Metro Vancouver parts ways with chief administrative officer

The Metro Vancouver Regional District has parted ways with its chief administrative officer.

Jerry Dobrovolny, also the commissioner, had been with the regional district since 2019.

Metro Vancouver board chair Mike Hurley says the move comes ahead of the upcoming municipal election and amid ongoing governance reform.

Dobrovolny’s tenure included the COVID-19 pandemic and the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, which came under fire for cost overruns and whose completion has been delayed for years.

In March, two mayors from Vancouver’s North Shore called for a public inquiry into the cost of the facility, saying it had ballooned to $3.86 billion, up from an estimate of $700 million in 2017.

Heather McNell, a deputy chief administrative officer for Metro Vancouver, is taking over the vacated role on an acting basis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2026.