Metro Vancouver considers permitting year-round alcohol use in some park areas
The program tested controlled alcohol consumption at six regional parks in 2023 and 2024, and a staff report for Wednesday’s meeting recommends a permanent bylaw.
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Metro Vancouver could move toward allowing year-round alcohol use in designated areas as the regional parks committee considers whether to make permanent a two-year pilot program.
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The program tested controlled alcohol consumption at six regional parks in 2023 and 2024, and a staff report for Wednesday’s meeting recommends a permanent bylaw to permit alcohol use.
“The pilot program demonstrated that alcohol consumption can be effectively implemented with manageable impacts to operations and visitor experience,” the report states. “The program provided visitors with opportunities to enjoy regional parks in a new way, aligning with evolving social norms and public expectations.”
Alcohol consumption sites included Delta, Richmond, New Westminster, Langley Township and the District of North Vancouver. Other locations included Centennial Beach at Boundary Bay Regional Park, Sapperton Landing along the Brunette–Fraser Regional Greenway, picnic areas in Campbell Valley, Capilano River and Iona Beach regional parks and a day-use area at Derby Reach Regional Park.
Parks staff tracked enforcement and operational issues, and public complaints. The program didn’t lead to a jump in bylaw violations or safety concerns. Most issues were handled with education rather than fines, the report said.
“There were some challenges in implementation. One challenge was litter and washroom maintenance at Boundary Bay Regional Park, requiring staff to redirect resources to ensure a positive experience for park visitors.”
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Another was noise and inappropriate behaviour related to large groups from weddings and party buses at Campbell Valley Regional Park, requiring staff to increase targeted enforcement.
Staff recommends the parks committee make the pilot permanent, but giving Metro Vancouver the ability to add or remove sites.
The move mirrors similar decisions by Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Vancouver that have permitted alcohol use in select public spaces during summer.
But not everyone supports the program.
Three Fraser Health medical officers cautioned the committee against approving the program in locations at four parks within the Fraser Health area: Boundary Bay, Campbell Valley, Derby Reach and the Brunette–Fraser Regional Greenway.
“Alcohol consumption in B.C. has risen over the past decade. Alcohol causes more health harms than any other substance in B.C., surpassing tobacco and opioids, and is responsible for more hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and paramedic services than any other substance,” they wrote in a March 5 letter, adding that alcohol-related issues cost the B.C. public “$2.8 billion annually.”
The medical officers also raised concerns about safety risks linked to intoxication, and cited statistics that alcohol and drugs contribute to 38 per cent of drowning deaths in B.C. between 2012 and 2020. And “the Fraser River had the most deaths of any river/creek in B.C.” — a particular concern because several of the parks proposed in the pilot project border the river’s banks and Centennial Beach and have “no lifeguard present.”
