B.C. government says dissolving Vancouver park board will require referendum

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government is moving to pass legislation to require a referendum on the future of Vancouver’s park board, which Mayor Ken Sim has vowed to dissolve to give power over parks to city council.

B.C.’s Housing Ministry said Thursday that dissolving the board will require a referendum, with new legislation to amend the Vancouver Charter that would give city council the authority to dissolve the board after holding an “assent vote,” should a majority of Vancouverites vote to approve the plan.

Housing Minister Christine Boyle said the move is to “ensure that a significant change to park governance is legally sound, that it’s well supported, and that it balances local leadership and public input.”

Boyle said the timing of the vote will be up to council, but said it would make financial sense to hold it at the same time as the next municipal election scheduled for October 2026.

She said the province received much public feedback about the plan to dissolve the board, “including that it wasn’t an issue the election was run on.”

“I think that opportunity for the public to have a say on a referendum would strengthen any future decision on a significant governance change, and that’s important,” she said.

The ministry said that if a simple majority — 50 per cent plus one — votes to dissolve the board, Vancouver city council can pass a bylaw to dissolve the board, giving jurisdiction over designated city parks to council.

The province said in a statement that the legislation will also require a referendum and a unanimous council vote if the city wants to remove a permanent park designation, unless the lands are being transferred to First Nations.

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation was created in 1889 as an “independent statutory body to oversee and manage parks” in the city, the ministry’s statement said.

Vancouver city council under Sim moved to dissolve the park board in December 2023, and the mayor said Thursday that the ministry’s announcement provides “clarity” about moving ahead with the plan to dissolve the board.

Sim said in a statement that a working-group report about dissolving the elected park board found the city would save at least $70 million over 10 years by “reducing duplication,” but didn’t give a timeline on when a vote would be scheduled.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.