Key Community Topics

West Vancouver maintains 269 km of roads, 30,000 m² of sidewalks, and 15 bridges that transport thousands of people and tons of goods every day. Typically, 75% of residents travel by car. Additionally, approximately 70% of the workforce and 30% of students commute to West Vancouver.  

West Vancouver Transit is part of the regional TransLink system.  

Learn more about:  

• current short- and long-term projects impacting traffic in West Vancouver
• bus schedules and fares
• key findings from the 2023 North Shore Transportation Survey
• traffic calming
• TransLink 

Housing planning in West Vancouver is shaped by Provincial requirements under the Local Government Act and by locally adopted land use policy. The 2024 Interim Housing Needs Report identifies current and future housing needs using Provincial methods and data.  

West Vancouver’s housing supply is made up of mostly detached, single-family-oriented housing with some older apartment buildings, with very limited availability of other housing forms such as duplex, triplex, and townhomes located in pockets throughout the municipality. West Vancouver has some of the most spread-out development in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, with numerous cul-de-sacs, large lot sizes, and large houses driving high service demands.

As part of the Official Community Plan (OCP) housing policy update, completed in 2025, the District identified a 20-year housing supply need of 10,742 units, found zoning capacity for 29,200 units, and estimated capacity for 9,850 units.  

The OCP includes policy to prepare Local Area Plans (LAPs) for key centres and corridors with a long-range vision for each area and policies, regulations, and guidelines to shape land use change and new development towards that vision. There are currently three adopted LAPs in West Vancouver: Marine Drive LAP, Horseshoe Bay LAP, and Ambleside LAP. A Taylor Way–Park Royal LAP is in process. 

Learn more about:

• the District’s Official Community Plan  
• provincial housing targets
• Interim Housing Needs Report
• Ambleside Local Area Plan
• Taylor Way–Park Royal Local Area Plan 

Metro Vancouver is building the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant (NSWWTP) to replace the Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant, which has provided primary-level treatment to the North Shore for the past 60 years. Building a new plant that provides a higher level of treatment is essential to comply with mandatory federal regulations. The new plant will serve over 300,000 residents and businesses in the Districts of West and North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation).

The regional cost estimate increased from $700 million in 2013 to $1.058 billion in 2020, and then to a projected $3.86 billion in 2024. To help manage West Vancouver’s share of these costs, the District has been incrementally increasing sewer and drainage utility fees over the years to fund a Rate Smoothing Reserve. Since 2024, the NSWWTP Levy has also helped recover costs.

In addition, together with the City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver, the District has formally objected to the revised cost allocation and requested additional senior government funding. At its regular meeting on July 20, 2026, Council unanimously approved a motion requesting a provincial review of the NSWWTP project under Section 765 of the Local Government Act. The motion supports similar requests from the City of North Vancouver, the District of North Vancouver, and the City of New Westminster. It asks the Inspector of Municipalities to review the project and examine the factors contributing to the project’s significant cost increases and delays.

Learn more about:

• North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant FAQs 

Municipal budgeting in West Vancouver is shaped by the need to balance core service delivery, infrastructure renewal, affordability, and long-term financial sustainability. Because local governments in BC must adopt balanced budgets, West Vancouver uses reserves, efficiencies, fees, and other revenues to help reduce tax impacts while maintaining services.

The 2026 budget includes a 2.43% Operating Levy increase to support day-to-day services and a 1.00% Asset Levy increase to help address deferred maintenance and infrastructure renewal, for a total property tax increase of 3.43%.  

While 47% of residential taxes fund services provided by the District, the remaining 53% includes amounts collected on behalf of other taxing authorities.  

Cost drivers unique to West Vancouver

In addition to the cost drivers experienced by many other Metro Vancouver municipalities—including rising labour settlements, utility charges, and provincial downloading—West Vancouver faces some unique budget pressures.

The costs to maintain municipal services are influenced by numerous factors besides population size. The District’s low-density development increases costs, because spread-out neighbourhoods require more roads, pipes, parks, and services than compact housing forms. Consequently, both police and fire and rescue costs are significantly impacted by West Vancouver’s geography and service coverage rather than by population. The District also maintains extensive public amenities and natural areas, manages aging infrastructure, and invests in emergency preparedness for wildfire, storms, flooding, slope risks, and other climate-related hazards. West Vancouver’s steep terrain, waterfront conditions, and long, narrow shape make infrastructure more difficult and expensive to build and maintain. Additionally, and unlike many other Lower Mainland municipalities, West Vancouver has a larger share of municipal taxes that fall on homeowners with lesser ability to shift some tax burden to its much smaller commercial and industrial tax base.

For more information about cost drivers specific to West Vancouver, see pages 72 to 75 of the 2026–2030 Five-Year Financial Plan.

Learn more about:

• budgets and Five-Year Financial Plans
• Annual Reports
• fiscal sustainability review 

Homelessness on the North Shore is being addressed through a coordinated regional approach involving local governments, service providers, agencies, and First Nations. The North Shore Homelessness Action Initiative is intended to improve coordination and action to prevent and alleviate homelessness across the North Shore. Launched in 2021, the initiative’s work includes reviewing community needs, identifying opportunities and existing actions across jurisdictions, developing priority actions and partner roles, exploring coordinated service delivery, reporting outcomes to councils, and supporting communications and advocacy. This work produced 12 priority actions and identified two key paths forward: a single point of entry approach and a housing first approach, while also improving collaboration, advocacy, and public communication on homelessness issues.

In the 2025 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count, 168 people were counted on the North Shore, while the District notes that the true number is likely higher because many people experiencing homelessness are not captured in formal counts.

Learn more about:

• District programs and partner programs and services offering support
• North Shore Homelessness Action Initiative  
• North Shore Homelessness Action Initiative Report (2022) 

Pay parking at destination parks in West Vancouver is intended to help manage parking availability, improve turnover, maintain park infrastructure, and fund amenities and services, with net revenue reinvested in the subject parks and other operational or capital costs. West Vancouver residents may apply for annual resident parking passes at no cost. Vehicles with a Veterans or Memorial Cross licence plate and vehicles which display a valid accessible parking placard are exempt.

Discussion about pay parking in District destination parks has been underway for about 25 years, and on May 8, 2023, Council directed staff to begin the initial phase of the program at Lighthouse Park, Nelson Canyon/Whyte Lake, and Whytecliff Park. The program is also consistent with the District’s Parks Master Plan, which includes an emphasis on prudent financial stewardship and consideration of revenue tools that also provide management benefits.  

The first phase of pay parking (Lighthouse, Whytecliff, and Nelson Canyon Parks) generated over $639,000 in revenue in 2024. In 2025, with the introduction of pay parking at Ambleside Park, the program earned $825,000 in revenue. 

Learn more about:

• destination parks pay parking
• resident parking permits 

Derelict properties can create safety risks, attract nuisance activity, reduce neighbourhood confidence, and place pressure on municipal enforcement and emergency response resources. The District is committed to ensuring that properties are maintained in a manner that protects public safety, supports neighbourhood livability, and upholds community standards.

When a property becomes derelict, vacant, unsecured, or poorly maintained, it can create risks such as fire hazards, structural concerns, pest activity, illegal dumping, unauthorized entry, and impacts on surrounding residents. The District takes these concerns seriously and uses a range of tools to encourage compliance and address safety issues.

Our approach is based on early intervention, clear communication with property owners, coordinated inspections where required, and enforcement when voluntary compliance is not achieved. In many cases, the District first seeks to work with owners to resolve issues through maintenance, securing of buildings, removal of debris, or repairs. Where there are ongoing safety, nuisance, or bylaw concerns, the District may use enforcement options available under municipal bylaws and provincial legislation.

Enforcement tools  

The District’s Good Neighbour Bylaw No. 4380, 2004 (as amended) purpose is to protect and enhance community well-being by reducing nuisances, disturbances, and other objectionable situations on private property, such as accumulation of materials, abandoned items, overgrowth, or general property deterioration affecting neighbourhood appearance and livability. The District's Good Neighbour Bylaw does not address derelict structures, only the surrounding parcel.  

The Community Charter provides municipalities with tools to address derelict properties where conditions create safety risks, nuisance conditions, or significant impacts on the surrounding community. Where appropriate, Council may require a property owner to take remedial action, such as cleaning up a property, securing a building, removing unsafe materials, or addressing conditions that pose a risk or nuisance. The owner is given notice and an opportunity to comply.  

If the owner does not complete the required work, the District may arrange for the work to be completed and may recover the costs from the owner. In some cases, unpaid costs can be added to the property taxes for that property.

Learn more about:

• Good Neighbour Bylaw requirements  
• remedial action requirements