Communities thrive when we create space for people of all ages. Monitoring the effect of the existing policies over time will ensure appropriate housing across the spectrum of our lives, with a continued focus on family-friendly, climate-resilient homes. This includes continued advocacy for long-term care and housing that allows our residents to age in place. It also means increasing affordable housing in all forms.

In recent years, we have increased market rentals near SkyTrain, including increased numbers of family-friendly unit sizes realized through the Family-Friendly policy, which can also save families thousands in transportation costs. Additionally, we are adding more one-bedroom units, something that the city was missing (read my blog post here about unit mix, Part 2). We’ve also identified minimum unit sizes to ensure these are liveable and comfortable as a permanent home.

How we do this: The Inclusionary Zoning Policy is one tool the city can use to encourage more affordable housing, but not the only thing we can do. We also should be exploring whether the creation of a housing corporation - "arms-length" from the city - would help improve housing affordability goals and potentially provide funding opportunities that cities are unable to access. The municipalities of Creston and Whistler have undertaken this work.

Public spaces and the outdoors are as essential to well-being as the arts. Our forests, streams and lakes matter. They provide core city services and support our community’s health and resilience. In 2024, Council endorsed a Natural Asset Management Strategy and Policy. This will help the city monitor, protect, enhance, and maintain these natural assets in the future.

Here’s how we do this: monitor progress through the Natural Asset Management policy and implement the Parkland Strategy through sustained funding (both DCCs and other sources).

This means 3 significant trees are visible from home, school, or work, 30% tree canopy cover in all neighbourhoods, and within 300 m of a park or trail.

Here’s how we do that: Continued focus and sustained funding for both the current Urban Forestry Management Strategy and the Parkland Strategy will help the city achieve those goals.

Our Parkland Strategy envisions outdoor spaces within easy walking distance of every person’s home. Acquiring land, when available, is a key aspect of realizing this vision. Parks, trails, and natural areas not only provide recreational opportunities for residents but also space for wildlife to move through our community.

Here’s how we do this: implement the Parkland Strategy through sustained funding (both DCCs and other sources).

This means ensuring our sidewalks and active transportation routes can be navigated safely by everyone. It makes short trips for daily needs, even groceries, easy without a vehicle. Accessibility also means access to recreation, parks, and free community spaces is within an easy walk or roll. It also means one less car on the road. When it is safe to walk or roll, more people will choose to move that way.

This means ensuring our sidewalks and active transportation routes can be navigated safely by everyone. It makes short trips for daily needs, even groceries, easy without a vehicle. Accessibility also means access to recreation, parks, and free community spaces is within an easy walk or roll. It also means one less car on the road. When it is safe to walk or roll, more people will choose to move that way.

This means ensuring our sidewalks and active transportation routes can be navigated safely by everyone. It makes short trips for daily needs, even groceries, easy without a vehicle. Accessibility also means access to recreation, parks, and free community spaces is within an easy walk or roll. It also means one less car on the road. When it is safe to walk or roll, more people will choose to move that way.

This means 3 significant trees are visible from home, school, or work, 30% tree canopy cover in all neighbourhoods, and within 300 m of a park or trail.

Here’s how we do that: Continued focus and sustained funding for both the current Urban Forestry Management Strategy and the Parkland Strategy will help the city achieve those goals.

Our Parkland Strategy envisions outdoor spaces within easy walking distance of every person’s home. Acquiring land, when available, is a key aspect of realizing this vision. Parks, trails, and natural areas not only provide recreational opportunities for residents but also space for wildlife to move through our community.

Here’s how we do this: implement the Parkland Strategy through sustained funding (both DCCs and other sources).

This means ensuring our sidewalks and active transportation routes can be navigated safely by everyone. It makes short trips for daily needs, even groceries, easy without a vehicle. Accessibility also means access to recreation, parks, and free community spaces is within an easy walk or roll. It also means one less car on the road. When it is safe to walk or roll, more people will choose to move that way.

We need to continue planning for a climate future that is very different than the one I grew up in. This means supporting the implementation phases and projects of the climate action plan, such as investing in projects that ensure public spaces can provide refuge from a rapidly changing climate.

We also need to figure out a sustainable funding mechanism, so we aren’t wholly reliant on property taxation and grants (which are competitive). Previously, municipalities received stable funding from the Provincial Government through the Local Government Climate Action Program (LGCAP), but this has been discontinued. We are advocating for the reinstatement or replacement of this funding and have sent a resolution to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) to be discussed at the September 2026 conference.

LGCAP was a proven, cost-effective program that enables local governments to deliver projects that protect residents from extreme weather, including extreme heat and flooding, in their communities. The Insurance Bureau of Canada notes: “Investments in adaptation and risk mitigation measures help ensure Canadian communities are resilient to threats caused by a changing climate. Research indicates that the benefits of investing in community adaptation and resilience outweigh the cost of such investments by a ratio of 6 to 1.”

I’ve heard that finding information on the city’s website can be challenging, though this has improved with website upgrades. I’ve advocated for a “Frequently Asked Questions” page, especially when it comes to city projects or development projects.

The information is generally available on Engage Port Moody, but sometimes we also want to know things like the total number of fire rescue calls in a year. Data for things like that is available but often embedded in annual reports or other documents, so it might require a bit more digging.

The city has an open data portal, but there are some broken links and some metrics are not current (some are; you might need to click on the metric, as it is inconsistent), so it needs a bit of attention to make it current and useful to residents.

With easily accessible and clearly communicated data, residents will have a better idea of what is happening in the city (and why) and how we are doing on meeting our goals, like tree canopy or housing targets.

Currently, we have a system of citizen committees, community advisory groups, public hearings, and community engagement (through a variety of methods, from in-person to online).

Some of the comments I’ve heard over the course of the last four years are:

1. Didn’t know this project was happening.
2. Input at the public hearing seems too late to change anything.
3. Public hearings are not representative of residents’ opinions.
4. Engage Port Moody feedback is not representative of residents’ opinions.
5. Committee feedback doesn’t change anything.

More recently, under provincial housing legislation, public hearing requirements have been removed, resulting in municipalities being prevented from holding a public hearing in specific cases.

Engagement opportunities, including attending council meetings, are not always accessible to residents for a variety of reasons, though online feedback opportunities can be helpful.

So how do municipalities ensure that feedback is heard from a representative cross-section of our community?

I believe the answer is a Citizens’ Assembly (CA). This is a random selection of participants that reflects the demographic makeup of our community. This is different than a Citizen’s Advisory Group (CAG), which is selected from applicants, rather than a representative sample of our city.

Members of the CA learn about the issue, hear from experts with a range of views, ask questions, and discuss ideas together. This differs from a CAG or current approaches because feedback opportunities often follow an information out/feedback in approach, with limited opportunities to discuss with peers, learn from experts and ask questions.

While a CA may not be appropriate for every decision, I believe there are specific questions a city can pose to a citizen’s assembly – such as engaging with them around taxes and budgets. Of course, this approach comes with a cost and needs time to ensure CA members have the information they need to provide feedback and advice to city council. It may be a slower process, but I think it is worth exploring.

Citizen’s assemblies have been used in Burnaby and New Westminster.

This term, we added dedicated spots on civic committees for youth under 25 (one per committee), along with the Mayor's Youth Summit, and we should continue to work with youth to develop future opportunities.