Free public Wi-Fi proposed for Vancouver's parks, beaches, seawall and community centres

Vancouver Park Board commissioner Trevor Loke is submitting a motion to make Wi-Fi available free of cost in public spaces across the city.

The motion calls upon the general manager of the park board to work with the chief digital officer to develop a strategy, outline potential costs and a time frame for implementing the vision. Loke says that locations such as parks, beaches, community centres and Stanley Park’s seawall are examples of areas where free WiFi will be made available to the public if the motion passes.

“It would be nice to be a more connected city, no matter where you are it’s good that people can have access to information that’s available on the internet and communicate with each other,” said Loke.

The city would look at partnering up with service providers in the private sector to extend the services they already provide.

Cities such as Denver and Quebec City have already rolled out public Wi-Fi, and Loke added that it is his goal to implement the infrastructure by the summer of next year.

Vancouverites have expressed great interest in this new idea. The Park Board will convene to hear the motion on April 14.

Currently, free Wi-Fi is provided by the City of Vancouver at Vancouver Public Library branches. Users require a library card or a visitors card (which requires identification to acquire) to access the network.

Featured Image: Wi-Fi Hotspot sign via Shutterstock