The Regional Growth Strategy

This is the strategic plan that outlines long-term planning for a regional district and municipal official community plans. Metro Vancouver prepares the strategy in collaboration with member jurisdictions, provincial agencies, and others.

Metro 2040 Update

Metro Vancouver began updating the current Regional Growth Strategy, Metro Vancouver 2040: Shaping Our Future, in 2019. The draft of the updated strategy, called Metro 2050, was available for public comment between July and November 2021. Those comments were incorporated into the final version of Metro 2050 and a public hearing was held in April 2022. Metro 2050 is now in the formal acceptance period. 

The proposed updates consider significant drivers of change, integrate with Transport 2050 (TransLink’s new Regional Transportation Strategy), and provide policy improvements. Metro Vancouver has worked in close collaboration with member jurisdictions, TransLink, the Province, adjacent regional districts, and other regional agencies throughout the update. 

Learn more about Metro 2050

Metro 2040: Shaping Our Future 

Metro 2040, the Regional Growth Strategy, represents the current collective vision for how our region is going to accommodate the one million people and over 500,000 jobs that are expected to come to the region in the next 25 years.

Metro 2040 sets out goals, strategies, and policies to guide the future growth of the region and provides the land use framework for transportation, economic, housing, utility (water, liquid waste, and solid waste), as well as environmental and climate change planning.

Metro 2040 was adopted unanimously in 2011 by 21 municipalities, TransLink, and adjacent regional districts.

The Metro 2040 Performance Monitoring Dashboard tracks progress towards the five goals set out in the Regional Growth Strategy. Performance is evaluated on an ongoing basis as data becomes available.

Metro 2040 Goals

• Goal 1: Create a Compact Urban Area

  Metro Vancouver’s population is concentrated in compact communities with access to a range of housing choices, employment, amenities, and services. Compact, transit-oriented development patterns help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, and support both the efficient use of land and an efficient transportation network.

• Goal 2: Support a Sustainable Economy

  The land base and transportation systems required to nurture a strong regional economy are maintained and the labour force is supported. Industrial and agricultural land is protected and the business sectors dependent on these lands thrive, while commerce flourishes in urban centres throughout the region.

• Goal 3: Protect the Environment and Respond to Climate Change Impacts

  Metro Vancouver’s vital ecosystems continue to provide the essentials of life – clean air, water, and food. A connected network of habitats is maintained for a wide variety of wildlife and plant species. Protected natural areas provide residents and visitors with diverse recreational opportunities. Metro Vancouver and member municipalities meet their greenhouse gas emission targets, and prepare for (and mitigate risks from) climate change and natural hazards. Learn more about how Regional Planning supports the environment.

• Goal 4: Develop Complete Communities

  Metro Vancouver is a region of communities with a diverse range of housing choices suitable for residents at all stages of their lives. The distribution of employment and access to services and amenities builds complete communities throughout the region. Complete communities are designed to support walking, cycling, and transit and to foster healthy lifestyles.

• Goal 5: Support Sustainable Transportation Choices

  Metro Vancouver’s compact, transit-oriented urban form supports a range of sustainable transportation choices. This pattern of development:

  • Expands opportunities for multiple-occupancy vehicles, transit, cycling, and walking
  • Encourages active lifestyles
  • Improves air quality
  • Reduces energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and household expenditure on transportation

  
  

  The region’s road, transit, rail, and waterway networks play a vital role in serving and shaping regional development by providing linkages among communities and reliable routes for goods movement.

Regional Context Statements 

Municipalities prepare and adopt Regional Context Statements, which describe how local aspirations, as expressed in Official Community Plans, support and align with Metro 2040's goals and policies. These statements must be accepted by the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors. 

View the Regional Context Statements