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An impassioned meeting unfolded in the chambers of Vancouver city hall this week, as councillors considered whether to allow gas-fired heating and hot water in new homes and buildings. Council heard from more than 100 residents who lined up to speak over two days, and the meeting was derailed at one point by a discussion of whether a display of children’s artwork was “intimidating” to gas supporters.
Natural gas for heating and hot water has been banned in new builds in the city since 2020. The ban followed council’s decision in July 2016 to adopt a zero-emissions building plan that gradually phased out natural gas for water and space heating.
But in July, a motion to reverse the ban was brought forward and Mayor Ken Sim cast the tie-breaking vote on a split council.
The reversal, which surprised many Vancouver residents, was followed by a directive to city staff to report back to council with recommendations for building bylaw changes that would allow gas heating while still pursuing the city’s ambitious 2030 climate targets.
On Tuesday, a crowd gathered outside city hall to protest bringing back gas in new builds, while 142 people registered to speak to city council regarding the issue. Most speakers were heard the following day. Just after 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, council voted on the recommendation to give builders the option to use natural gas. With one councillor absent, and one who changed her position and decided to oppose natural gas, the vote was tied 5-5 — which means natural gas heating won’t be back in Vancouver.
Why was this motion so contentious? And what exactly is going on with natural gas in Vancouver?
Natural gas is about 95 per cent methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. According to the City of Vancouver, heating buildings with natural gas is responsible for 55 per cent of the city’s carbon emissions — more than vehicle emissions.
Vancouver’s climate emergency action plan, adopted in 2020, aims to reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. According to a July 2024 staff report, the city is not on track to meet these targets.
Natural gas has been linked to negative health outcomes. “Research indicates that Vancouver’s natural gas has disproportionately high levels of benzene, a known pollutant linked to various cancers, in North America — up to 50 times more than other cities,” Melissa Lem, president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, said in a statement following Wednesday’s vote. “Due to its toxicity, the World Health Organization suggests there are no safe exposure levels, and Health Canada has identified benzene as a priority for an updated human health risk assessment.”
In a July press release, Sim said reversing the ban would help to address the crisis of unaffordable housing in Vancouver. “By allowing more energy options, we’re making it easier to build the homes we need while improving affordability for Vancouverites,” he said.
Vancouver has the most expensive housing market of any Canadian city, with a current median price of more than $1.1 million. The median price for a detached home is more than $2 million.
But a city staff report released earlier this month noted allowing gas-fired heating and hot water in new builds was not expected to provide “any permitting advantage or construction cost savings.” Instead, the report noted “homeowners and landlords will be exposed to [the] risk of significant costs.” That’s because a provincial ban on the sale and installation of gas water heaters, new gas furnaces and gas boilers will take effect in 2030 and could cause homeowners to “incur costly retrofits.”
After Vancouver council reversed the ban on natural gas heating in July, council still had to vote on whether to amend the bylaw to actually allow gas again.
City staff prepared a report with recommendations, which offered two compliance options for the building industry. The first did not permit gas for natural heating. The second provided an option for natural gas, while “managing carbon pollution” through building envelope requirements to improve energy efficiency through measures such as sealing leaks and adding insulation. (Both options permitted gas for cooking and gas fireplaces.)
The report noted “buildings opting to use gas would have “significantly higher carbon emissions.”
Vancouver city council is dominated by the ABC Vancouver party, led by Sim and seven councillors. Councillors Adriane Carr and Pete Fry belong to the Green party, while Christine Boyle represented the One City Party. (Boyle, who was elected to the provincial legislature in October, is currently on leave from her role as a city councillor and has announced her intention to resign in December.)
In July, five ABC Vancouver councillors — Lenny Zhou, Mike Klassen, Brian Montague, Sarah Kirby-Yung and Rebecca Bligh — voted to bring back gas. ABC Vancouver councillors Lisa Dominato and Peter Meiszner voted to keep gas banned, along with Carr, Fry and Boyle. Sim, who was on vacation at the time and absent for the other agenda items, joined the meeting by Zoom to cast his tie-breaking vote before exiting for the remainder of the meeting.
Critics of gas use in new builds alleged some members of Vancouver city council appear to have ties to the gas industry. As previously reported in the Vancouver Sun, the ABC’s Montague, who spearheaded the motion to bring back gas, and Klassen, who supported it, met with a FortisBC lobbyist in December 2023. Klassen disclosed a financial interest in the company as well as in pipeline company TC Energy. And Sim’s senior advisor, David Grewal, is a director for two natural gas companies; he is listed as the co-founder of one, and the primary contact for the other.
Hours into the discussion, Montague paused to question whether the signs made by children should be allowed in the council chamber. “I see councillor Fry and councillor Carr have signs on their desks, and I feel that’s intimidating to the speakers that we’re going to have,” Montague said. “I feel it’s intimidation, and they’re basically saying they don’t want to hear them. So I’m asking the chair to determine if this is a breach of policy, and if they should take down the signs.”
The signs in question were colourful artwork created by children and brought to city hall by For Our Kids, a parent-led network” dedicated to climate action, which urged councillors to uphold the ban.
Following a short recess, Sim addressed the councillors and those assembled. “That’s something we won’t tolerate,” he said. “I know how hard it is for people to come here — there’s a fear of speaking, it’s nerve-wracking and if there’s an opinion expressed that may not be aligned with councillors in this chamber — or the mayor — it’s intimidating at the best of times.” Sim agreed the signs should come down. “You made your point, you got your shot in the media. Now let’s make this chamber a safe space for everyone who wants to make their voice heard.”
Dominato, who attended by Zoom, asked for clarification: “Is that not artwork that was brought to city hall today by children, representing children?”
Sim suggested the age of the sign artists wasn’t relevant. “You could make an extreme case, where a kid brought in a sign that was completely inappropriate,” he said.
One sign on Fry’s desk featured a smiling whale, with “iris orca ” written in capital letters.
“It very clearly expresses an opinion as to where people stand on this issue,” Sim replied.
The charge to electrify buildings started in Berkeley, Calif., which instituted the first North American ban on natural gas connections for new buildings in 2019.
In 2020, Vancouver became the first Canadian city to implement natural gas restrictions.. Victoria introduced a similar gas heating ban to its building codes in 2022.
Montreal’s ban on natural gas heat in new low-rise buildings came into effect in October and will extend to all new buildings by 2025. Nanaimo, B.C., placed restrictions on gas as a primary heat source for new homes this summer, while Prévost, Que. — population 12,000 — approved a gas ban in new and existing buildings last fall. In Winnipeg, a proposal to phase out natural gas has stalled.
Several U.S. states, including New York, Maryland and Washington, have also proposed some form of restriction on natural gas use in buildings, as have more than 100 American cities.
The first recommendation, which set guidelines for builders that excluded the use of natural gas for heating — passed with six votes in favour. Sim and councillors Montague, Klassen and Zhou were opposed.
The second recommendation, which would allow builders to use natural gas for heating and hot water, resulted in a split vote. Those who voted against the reversal in July held their positions. Sim suggested Vancouver’s position on natural gas wouldn’t matter in the global scheme of climate change, saying it might alleviate housing unaffordability — although he acknowledged the city staff report suggested the measures would not improve affordability.
Bligh, who voted for the reversal in July, said she changed her position after speaking with experts and builders who told her they could build just as quickly and economically with electric heating. “I believe we made the wrong decision,” she said, referring to the July vote. She added she had heard from citizens concerned about climate change. “Young people were disappointed and let down by the vote in July,” Bligh said. “They saw what I see now.”
Without Bligh’s support, the vote was split 5-5 in Boyle’s absence. A tie vote, under Robert’s rules of order, meant the option to allow natural gas heating failed.
— With files from Julia-Simone Rutgers
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