Metro Vancouver is a partnership of 21 municipalities, one Electoral Area and one Treaty First Nation that collaboratively plans for and delivers regional-scale services fundamental to the quality of life for half the population of British Columbia some 2.3 million people. Its core services are drinking water, sewerage and solid waste management, but Metro Vancouver also regulates air quality, plans for urban growth, manages a regional parks system and provides affordable housing for over 10,000 tenants throughout the region. As the third largest metropolitan area in Canada, Metro Vancouver covers an area of nearly 3,000 square kilometres stretching from Bowen Island to the west, the US border to the south, Abbotsford to the east and the regions protected watersheds to the north. Metro Vancouvers roots date back to 1914 when the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District was established, followed by the Greater Vancouver Water District in 1926 and the Greater Vancouver Regional District in 1968. Metro Vancouver proudly continues a 125-year history of collaboration in the development and delivery of services essential to residents wellbeing, regional prosperity and the protection of the natural environment.