Satisfaction is lowest on public safety, resident engagement and dealing with homelessness and poverty.
Vancouver, BC [December 1, 2025] – Most residents of Metro Vancouver think their municipal administrations are managing eight issues properly, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative regional sample, at least three-in-five Metro Vancouverites say their municipal government has done a “very good” or “good” job managing parks and recreation facilities (68%), providing good sanitation services (66%) and fostering artistic and cultural activities (60%).
Five other issues get a positive review from more than half of Metro Vancouverites: protecting the environment (58%), promoting tourism (56%), dealing with transportation (55%), managing development and growth (53%) and enhancing the quality of life of residents (51%).
The satisfaction rating is lower for five other competencies: making City Hall work in a transparent and unbiased fashion (47%), handling finances (46%), dealing with crime and public safety (45%), engaging with residents (also 45%) and dealing with homelessness and poverty (32%).
More than half of Metro Vancouverites (57%) approve of the performance of the mayor of their municipality, while a third (33%) disapprove and 11% are undecided.
“Across Metro Vancouver, approval for mayors is high among men (62%) and residents aged 18-to-34 (64%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The proportions are lower among women (55%) and residents aged 55 and over (51%).”
On a regional basis, the approval rating for mayors is highest in Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities (69%), followed by Vancouver (58%), Surrey and White Rock (also 58%), four municipalities in the Fraser Valley (57%), five municipalities in the North Shore (48%) and Richmond and Delta (46%).
Municipal elections in British Columbia use the “at-large system” for elections to council. This means that councillors are elected to represent the entire municipality and not a specific portion of it.
Just over three-in-five Metro Vancouverites (61%) are satisfied with the “at-large system” for elections to council. Residents of Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities, Surrey and White Rock, and the four Fraser Valley municipalities are more likely to be satisfied with the “at-large system” (all at 62%) than those in Vancouver (59%), the North Shore (57%) and Richmond and Delta (48%).
Respondents were also asked about changing existing guidelines to adopt different systems for council elections.
More than half of respondents (55%) support relying on the “single transferable vote system”, in which votes are initially allocated to a voter’s most preferred candidate, and as the count proceeds and candidates are either elected or eliminated, it is transferred to other candidates in accordance with the voter’s stated preferences.
Opposition to the “single transferable vote system” is highest among Metro Vancouverites aged 55 and over (34%) and North Shore residents (41%).
Just over three-in-five Metro Vancouverites (61%) support adopting the “ward system”, in which councillors are elected to represent a specific portion or neighbourhood in a municipality.
A move to the “ward system” is particularly popular in Surrey and White Rock (66%) and Vancouver (64%).
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from November 14 to November 16, 2025, among 1,501 adults in Metro Vancouver. The data has been statistically weighted according to census figures for age, gender and region in Metro Vancouver. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 2.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca