - Community Profile. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
^ Western Economic Diversification Canada. The Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
^ Skeleton, Chad. "Goodbye GVRD, hello Metro Vancouver", Vancouver Sun, 2007-08-03. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ Statistics Canada - BC municipalities - Population
^ Greater Vancouver - BC Stats 2007 Population Estimates
^ Metro Vancouver Water Sources & Supply
^ Greater Vancouver Regional District - Population Growth

[edit] External links

v • d • e Municipalities of Metro Vancouver
Population over 100,000	Burnaby • Coquitlam • Delta • Langley Township • Richmond • Surrey • Vancouver
Population over 50,000	Maple Ridge • New Westminster • North Vancouver District • Port Coquitlam
Population over 10,000	Langley City • North Vancouver City • Pitt Meadows • Port Moody • West Vancouver • White Rock
Population under 10,000	Anmore • Belcarra • Bowen Island • Lions Bay
Unincorporated areas	Barnston Island • Passage Island • Bowyer Island • University Endowment Lands

v • d • e Subdivisions of British Columbia
Subdivisions	Regional districts · Regional district electoral areas · School districts · Regions
Communities	Municipalities · Cities · First Nations · Ghost towns
Urban centres	Vancouver · Victoria · Kelowna · Abbotsford · Kamloops · Nanaimo · Prince George
Regional districts	Alberni-Clayoquot · Bulkley-Nechako · Capital · Cariboo · Central Coast · Central Kootenay · Central Okanagan · Columbia-Shuswap · Comox Valley · Cowichan Valley · East Kootenay · Fraser Valley · Fraser-Fort George · Kitimat-Stikine · Kootenay Boundary · Metro Vancouver · Mount Waddington · Nanaimo · North Okanagan · Northern Rockies · Okanagan-Similkameen · Peace River · Powell River · Stikine Region (unorganized) · Skeena-Queen Charlotte · Squamish-Lillooet · Strathcona · Sunshine Coast · Thompson-Nicola