50% of Metro Vancouver residents support amalgamation of cities: survey

Metro Vancouver sub-region map: Yellow - North Shore; Red - Burrard Peninsula; Green - South of Fraser West; Blue - South of Fraser East; Purple - Tri-Cities; Orange - North East. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

Half (50%) of Metro Vancouver residents support some form of amalgamation — full or partial — of the 21 municipal jurisdictions that make up the region.

Based on a brand new survey by Angus Reid Institute, only 8% believe all cities within Metro Vancouver should merge to become one mega city with a single municipal government, while 42% support some form of partial amalgamation into larger municipal units, resulting in fewer cities.

The support for the amalgamation of the Tri-Cities — Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody — is highest at 35%.

This is followed by 34% in support of merging the North Shore cities of North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, and West Vancouver, and 31% for amalgamating Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.

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Nearly a quarter (23%) are in favour of amalgamating Langley City, Langley Township, and Surrey.

Almost one-in-six (17%) of respondents would like to see the amalgamation of Vancouver and Burnaby.

Three-in-ten (31%) suggest the current configuration and makeup of cities that form Metro Vancouver is fine.

A separate June 2022 survey by Research Co. that asked voters within the City of Vancouver whether they support the amalgamation of all of Metro Vancouver into one big city found 51% support.

Metro Vancouver sub-region map: Yellow – North Shore; Red – Burrard Peninsula; Green – South of Fraser West; Blue – South of Fraser East; Purple – Tri-Cities; Orange – North East. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

Although Metro Vancouver is Canada’s third most populated urban region after Greater Toronto and Greater Montreal, it is far smaller geographically, with the North Shore mountains, the Strait of Georgia, and the US-Canada border framing its limits.

While this region technically has a land area of about 2,900 sq km, most of this accounts for the mountains, reservoir watershed areas, forests, parks, and the protected agricultural land reserve. Only about 850 sq km of the region’s land area can be used for any urban development, including residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional uses.

This means the entirety of Metro Vancouver’s urban area is comparable to the entirety of the City of Toronto’s total land area of 630 sq km, with Metro Toronto as a whole reaching 5,900 sq km.

The City of Vancouver on its own is only 115 sq km — under 20% of the size of the City of Toronto.

It was not too long ago that the City of Toronto was smaller than the City of Vancouver. In 1998, the Ontario provincial government forced an amalgamation of Toronto — then only 97 sq km in size — with a handful of other adjacent municipalities, such as York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough to create the City of Toronto that exists today.

The geographic size of the City of Toronto overlaid on the size of the entire Metro Vancouver and its 23 local and municipal jurisdictions. (TransLink)

The geographic size of the City of Montreal overlaid on the size of the entire Metro Vancouver and its 23 local and municipal jurisdictions. (TransLink)

This Angus Reid Institute survey was conducted over the week prior to the October 15 civic election, but the findings were only released today. This survey had 1,376 adult respondents, with a margin of error of +/- 3% 19 times out of 20.

It found that those who oppose any form of amalgamation in Metro Vancouver are more positive about the performance of their municipal government.

Half (50%) of respondents believe their municipal government has done a “good” or “very good job” on public transit. This is followed by 38% for environmental issues, 36% for the economy and jobs, 34% for transportation and traffic, 29% for crime and public safety, 28% for leadership, 27% for providing good value for tax dollars, 13% for housing affordability and supply, 12% for homelessness and poverty, and another 12% for the opioid crisis.

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