The City of Surrey is taking Metro Vancouver to court over the creation of an agency called Invest Vancouver.
The goal of the agency, which was launched in 2021, was to attract investment to the region, but Surrey now says that the Regional Board of Metro Vancouver exceeded its mandate in setting up the taxpayer-funded organization.
“There was a petition filed in court to say that we are moving forward and we will let the courts decide,” Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said on Monday.
“But we certainly believe that there were missteps by Metro Vancouver in terms of Invest Vancouver and so that’s why we have to pursue it through the courts.”
Legal documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court show that Surrey has applied for a judicial review, which claims that Metro Vancouver launched Invest Vancouver “without passing a necessary establishing bylaw under the Local Government Act. Without that bylaw, the purported establishment of Invest Vancouver is ultra vires and of no effect.”
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In other words, it is invalid.
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“Surrey has a real brand and so Invest Surrey is important to us and Invest Vancouver just does not fit,” Locke said.
“The residents of Surrey do not want to pay for economic development in other communities.”
Metro Vancouver told Global News a bylaw wasn’t needed and that Invest Vancouver was developed through a transparent governance process.
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Pricey travel raises questions about Invest Vancouver staff
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Global News has reported extensively on Invest Vancouver, notably the group’s travel. In 2024, staff took 17 trips, with costs including hotel rooms at up to $1,000 a night.
Two weeks ago, Invest Vancouver president Jacquie Griffiths posted about a trip to Tokyo on her LinkedIn page.
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A New Westminster city councillor and mayoral candidate told Global News he thinks it’s time for Metro Vancouver to shut the agency down, “along with a number of other initiatives.”
Surrey’s legal filing notes, “The 2025 budget for Invest Vancouver was $4.75 million”.
And, “Since 2019, Surrey has contributed a total of over $2.6 million to Invest Vancouver.”
“We would have preferred to do it in a more equitable and reasonable way, but apparently Metro Vancouver didn’t want to do this,” Locke said.
The provincial government told Global News that it was unaware of the legal action.
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