Election Digest Vancouver 2026
| Est. 12,026 HE | |

Parks, recreation, and natural spaces

216 commitments from 16 parties, grouped by who published them.

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver 50

  • Cut parking fees at Spanish Banks and Jericho Beach and review the parking system with the goal of restoring free public access.↗↗
  • Restore ongoing funding for maintenance, renovations, and facility replacement.↗↗
  • End the practice of deferring park facility maintenance until facilities require costly replacement.↗
  • Support Community Centre Associations and their role in operating local facilities, including renewal of the Joint Operating Agreements.↗
  • Retain a world-class 50-metre pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre.↗
  • Support the construction of Sunset Pool and a renewed Kitsilano Beach Pool.↗
  • Keep Park Board assets publicly owned and operated, and prevent parkland from being sold, privatized, or used as a City revenue source.↗↗
  • Plan and fund new parks as Vancouver's population grows, including dog parks within walking distance of every neighbourhood.↗↗↗
  • Increase Vancouver's neighbourhood park space by at least 20%, targeting at least 1.1 hectares of neighbourhood parkland per 1,000 residents.↗↗
  • Improve park maintenance and accessibility by conducting a review of park walkways.↗
  • Strictly enforce existing parks bylaws and toughen enforcement to address cleanliness and safety concerns.↗↗
  • Protect Langara and Fraserview Golf Courses from development.↗
  • Protect parks and green spaces by retaining and fully funding the elected Park Board.↗
  • Expand tree planting, mature tree protections, green space retention and enhancement, and account for heat island impacts in community planning.↗
  • Give preference to in-house employees over outside contractors in parks projects, and follow all WorkSafe BC guidelines to protect workers.↗
  • Add more green spaces, recreational facilities, and parks to address increasing density and existing park deficiencies, with priority for the historically underserved east side of the city.↗
  • Keep parks green by working with Engineering to improve bike access to parks and beaches without paving over existing lawns and gardens.↗
  • Facilitate gardens and urban farming in public and private spaces to support community resiliency and food security.↗
  • Enforce maintenance bylaws on vacant or under-construction private property and boulevards to ensure lawn trimming and litter pick-up.↗
  • Increase planting and maintenance of the urban forest on City-owned lands including street boulevards, with the goal that all city boulevards have healthy tree coverage.↗
  • Retain, protect, and upgrade heritage facilities within the parks and recreation system.↗
  • Resolve accessibility issues in Stanley Park in collaboration with the public and user groups, ensuring the park and its facilities are accessible to all citizens including cyclists.↗
  • Restore pre-COVID access to Stanley Park and Beach Avenue while allowing new alternative cycling and walking infrastructure without impeding vehicles.↗
  • Assess and plan for the impact of climate change on Vancouver's parks and recreation system, including beaches and seawalls, and protect and expand the tree canopy city-wide.↗
  • Expand the park ranger program, maintain lifeguards on beaches, and add fencing on parks adjacent to busy roads.↗
  • Discourage park encampments and work collaboratively with the City and other levels of government so parks are not used as a substitute for housing and services.↗
  • Prioritize local neighbourhood community centres, recreation facilities, amenities, pools, and parks to achieve walkable neighbourhoods with universal access.↗
  • Avoid further development of regional-serving parks and facilities within the city, with an exception for replacing existing citywide special-use facilities such as the Vancouver Aquatic Centre.↗
  • Reconsider the Vancouver Aquatic Centre replacement to include a 50-metre pool as originally approved by voters, including investigating renovation of the existing building if that is the only way to retain a 50-metre pool.↗↗↗↗
  • Provide an integrated swimming and lifeguard training program so all Vancouver children may learn to swim, with more accessible community-based pools and cooperation between community centres and schools targeting early learning for young children.↗↗
  • Support local Community Centre Associations and their roles in joint operation of community centre facilities, and ensure renewal of Joint Operating Agreements with all CCAs in 2027 and beyond.↗
  • Encourage collaboration with schools and libraries for use of their facilities for community centre programs.↗
  • Withdraw Park Board support for the City-initiated policy of imposing housing over new community centres.↗
  • Establish a strict policy rule against sacrificing existing public parkland for industrial or corporate infrastructure developments.↗↗
  • Plan for community centre maintenance, upgrades, renovation, and expansions on a long-term basis to avoid deferred maintenance and expensive replacements.↗
  • Ensure annual and long-term budgets for operations and the capital plan include established funding for all existing community centres on an ongoing basis.↗
  • Rescind the Park Board's authorization for the land use agreements that allow BC Hydro to build an underground electrical substation at Nelson Park.↗↗↗
  • Restore Park Board authority over its operations and facilities by transferring finance, operations, and facilities back under Park Board jurisdiction from the City's planning, real estate, and facilities departments, with line-by-line budget oversight.↗
  • Advocate for secure, ongoing funding for the Park Board as a specified portion of the City of Vancouver tax base.↗
  • Protect and expand the parks and recreation system targeting a ratio of 1.1 hectares of parks per 1,000 people, and designate existing temporary and de-facto parks as permanent parks.↗↗↗↗
  • Protect Stanley Park by halting current logging operations until a full scientific review and independent risk assessments are conducted, with written records retained and only imminently dangerous trees felled by a provincially certified assessor.↗
  • Ensure public engagement and multiple expert opinions are considered before major projects are undertaken in Vancouver parks.↗
  • Save the Vancouver Park Board and protect parkland.↗
  • Pledge investment in recreation facilities.↗
  • Prevent five years of construction, excavation, and heavy machinery placement inside Nelson Park.↗
  • Prevent the removal of up to 83 mature trees and disruption of community gardens in Nelson Park.↗
  • Work with BC Hydro to examine alternative locations that could meet the West End's electricity requirements without using existing parkland or displacing residents.↗
  • Fund the Park Board's capital plan.↗
  • Invest at least $739 million over four years in parks and recreation, including the $496 million identified in the elected Park Board's draft 2027–2030 Capital Plan for recreation facilities.↗↗↗
  • Protect Vancouver's parkland, reverse the erosion of independent parks governance, and invest in recreation facilities.↗

Green Party of Vancouver 38

  • Continue progress toward 30% city-wide tree canopy cover by removing 5,000 existing stumps and replacing them with new trees.↗
  • Increase tree canopy cover in the most underserved neighbourhoods, starting with Strathcona, which had only 9% tree canopy cover as of 2022.↗↗↗
  • Pilot three Miyawaki forests.↗↗↗
  • Work with City Council to actualise the 3-30-300 rule (three trees visible from every home, 30% neighbourhood canopy, and green space within 300 metres) for every home in Vancouver.↗↗
  • Subsidise fees for core activities including swimming lessons, field permits, and ice rentals to keep them within reach of Vancouver families.↗↗
  • Expand and promote the Leisure Access Program (LAP) to provide subsidised access to recreation for seniors and low-income families.↗↗
  • Prioritise youth and equity-seeking communities in the sports field booking system.↗↗
  • Implement SafeSport standards across Park Board sports programs.↗
  • Ensure park design and programming meets inclusivity standards for all abilities, neurodiversity, and senior communities.↗↗
  • Keep parks free of encampments by investing in community safety and peer stewardship programs for people with lived experience of homelessness, poverty, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders.↗↗
  • Increase the number of dog parks, especially in Mount Pleasant, Grandview, and Kitsilano.↗↗
  • Maintain focus on Britannia Community Centre renewal.↗
  • Enhance swimming pool infrastructure by renewing Vancouver Aquatic Centre, Kitsilano Pool, Kerrisdale, and Britannia Pools, and building a new 50-metre pool at Hastings or Kensington.↗↗
  • Build all new Park Board infrastructure to climate-resilient gold standards and minimize carbon emissions.↗↗
  • Continue investing in new safety-enhanced gender-neutral washrooms in parks and public spaces.↗↗
  • Establish a plant-based food mandate for all Park Board restaurants and concessions.↗↗
  • Eliminate excessive dependence on user-fee revenue and restore city-funded portion of the park budget to a historical level of 50%, returning $6 million into the Park Board budget.↗↗
  • Increase microactivations of parks and public spaces and permit small businesses to offer services within parks.↗↗
  • Add new green spaces as part of the broader Trees for a Healthier City strategy.↗
  • Develop a Community Environmental Stewardship program with small grants supporting low-cost, high-impact community care for eco corridors and green spaces.↗
  • Expand affordable recreation opportunities by increasing fee assistance, adding more low-cost programs, and ensuring community centre budgets remain properly funded.↗
  • Introduce a motion directing City staff to create a dedicated Community Environmental Stewardship Grant program providing flexible, small-scale, accessible, and equity-focused funding to grassroots and volunteer-led groups for habitat restoration, education, and community science in eco-corridors and neighbourhood greenspaces.↗
  • Continue advocating for the Park Board's unanimously adopted capital priorities for the 2027–2030 Capital Plan.↗
  • Protect mature trees, replace 5,000 tree stumps, and target schoolyard shade through coordinated commitments across the city, parks, and schools.↗
  • Expand tree planting, community gardens, and local stewardship in neighbourhoods.↗
  • Develop a citywide strategy for clean, accessible public washrooms in parks and public spaces.↗
  • Create food-growing spaces in every neighbourhood.↗
  • Work toward 30% citywide tree canopy by replacing 5,000 existing stumps with new trees.↗
  • Protect community gardens and pollinator corridors.↗
  • Support artificial turf only when paired with rainwater retention and biodiversity measures.↗
  • Pursue native shoreline improvements and accessible waterfront recreation.↗
  • Open park land and facilities to community food systems.↗
  • Convert historic park fountains to circulating or low-volume water features.↗
  • Support childcare provision at community centres and connected schools.↗
  • Support pop-up events and services at parks and beaches where consistent with neighbourhood values.↗
  • Prioritize renewal of Hastings, Kensington, and Renfrew community centres per the 2022 Community Centre Strategy, and keep Britannia on track.↗↗
  • Purchase land in dense areas for new green spaces through a park acquisition levy.↗
  • Remove 5,000 stumps in Vancouver parks and replace them with new trees.↗

Independent Parks Party 33

  • Direct staff to cancel the planned rebuild of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre until a 50-metre pool is restored to the plan.↗↗
  • Deny approval of additional artificial turf playing fields and direct staff to produce a plan for safe removal of existing artificial turf and replacement with natural grass.↗
  • Prohibit further logging in Stanley Park and limit tree removal to individual trees determined to be imminently dangerous using provincially certified methods.↗↗
  • Establish the Green Canopy Protection Committee, a panel of experts whose permission City staff must obtain before removing trees.↗
  • Rescind exponential parking fee hikes on Park Board jurisdictions, including at Spanish Banks and Hillcrest Community Centre.↗↗
  • Ban the use of glyphosate and other environmentally hazardous herbicides and pesticides on Park Board jurisdictions and initiate a scientific inquiry into alternative methods of managing invasive species.↗
  • Reduce or eliminate fees imposed on farmers markets and customers who park at farmers markets on Park Board jurisdictions, including Riley Park.↗
  • Undertake a scientific and environmental review of all artificial turf sports fields in light of recent evidence of harmful environmental effects.↗
  • Reinstate a protected active transportation and recreation lane along Stanley Park Drive and undertake a full transportation safety review of other parks.↗
  • Explore strategies for reducing the presence of ultra-processed and health-hazardous foods at Park Board snack bars and cafes in favour of safer alternatives.↗
  • Decline to approve any new commercial developments in Stanley Park or other parks that encroach on forest, reduce green space, or degrade park visitor experience.↗
  • Commit to car-free days in Stanley Park.↗
  • Halt replanting of farmed, selectively bred trees in Stanley Park until a thorough scientific inquiry into the consequences is conducted.↗
  • Comply with all provisions of the Stanley Park lease with the federal government, including not engineering the native coastal western hemlock forest into a plantation.↗
  • Comply with directives and goals in the Stanley Park National Historic Site Commemorative Integrity Statement requiring that the native forest be preserved.↗
  • Resolve that parks remain fully in the public domain and not sell park names to private corporations.↗
  • Accelerate construction of the planned community centre in the River District.↗
  • Prevent Charleson Park and Memorial South Park ponds from drying up and causing ecosystem harm.↗
  • Convene a monthly citizen-driven town hall at the Park Board office with adequate notice and speaking time.↗
  • Direct staff to fund expanded job and volunteer opportunities for young people at parks and recreational facilities.↗
  • Move to prohibit excessive late-night noise affecting residents near Jericho Beach and other parks.↗
  • Convene a panel of experts to guide recovery from damage to the Stanley Park train caused by nearby logging, with the intention of restoring the train for families.↗
  • Rescind the Park Board's land use agreements authorising BC Hydro to build a substation at Nelson Park and ask the British Columbia Utilities Commission not to approve the substation.↗↗
  • Remove burdensome restrictions and privatisation at Kits Pool, overhaul the booking system to restore full historical capacity, and hold a town hall before any renovation or replacement of the pool.↗
  • Set policy for parks only after meaningful engagement with all stakeholders including the public, and not passively await or tolerate overreach by City staff.↗
  • Work to change the status of all temporary parks to permanent parks.↗
  • Immediately address underfunding and disrepair of the David Lam Park playground and convene an expert panel to solve excessive downtime caused by seasonal grass reseeding.↗
  • Put a hold on Britannia Pool renovations while the Vancouver Aquatic Centre is out of commission.↗↗
  • Reverse the trend of outsourcing park maintenance to private companies while in-house labour is being laid off.↗
  • Declare that the purposes of parks include recreation, education, nature preservation, city beautification, and personal benefit to citizens, and that parks are not to be managed as revenue streams.↗
  • Repeal the Park Board Procurement Policy amendment that raised the City's delegated outsourcing authority from $750,000 to $2 million.↗
  • Rescind and replace the recently passed tree inspection policy on the grounds that it fails to require provincially certified inspectors and contravenes provincial laws and guidelines.↗↗
  • Rescind the "Think Big Revenue Strategy."↗

Vancouver Liberals 23

  • Rebuild a strong, independent, and well-supported Vancouver Park Board with tools, budget stability, and modern facilities, through actions on governance, long-term planning, and better outcomes.↗
  • Keep the elected Park Board in place and properly fund parks to improve the quality of community centres, pools, and other facilities.↗
  • Keep public parkland off the market, refurbish smaller neighbourhood parks, and explore new green space as the city grows.↗
  • Rebuild the Aquatic Centre with a 50-metre pool, modernize pools to reduce operating costs, and restore lifeguards to every staffed beach including Trout Lake.↗
  • Work with the developer and Metro Vancouver to deliver the River District Community Centre, ensuring committed community benefits are delivered and developers are held accountable.↗
  • Restore Renfrew Community Centre to the Park Board capital plan, consistent with its second-place ranking in the Community Centre Strategy.↗
  • Maintain and expand sports fields, courts, rinks, and gyms; keep fees affordable for kids' and community leagues; and welcome major and professional events.↗
  • Deliver the Park Board's Washroom Strategy, add public washrooms across parks, and keep existing ones clean.↗↗
  • Eliminate parking fees at beaches and community centres.↗
  • Restore the Stanley Park miniature train and keep it operating.↗
  • Direct recreation investment to underserved neighbourhoods to equalise access across the city.↗
  • Redesign parks, pools, and community centres for seniors and people with disabilities, including level paths, armrest benches, and accessibility requirements built into every new Park Board project.↗↗↗
  • Refresh pitch-and-putt courses and expand affordable low-intensity recreation options including pickleball, lawn bowling, and outdoor table tennis.↗
  • Work to create pocket parks across the city in areas well served by transit, expanding community spaces and increasing tree cover.↗
  • Restore native ecosystems, pollinators, and wildlife corridors, and expand community gardens and urban growing spaces.↗
  • Designate one day per month for residents to clean up and beautify their community.↗
  • Implement climate-resilience strategies in parks, including increased canopy cover and cooling stations, to make parks usable during extreme heat and weather events.↗
  • Have the Park Board and City take preparatory and preventive measures to mitigate the effects of climate change on Vancouver's parks.↗
  • Ensure ageism is never part of Park Board decision-making.↗
  • Protect municipal golf courses as Park Board facilities that serve seniors, generate revenue for reinvestment, and support biodiversity.↗
  • Provide $1.35B in funding for the Vancouver Park Board's 2031–2034 capital cycle, comprising $300M for parks and open spaces, $50M for biodiversity restoration, and $1B for creation, management, and renewal of public assets including parks, community centres, and pools.↗↗↗↗↗↗↗↗
  • Restore oversight and day-to-day management of Parks and Recreation facilities to the Park Board to improve operational efficiency, accountability, and service quality.↗
  • Create a capital plan that includes one new community centre built per capital cycle and three existing centres updated and future-proofed per cycle.↗

OneCity Vancouver 20

  • Keep every pool open and every beach guarded, build new pools in Mount Pleasant, Hastings, and Marpole, and fix pipes proactively, as part of a Park Board plan.↗↗
  • Update Parks, Recreation, and Library rules to explicitly ban wearable recording devices in pools, change rooms, washrooms, and other municipal spaces.↗↗
  • If elected to Park Board, follow the Community Centre Strategy priority list approved in April 2022.↗↗↗
  • Advocate for rapid provision of a new 50-metre pool, possibly at Hastings Park, including a community centre rebuild, located on city-owned parking lots at Renfrew Street and Hastings Street to avoid loss of green space, with shovels in the ground at a suitable site within the first term.↗↗↗
  • Work with Park Board staff to understand what is driving swimming lesson waitlists and find solutions, starting with funding VanSplash and at least one 50-metre pool.↗↗
  • Advocate for both accelerated street tree planting and funding for care of new trees.↗↗
  • Launch a gift-shop program in some parks to generate revenue for the Park Board without raising fees.↗↗
  • Increase the urban tree canopy target to 40% of city land.↗↗↗
  • Grow park land from 11% to 12% of total city land.↗↗
  • Daylight up to three creek systems currently buried under city streets.↗↗
  • Keep public pools open, staff them with qualified lifeguards through city-run equity-focused certification, and fund them long-term.↗↗↗↗
  • Build three new pools — in Mount Pleasant (via Kingsgate redevelopment), at Hastings Community Centre, and in Marpole — including a new 50-metre pool.↗↗↗↗↗
  • Continue to advocate for accelerated street tree planting and funding for care of new trees.↗
  • Increase parkland, grow urban meadows, and resurface buried creek systems to expand access to green and wild spaces.↗↗↗
  • Update the Urban Forest Strategy to raise the tree canopy target to 40%.↗
  • Build Park Board revenue through no- and low-cost tools and develop a long-term strategy to increase the independence and resiliency of the Park Board.↗↗↗
  • Keep public pools open, staff them with qualified lifeguards through city-run, equity-focused certification, and fund them long-term.↗
  • Establish a practical path to deliver a comprehensive West End waterfront plan integrating improved parks and safe, sustainable downtown transportation.↗↗↗
  • Consult with local court sports groups to resurface courts and paint lines for both pickleball and tennis, and explore alternating time slots.↗↗
  • Expedite planning for a year-round 50-metre indoor swimming and diving pool complex suitable for training, competition, and water polo, including consultation, design, and a location decision, in time for consideration of construction funding in the 2031–2034 Capital Plan.↗

Vote Vancouver 13

  • Fully fund lifeguards to keep them on public beaches by Summer 2027.↗
  • Increase the number of designated dog-friendly spaces in Vancouver's parks.↗
  • Keep the Park Board independently elected and properly funded so that it can be independently responsible and accountable to residents.↗
  • Protect the Champlain Heights forest and trail network.↗
  • Provide dedicated municipal funding for environmental stewardship of local green spaces.↗
  • Maintain Vancouver's 30% tree-canopy target while separately measuring mature canopy and newly planted trees.↗
  • Invest in the long-term health of Vancouver's urban forest.↗
  • Set clear standards for maintaining parks, beaches, trails, and recreation facilities.↗
  • Deliver a 50-metre pool.↗
  • Commit to pools at Sunset and Marpole Community Centres.↗
  • Advance the Britannia Community Services Precinct renewal and work to keep pools open wherever possible during renewal.↗
  • Restore full practical public access to Kitsilano Pool.↗
  • Deliver a Community Health in Our Parks Plan with outdoor fitness and calisthenics equipment.↗

COPE 12

  • Strengthen the independence of the Park Board and deliver high-quality services and programming at pools, parks, and community centres.↗
  • Steward green spaces to be more resilient to the climate crisis and improve the well-being of Vancouver residents.↗
  • Strengthen the independent elected Park Board, increase collaboration between the Park Board and City Council, and make more of Vancouver's 'temporary' parks permanent.↗
  • Increase funding for pools, recreation facilities, and public services.↗
  • Prioritize growth of green spaces and parks, especially in dense areas where amenity density has not kept pace with development.↗↗
  • Upgrade playgrounds and parks in neighbourhoods that are being left behind.↗↗
  • End the developer tax break associated with gravel pit dog parks and low-quality community gardens.↗↗
  • Build more public pools across the city and honour the 2022 plebiscite by building a new 50-metre pool in Vancouver.↗↗
  • Train and hire lifeguards and swim instructors needed to keep pools staffed, reduce queues, offer swimming lessons to meet demand, and keep beaches safe.↗↗
  • Integrate and coordinate the network of community gardens to grow local food and increase access to growing space.↗
  • Grow the urban forest canopy to 30% by 2050, prioritizing climate-resilient native species.↗↗
  • Increase biodiversity in public parks by planting native species and supporting healthy local ecosystems.↗↗

ABC Vancouver 9

  • Begin an audit and select the next five community centres for restoration, within the first 100 days.↗↗
  • Rebuild the Vancouver Aquatic Centre with a 50-metre pool, at cost.↗
  • Rebuild or revamp 5 community centres for $400 million.↗↗
  • Deliver the River District Community Centre.↗
  • Revamp and invest in recreational facilities, including more pools, rinks, and ice time.↗
  • Create a playground improvement fund.↗
  • Rebuild and renew community centres across Vancouver.↗
  • Provide free swimming lessons for levels 1–3.↗↗↗
  • Confirm two new swimming pools at Sunset Park and Marpole Community Centre.↗

Amanda Bains 4

  • Renovate and retrofit aging park facilities.↗
  • Ensure diligent maintenance of park facilities.↗
  • Protect and expand tree canopies in Vancouver.↗
  • Guarantee accessibility to all of Vancouver's parks for all residents.↗

Spencer Van Vloten 4

  • Conduct proactive accessibility audits of parks, recreation facilities, and community centres.↗
  • Apply universal design standards to all upgrades and new builds in parks and community centres.↗
  • Engage the disability community in designing accessibility improvements to parks and recreation facilities.↗
  • Protect and enhance Vancouver's parks, natural areas, and public spaces while investing in maintenance, expansion, and thoughtful design.↗

TrueBlue Vancouver 3

  • Maintain safe, clean, and affordable pools, rinks, fields, gyms, and community centres, prioritizing core recreation services and youth sports.↗
  • Clean up municipal parks and green spaces by enforcing public space bylaws, clearing dangerous encampments, maintaining tree canopies, and ensuring parks remain free of illegal open-air drug use or encampments.↗
  • Improve cleanliness and safety of public washrooms while maintaining sex-based male and female facilities.↗

Alex Tkach 2

  • Focus Park Board work on core Park Board responsibilities and fiscal accountability.↗
  • Ensure clean, safe, and accessible washrooms, playgrounds, pools, and community centres are operational daily.↗

Summit Wannamaker 2

  • Streamline park board services to improve response times.↗
  • Advocate for capital budgets to be allocated based on critical need.↗

Annette Reilly 1

  • Protect and expand neighbourhood green space and playgrounds.↗

Christian Kyle 1

  • Dedicate efforts on the Park Board to keeping public spaces safe and functional for all Vancouverites.↗

Jon Girard 1

  • Focus on increasing aquatic resources for recreational swimmers, learn-to-swim, lifeguard training, school programs, masters, seniors, and rehabilitation swimmers.↗