Greater Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia
Greater Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia, Canada | Greatervancouverlogo.jpg |
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| Motto: Building a sustainable region |
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| Area: | 2,878.52 km² |
| Population |
| - Total (2001): | 1,986,965 |
| - Cdn. CD Rank: | Ranked 3rd |
| - Pop. Density | 690.3/km² |
| MPs |
| Don Bell, Dawn Black, Raymond Chan, John M. Cummins, Libby Davies, Sukh Dhaliwal, Ujjal Dosanjh, David Emerson, Hedy Fry, Nina Grewal, Russ Hiebert, Peter Julian, Randy Kamp, James Moore, Stephen Owen, Penny Priddy, Bill Siksay, Mark Warawa, Blair Wilson |
| MLAs |
| Val Anderson, Tony Bhullar, Harry Bloy, Jagrup Brar, Elayne Brenzinger, Gordon Campbell, Christy Clark, Rich Coleman, Gary Collins, Kevin Falcon, Greg Halsey-Brandt, Colin Gordon Hansen, Randy Hawes, Dave Hayer, Gordon J. Hogg, Daniel Javis, Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, Richard T. Lee, Brenda Locke, Joy MacPhail, Karn Manhas, Reni Masi, Lorne Mayencourt, Joyce Murray, Ted Nebbeling, Rob Nijjar, John Nuraney, Wally Oppal, Geoff Plant, Linda Reid, Val Roddick, Patty Sahota, Lynn Stephens, Ken Stewart, Richard Stewart, Ralph Sultan, Katherine Whittred, Patrick Wong |
| Board Chair | Marvin Hunt |
| Governing body | Greater Vancouver Regional District Board of Directors |
| Greater Vancouver Regional District |
| Municipalities in GVA |
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The
Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) is a sub-provincial
administrative district within the
Canadian province of
British Columbia,
Canada. It comprises the
metropolitan area surrounding the city of
Vancouver, and is essentially synonymous with
Greater Vancouver or the
Vancouver Metropolitan Area. The seat is in
Burnaby while the principal city is Vancouver.
The Greater Vancouver Regional District occupies the southwest corner of mainland British Columbia. It comprises the western half of the
Lower Mainland.
According to the 2001 census, 1,986,965 people live in the metropolitan area, about half of the population of British Columbia. GVRD estimates (2005) have placed the population at 2,155,880, representing 8.5% growth since the last census[
1]. Thirteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located in the GVRD [
2] 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.
The Regional District consists of 21 incorporated municipalities and one unincorporated area. The 21 municipalities are:
*Village of
Anmore - Pop. 1,344 (2001)
*Village of
Belcarra - Pop. 682 (2001)
*Island Municipality of
Bowen Island - Pop. 2,957(2001)
*City of
Burnaby - Pop. 193,954 (2001)
*City of
Coquitlam - Pop. 112,890 (2001)
*District Municipality of
Delta - Pop. 96,950 (2001)
*City of
Langley Pop. 23,643 (2001)
*District Municipality of
Langley - Pop. 86,896 (2001)
*Village of
Lions Bay - Pop. 1,379 (2001)
*District Municipality of
Maple Ridge - Pop. 63,169 (2001)
*City of
New Westminster - Pop. 54,656 (2001)
*City of
North Vancouver - Pop. 44,303 (2001)
*District Municipality of
North Vancouver - Pop. 82,310 (2001)
*District Municipality of
Pitt Meadows - Pop. 14,670 (2001)
*City of
Port Coquitlam - Pop. 51,257 (2001)
*City of
Port Moody - Pop. 23,816 (2001)
*City of
Richmond - Pop. 164,345 (2001)
*City of
Surrey - Pop. 347,825 (2001)
*City of
Vancouver - Pop. 545,671 (2001)
*District Municipality of
West Vancouver - Pop. 41,421 (2001)
*City of
White Rock - Pop. 18,250 (2001)
The unincorporated
Greater Vancouver Regional District Electoral Area A comprises all unincorporated land within the Regional District boundaries, including the
University of British Columbia Endowment Lands (see
University Endowment Lands) and
Barnston Island in the
Fraser River.The population of Electoral District A is 8,034 (2001).
There are also 17
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 6,543 (2001).
The principal function of the Greater Vancouver Regional District 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.
For example,
GVRD Regional Parks oversees the development and maintenance of nineteen regional parks, as well as various nature reserver 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.)
The Greater Vancouver Regional District also oversees
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 thirty-five percent.
One current initiative of the GVRD is the
Ashcroft, British Columbia, Ranch Mega-
Landfill Proposal.
Ethnic origin
*
European: 1,200,010 or 63.5%
*Chinese: 332,560 or 17.6%
*
Other Asian: 161,145 or 8.5%
*Filipino: 54,280 or 2.8%
*
mixed ethnicity: 44,680 or 2.3%(based on single responses)
Visible minority status
More than a third of Greater Vancouver residents are members of a visible minority according to the 2001 Census. The largest visible minority groups are:
*Chinese: 17.4%
*South Asian (Indo-Canadian): 8.4%
*Filipino: 2.9%
*West Asian (Iranian, Afghani): 1.1%
*Latin American: 1.0%
*Black: 0.9%
*Multiple response (mixed-race): 0.6%
Aboriginals, which make up 1.9% of Greater Vancouver's population, are not officially considered a visible minority group by Statistics Canada.[
3]
*
Community Profile: Greater Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia; Statistics Canada*Official Site - http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/
*GVRD Regional Parks - http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/parks
*TransLink - http://www.translink.bc.ca
*Steveston Community Portal - http://www.stevestonivillage.com
