Proposed Amendments to Air Quality Management Fees Bylaw

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

As of April 2026, the proposed amendments include:

• Freeze all air contaminant fee rates at 2026 rates until the end of 2028, once the proposed updates to fee rates described below have been incorporated
  

• Introduce application fee caps:
• $110,000 for new permits and significant amendments
• $50,000 for authorizations for facilities with expiring permits
• These fee caps are considered competitive with nearby jurisdictions​
  

• Clarify and simplify odorous air contaminant rules and reduce some fee rates:
• Remove the Schedule B in the current bylaw and replace it with Metro Vancouver’s simpler approach used for all air contaminants
  
• ​Charge fees based on the emission limit, where a permit or approval includes a limit for an odorous air contaminant
  
• Charge fees based on measured emissions when measured at or above analytical method detection limits, if emissions are required to be measured and no emission limit for that odorous air contaminant is listed in a permit
• Re-introduce the emission fee rate for the group of total reduced sulphur emissions
• Shorten the list of odorous air contaminants to focus on four additional ​groups of odorous air contaminants with published measurement methods
• Apply the same emission fee rate for both permitted and measured odorous air contaminants
• Reduce some emission fee rates for odorous air contaminants
• Re-introduce the emission fee rate for total reduced sulphur emissions

• Clarify fee calculations:
• When a substance fits multiple definitions of an air contaminant, only the highest emission fee rate applies. This avoids 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​
  

• Clarify definitions and align with provincial and federal legislation

• Review all emission fee rates and application fees by late 2028 and every four years after that​

Next steps

A recommendation will be brought to Metro Vancouver’s Air Quality Committee on April 10, 2026 and to the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board on April 24, 2026. If adopted, the bylaw will apply going forward.​​

• Report for Air Quality Committee (April 2026)

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.​

​Related r​esearch​​​

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.

• Public Opinion Research (October 2020)

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.

• Health Effects Study (May 2019)

Background

Metro Vancouver p​​rotects 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.