Greater Vancouver Regional District

Greater Vancouver Regional District

Metro Vancouver is the brand name of the political body designated to be one of the regional districts in British Columbia, Canada. The organization is under the direction of 24 local governments; it delivers regional services, sets policy and acts as a political forum. Metro Vancouver is technically composed of four separate corporate entities: the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), the Greater Vancouver Sewerage & Drainage District (GVS&DD), the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD) and the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation (MVHC). The organization was formally known as the GVRD, and that name remains in common colloquial use.

The Metro Vancouver board governs the affairs of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which is charged with certain aspects of governance for the metropolitan area surrounding and including the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Greater Vancouver as a region and name emerged when the newly born City of Vancouver expanded to become larger than the older New Westminster. The territory under Metro Vancouver's authority is essentially synonymous with what is usually meant by the colloquial term "Greater Vancouver", although wilderness and outlying rural regions within the regional district are not generally meant when the term "Greater Vancouver" is used. Statistics Canada defines the Vancouver CMA (Census Metropolitan Area) as having perfectly coterminal boundaries with the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Although the region's principal city is Vancouver, its administrative offices are located in the City of Burnaby.

Despite the typical equation of the regional district with the metropolitan area and the geographical region, the many Indian Reserves in the Greater Vancouver region as well as the University Endowment Lands (UEL) are not part of the representation in the regional district (the UEL is in GVRD Electoral Area 'A', but has its own system of government and is outside the regional district's authority). Other political geographic regions parallel to the regional district are the Lower Mainland region of the Ministry of Environment, the Chilliwack Forest District, the New Westminster Land District, and the Fraser Health Authority. Schools are not subject to municipal or regional district governance and are administered via the school districts system.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District was established on June 29, 1967, 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. While the new name took effect in September 2007, the Province declined to amend the Greater Vancouver Regional District's letters patent to change the name to "Metro Vancouver". The name of the physical area governed by the organization remains the Greater Vancouver Regional District.