TEAM vows new Vancouver Aquatic Centre with 50-metre pool in Park Board platform | Daily Hive

Colleen Hardwick's TEAM promises new Vancouver Aquatic Centre with 50-metre pool in Park Board platform

Colleen Hardwick. (TEAM For A Livable Vancouver)

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver states that, if elected, it would fully fund the Vancouver Park Board’s capital plan, expand public park space, and restore administrative and operational resources gradually transferred from the Park Board to other City of Vancouver departments over the decades.

The party of mayoral candidate and former Vancouver city councillor Colleen Hardwick revealed today its platform for Vancouver’s parks and recreation system, two months before the civic election on Oct. 17, 2026.

TEAM describes its promise as a capital investment of at least $739 million over four years.

It matches the total value of the draft 2027-2030 Park Board capital plan endorsed by Vancouver Park Board commissioners in July 2026. The draft proposes $496 million for recreation facilities, $223 million for parks and public spaces, and $20 million for service yards.

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The party argues that sustained elevated spending is needed after years of delayed maintenance and inadequate long-term planning.

That concern is supported by a 2025 report from the City of Vancouver’s Auditor General, which found that 72 per cent of the 46 recreation facilities examined were considered to be in poor or very poor condition as of 2022.

TEAM notes that it would restore ongoing funding for maintenance, renovations, and facility replacement, with the goal of avoiding situations in which maintenance is postponed until a building requires a more expensive overhaul or complete replacement.

Its platform would also restore the Park Board’s capacity to manage its facilities and renew joint operating agreements with the community centre associations involved in running local recreation facilities.

For aquatic infrastructure, TEAM is notably promising to “retain a world-class 50-metre pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre.”

That would represent a major change to the Vancouver Aquatic Centre redevelopment project currently proceeding. The existing aquatic centre closed in June 2026 and is slated for demolition in Fall 2026. In July 2026, City Council approved a $3.5-million contract to Heatherbrae Builders to demolish the existing aquatic centre structure.

The City and Park Board have controversially approved a project to build a $175-million replacement facility with a 25-metre lap pool, along with a separate leisure pool, diving tank, and other recreational facilities.

TEAM’s platform does not explain how the current design would be changed to accommodate a 50-metre pool, how much additional funding might be required, or whether changing the design would affect the construction schedule and legal ability to tap into the $103 million in construction financing loans approved by voters in a capital plan plebiscite question during the 2022 civic election.

Pool users, swim clubs, and other groups have been calling for a 50-metre pool — going as far to pursue legal action — given the shortage of such facilities in the city and broader region, and the impact it would have to clubs and groups that specifically need a 50-metre pool for their programs.

The existing Vancouver Aquatic Centre. (Stephanie Braconnier/Shutterstock)

vancouver aquatic centre new concept february 2025

February 2025 preliminary concept of the new Vancouver Aquatic Centre. (Acton Ostry Architects/MJMA Architecture and Design)

The party is also supporting the construction of the new Sunset Pool, the renewal of Kitsilano Outdoor Pool, and expanded swimming and lifeguard-training programs intended to help more Vancouver children learn to swim.

Another major promise is to increase Vancouver’s public park space by at least 20 per cent, with a target of providing at least 1.1 hectares (2.7 acres) of neighbourhood parkland for every 1,000 residents.

The platform states that new parks should be planned and funded as Vancouver’s population grows. However, it does not identify the properties that would be acquired or converted into parks, provide an estimated land-acquisition cost, or establish a detailed timeline for reaching the 20 per cent target.

TEAM also wants specifically designated dog parks within walking distance of every neighbourhood, a review of park walkways to identify accessibility improvements and stricter enforcement of existing park bylaws related to cleanliness and safety.

The party is pledging to protect the Langara Golf Course and Fraserview Golf Course from development.

At Spanish Banks and Jericho Beach, TEAM would reduce parking fees and review the broader pay parking scheme with the stated goal of restoring free public access. The policy does not explicitly promise to eliminate the parking fees entirely.

TEAM’s announcement also asserts that nearly 18 per cent of Vancouver’s existing parkland lacks permanent legal protection. Vancouver has several legal categories for parks; permanent parks generally require approval from both City Council and the Park Board to change their use, while temporary parks and land placed under the Park Board’s care can be changed through less demanding processes.

TEAM notes that it would formally designate existing temporary and de facto parks as permanent parkland.

The platform also renews TEAM’s longstanding support for retaining Vancouver’s separate body of elected officials governing Vancouver’s parks and recreation system, the Park Board commissioners.

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