Metro Vancouver outside workers going on full-scale strike from Monday

Condo towers in Burnaby, B.C., line the skyline as fog blankets Metro Vancouver, on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — The union representing workers for the Metro Vancouver regional district says all non-essential outside staff will walk off their jobs on Monday in a full-scale strike.

The president of the Greater Vancouver Regional District Employees’ Union, Jesse Medeiros, says only designated essential workers will remain on the job, as staff press for a new contract.

The union says in a statement that over 700 members provide drinking water, sewer, and infrastructure services, as well as look after parks, ecological reserves, and housing communities.

Medeiros says members are “angry and frustrated” after 17 months without a contract, and Metro Vancouver management are ignoring their concerns.

He says the public will notice the strike immediately, with unionized staff walking off their jobs in regional parks, at water and wastewater treatment plants, construction sites, and elsewhere.

The union says workers will rally at the Metro Vancouver headquarters in Burnaby on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2026.