Eliminating Vancouver’s elected park board could save the city around $7 million per year, according to a report heading to council next week.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim unveiled the Parks and Recreation Transition Group’s final report Thursday, which suggested the savings would come from efficiencies, streamlined processes and reduced duplication.
The report also argued that the integration of parks and recreation under council authority could help ensure 36 hectares of parkland currently designated as “temporary” were reclassified as permanent.
“This transition isn’t just about governance,” Sim said.
“It’s about unlocking opportunities to save, to improve and to invest. Now, by streamlining services, cutting duplication, eliminating unnecessary red tape, we’re going to save Vancouverites $70 million over the next decade.”
The report states that delays related to duplication in authority between the two elected bodies added about $15 million in added costs to city projects over the last four years, particularly related to construction.
“Right now, getting permits for events like festivals or filming can be a frustrating, multi-step process, and we’re going to change that,” Sim said.
The transition group’s report recommends replacing the oversight duties of elected park board members with a city council subcommittee on parks and recreation, made up of five councillors. The committee would advise the full council and represent the city in talks with other government bodies on parks and recreation issues.
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Completing the transition would require updating 18 city bylaws, integrating duplicated teams and aligning policies between the city and parks departments, the report states.
Sim announced plans to abolish the city’s elected park board last December, despite campaigning on retaining and improving it in the 2022 election. At the time, Sim said the elected body was “broken,” and that eliminating it would align Vancouver with other major Canadian cities.
The move has met with resistance from some community groups and a majority of elected parks commissioners, including three who split with Sim’s ABC Vancouver party over the plan.
That includes independent commissioner Laura Christensen, who said she doesn’t trust the financial figures in the transition group’s report.
“There’s no backup on where these numbers came from. They came up with this number of $7 million a year, but the report itself says its difficult and they are unable to really estimate what those savings are,” she said.
She added the savings were minuscule in the context of Vancouver’s multi-billion-dollar operating budget, and that the Park Board had managed to boost its own revenues by $4.5 million last year alone.
“$7 million a year, in the grand scheme of the city budget, is not huge,” she said. “For example, in the 2025 budget, the VPD is requesting a $22 million increase to their budget.”
Christensen also criticized the report’s conclusion abolishing the board would help ensure temporary parks are made permanent, something she said city council could already do tomorrow if it wished.
Vancouver Green Coun, Adrianne Carr said her colleagues are already dealing with a heavy workload, and taking on new committee obligations would be difficult.
“I already work about 60 to 70 hours a week,” she said.
“So for me, it’s almost impossible to think about taking on an extra two days a week and in workload.”
The report notes several challenges with completing the transition, including employee concerns and uncertainties about their roles, reporting structures and job security.
It also highlighted concerns from the public about losing dedicated parks oversight and specialized expertise and fears that smaller community groups could have their voices overshadowed by larger groups under the new structure.
It recommends mitigating those concerns with the creation of a Parks and Recreation Community Partner Relations Office, to handle engagement with stakeholders and ensure stability across elected city administrations.
While the transition report is slated to go to council next week, it will be some time before there is any movement on the issue.
Eliminating the park board will require the provincial government to make changes to the Vancouver Charter.
B.C.’s NDP government has given its approval in principle, but has not given a timeline on when those changes could take place.
