Project overview
Metro Vancouver charges regulatory fees on authorized air emissions to encourage emission reductions and recover regulatory program costs.
Metro Vancouver is working to update the air quality management fees set out in
MVRD Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Bylaw No. 1330, 2021 (MVRD Bylaw No. 1330, 2021). Updates will be based on input from engagement, research, competitiveness with other jurisdictions, and consideration of current economic conditions. Updates intend to improve clarity, predictability, fairness, and competitiveness of the fees while maintaining alignment with Metro Vancouver’s principles of emissions reduction, discharger-pay (in proportion to the impact of their emissions), and fair cost recovery.
Proposed updates
The key updates proposed in the amendments include:
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Introducing application fee caps:
- $220,000 for new permits
- $110,000 for authorizations for facilities with expiring permits
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Clarifying and simplifying odorous air contaminant rules and fee rates:
- Charging fees based on emission limits, if a permit includes limits for odorous air contaminants
- Charging fees based on measured emissions at or above analytical method detection limits, if no emission limits are listed in a permit
- Shortening the list of odorous air contaminants focusing on the most odorous ones with published measurement methods
- Applying the same fee rate for permitted and measured odorous air contaminants
- Reducing some fee rates for odorous air contaminants
- Reintroducing the fee rate for total reduced sulphur emissions
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Clarifying fee calculations:
- Only the highest fee rate applies when a substance fits multiple categories to avoid double counting
- If a facility pays for combined odorous air contaminants, it will not pay extra for individual odorous air contaminants or total reduced sulphur emissions from the same emission source
Next steps
Proposed amendments were presented for discussion to Metro Vancouver’s Air Quality Committee on January 16, 2026.
This report was referred back to staff for further revisions. A new report will come back to the Committee and Metro Vancouver Regional District Board in the coming months. Engagement
Engagement sought feedback to shape an effective and practical bylaw and identify reasonable regulatory fees. The engagement program was designed to hear from those likely to have an interest, be impacted, or have a role in implementation. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the proposed amendments.
| Initial proposed amendments | Initial proposed amendments | <div class="ExternalClass1757F5CEA6CB4379BBFC00158190EE89"><p>Metro Vancouver conducted engagement on proposed bylaw amendments from June to August 2025, with follow-up discussions until January 2026. The amendments aimed to provide clarity to permittees, balance cost recovery and environmental protection, consider affordability, and align with federal and provincial legislation. <br></p><p>Initial proposed amendments sought to: </p><ul><li>Update definitions so that there is greater certainty and predictability for permittees</li><li>Clarify ambiguities in how fees are calculated so that permittees can predict their fees and plan ahead</li><li>Simplify and reduce fee rates for odorous air contaminants </li><li>Introduce caps on application fees for permits, approvals, and significant amendments</li><li>Introduce the charging of interest on overdue payments to encourage timely payment<br></li></ul><p>
<strong>Related materials:</strong> </p><ul class="fa-ul"><li>
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<a href="/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/air-quality-permit-fee-change-discussion-paper.pdf" target="_blank" title="discussion paper">Discussion Paper</a> (May 2025)<br></li><li>
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<a href="/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/air-quality-management-fees-discussion-paper-summary.pdf" title="discussion paper summary" target="_blank">Discussion Paper Summary</a> (May 2025)<br></li><li>
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<a href="/boards/GVRD/RD-2025-05-23-AGE.pdf#page=160" target="_blank">Report for the MVRD Board</a> (May 2025)</li><li>
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<a href="/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/webinar-presentation-proposed-amendments-to-air-quality-management-fees-bylaw.pdf" target="_blank">Webinar Presentation</a> (June 2025)</li><li>
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<a href="/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/webinar-presentation-proposed-amendments-to-air-quality-management-fees-bylaw-2025-07-09.pdf" target="_blank">Webinar Presentation</a> (July 2025)</li><li>
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<i class="fa-light fa-file" aria-hidden="true"></i></span><a href="/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/engagement-summary-proposed-amendments-to-air-quality-fees-june-august-2025.pdf" target="_blank">Engagement Summary</a> (December 2025)<br></li></ul><br></div> |
| What we heard and how we responded | What we heard and how we responded | <div class="ExternalClassBD9AB9A80E6543FC8A8BF19D95CBB751"><p>All feedback was documented, analyzed, and used to inform the recommended bylaw amendments. </p><p>Potential amendments were adjusted based on input from engagement, research, competitiveness with other jurisdictions, and consideration of current economic conditions. Updates respond to feedback, address ambiguities in bylaw language, and provide a clearer path toward recovering the costs of regulating odorous air contaminants and addressing impacts on the community. Key adjustments were made to the initial proposed definitions, rules and fee rates for odorous air contaminants, and cap on application fees for authorization of emissions.</p><p>The major themes in feedback were:</p><ul><li>Support for consistent scaling of fees to impacts</li><li>Need for cost transparency</li><li>Need for efficiency and predictability of fees</li><li>Importance of maintaining industry competitiveness and benchmarking with other jurisdictions</li><li>Concerns over unintended consequences such as higher costs for construction and agrifood industry if fees and regulatory costs are high, or reduced involvement of health authorities in permit review processes if emission impacts are considered low and charged low fees</li><li>Mixed support for incentives to reduce emissions</li><li>Concerns about complexity and costs to permit holders surrounding measurement of odorous air contaminants</li><li>Balancing bylaw outcomes with other regional goals such as economic prosperity, health, and quality of life<br></li></ul><p>Read the report on the resulting recommendations and proposed amendment bylaw: </p><ul class="fa-ul"><li>
<span class="fa-li"><i class="fa-light fa-file"></i></span><a href="/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/air-quality-committee-report-e2-January-16-2026-combined.pdf" target="_blank" title="MVRD Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Amendment Bylaw No. 1440, 2026 - Amends Bylaw 1330, 2021">MVRD Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Amendment Bylaw No. 1440, 2026 - Amends Bylaw 1330, 2021</a><br></li></ul></div> |
Related research
Public opinion research
Metro Vancouver has conducted
research to gauge public opinion about how air quality management services should be funded. The findings of this research were that a majority of respondents (80%) believed that businesses emitting pollutants should pay most or all of the costs for regulating those emissions. Furthermore, the vast majority (92%) felt that fees should be scaled in accordance with the amount and degree of harm of the pollutants discharged.
Heath effects study
Metro Vancouver commissioned a health effects study that had a goal to develop a relative health impact scale that indicates how changes in emissions of different air contaminants impact public health in the Canadian portion of the Lower Fraser Valley.
Background
Metro Vancouver protects air quality through emission regulations and site-specific authorizations (permits and approvals) to control the discharge of air contaminants. Metro Vancouver has charged fees for applications for authorization since 1973 and for authorized air emissions since 1992 to support the costs of delivering the air quality regulatory program and encourage emissions reduction.