Types of City Council meetings

Meetings of Council

• |

• Council meetings

  Council meetings are formal decision-making meetings.

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public unless moved to an in-camera meeting.
  •  Held every second Tuesday at 9:30am. View the meeting schedule
  •  Attended by the public and all members of Council.
    • Chair: Mayor

  What decisions are made in a Council meeting

  • Enact by-laws
  • Approve budgets and policies
  • Authorize City spending and services (infrastructure, facilities, programs)
  • Advance Vancouver’s social, economic, and environmental well-being
  • Rezoning applications when they are consistent with an Official Development Plan (ODP)

  What a meeting typically includes

  • Staff reports
  • By-laws

  How to participate

  • Attend in person or watch live
  • Review schedule:
    • Send your comments to City Council
    • Request to speak at the meeting

• Standing committee meetings 

  Standing committee meetings are held to hear information from staff and the public in a more informal setting. 

  These committees can only make recommendations. Council makes the final decision at a meeting held immediately after, by voting on whether to approve those recommendations. 

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public.
  •  Meetings are held on a Wednesday after a Council meeting. Review the meeting schedule 
  •  Send your comment online
  •  Request to speak at the meeting
  •  Attended by the public and Mayor and Council

  Types of standing committee meetings

  • City Finance and Services Standing Committee
  • Policy and Strategic Priorities Standing Committee 

  What is discussed at the meetings

  • Staff reports
  • Council members’ motions
  • A brief Council session immediately follows to ratify recommendations

  How to participate

  • Attend in person or watch live
  • Review schedule:
    • Send your comments to Mayor and Council
    • Request to speak at the meeting

• Closed (in-camera) meetings

  Closed (in-camera) meetings are confidential sessions for sensitive City business.

  What you need to know

  •  Closed to the public.
  •  Usually held on the same day as a regular Council meeting.
  •  Attended by all Council members.

  What is discussed in the meeting

  • Legal matters
  • Land-purchases
  • Personnel
  • Other confidential matters

Hearings

• |

• Public hearings

  Public hearings are quasi-judicial to gather public input and make binding decisions.

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public
  •  Hearing are scheduled as needed

  What decisions are made at a public hearing

  • Rezoning applications
  • Heritage designations
  • Official Development Plan (ODP) amendments for:
    • Applicant-initiated rezoning applications that are inconsistent with the ODP
    • Applicant-initiated rezoning applications that are consistent with the ODP, contains less than 50% of the floor area as residential use, and where the Director of Planning has recommended a public hearing
    • City-initiated zoning changes as a part of planning projects

  How to participate

  • Attend in person or watch live
  • Submit written comments or petitions online or by mail to:
    • City Clerk’s Office
      453 West 12th Ave
      Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4
  • Request to speak at the meeting on a staff report or Council member motion.

• Business licence hearings

  Business licence hearings are quasi-judicial to gather public input and make binding decisions.

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public (Attend only if you have been arranged as a witness by Legal Services.).
  •  Licence hearing are scheduled as required (confirmed by Legal Services).
  •  Attended by 3-member panel of councillors, appointed by motion.

  What decisions are made at a business licence hearing

  Councillors consider whether to suspend or revoke a business licence because of illegal or prohibited activities.

  How to participate

  Speakers are pre-selected. There is no general “request to speak” option.

• Court of revision hearings

  Court or revision hearings are quasi-judicial to gather public input and make binding decisions.

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public.
  •  Once or twice each year, usually at 6pm on designated weeks.
  •  Held a minimum of 3 times per year. Review the meeting schedule

  What decisions are made at a court of revision hearing

  Hear from property owners about errors in the tax roll (for example assessment or calculation mistakes).

  How to participate

  Request to speak in person by contacting the City Clerk’s Office before the meeting.

Committee meetings

• |

• Auditor General Committee meetings

  The Auditor General Committee meet as needed to oversee specific functions. Its purpose is to oversee the Auditor General's Office.

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public.
  •  Held a minimum of 3 times each year. Review the meeting schedule

  How to participate

  •  Send your comment online
  •  Request to speak at the meeting
  •  Watch the meeting live

• Mayor’s Budget Task Force Implementation Oversight Committee

  The Mayor’s Budget Task Force Implementation Oversight Committee meet as needed to oversee specific functions. It oversees the implementation of Mayor’s Budget Task Force recommendations PDF file (9 MB).

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public.
  •  Held a minimum of 3 times each year. Review the meeting schedule

  How to participate

  •  Send your comment online
  •  Request to speak at the meeting
  •  Watch the meeting live

• Nomination Subcommittee

  Nomination subcommittee meets as needed to oversee specific functions. It screens applicants for:

  • Civic agencies
  • Council-appointed bodies 

  What you need to know

  •  Open to the public
  •  Held as needed. Review the meeting schedule

  How to participate

  •  Send your comment online
  •  Watch the meeting live

• |

• Council's role in meetings as regulator and landowner 

  Council may act in one or more capacities (legislative, quasi-judicial or business) sometimes on the same file.

  • Legislative: Enacting by-laws and resolutions
  • Quasi-judicial: Tribunal functions (for example, hearings)
  • Business: Managing City assets, including land transactions

  Conflict management

  When Council’s business interests (for example land sale) overlap with legislative decisions (for example rezoning), Councillors must:

  • Act in good faith
  • Consider the public interest
  • Declare any actual or perceived conflicts