Metro Vancouver holds off on dog guideline changes at popular park after backlash
Major changes to dog rules in Vancouver’s Pacific Spirit Regional Park have been put on pause after a public outcry over the proposed updates.
During the Regional Parks Committee Meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, Metro Vancouver Regional District directors voted to only receive a staff report for information and not move forward with any changes to the park’s trails.
Instead, there will be a “lean into” signage and education for users of one of the largest regional parks.
Hunter the sheepadoodle in Pacific Spirit Regional Park/Fred Lee
Rebecca Bligh, vice-chair of Metro Vancouver’s regional parks committee and Vancouver City Councillor, encouraged her committee members to “put a pin” in changing any of the leash-required trails and continue to survey behaviour.
“Overregulation actually creates less compliance,” said Bligh during the meeting. “So if we don’t get this balance correct, it’s only going to cost us more if enforcement becomes the tool once additional regulations are in place.”
A presentation made at a Regional Parks Committee Meeting in 2025 asked the regional district to make all Pacific Spirit Regional Park trails south of 16th Avenue leash-required while keeping the northern portion leash-optional. Currently, 65 percent of the trail system, which stretches for over 55 km, is designated as the latter.
Visa110nick/Wikimedia Commons
“In the park, 398 dog-related incidents were reported and documented between 2020 and 2024,” stated the report Dog Management Program Review at Pacific Spirit Regional Park, presented at the meeting on Feb. 4.
“Incidents include injuries to park visitors such as dog bites, visitors being chased or knocked down, aggressive behaviour, injuries to other dogs, or dog-related conflicts between park visitors.”
The report also shared data from a public questionnaire about visitors’ experiences with dogs in the park.
“Ninety-four per cent of visitors with a dog reported having mostly positive experiences, compared to only 24 per cent of visitors without a dog. For all questions in the questionnaire, a similar trend existed when comparing responses from visitors with or without a dog.”
inEthos Design/Shutterstock
Members of the public attended the committee meeting to share their perspective as dog owners and users of Pacific Spirit Regional Park.
“Several proposed trail designs actually increase safety risks rather than reduce them,” said Candy Saga.
“We think it’s more of an enforcement problem, not a designation of trails problem. So we ask that you focus on enforcement.”
The major changes to the Pacific Spirit Park dog rules would have launched in May 2026.
Metro Vancouver
Several high-profile voices applauded the move by the Regional Parks Committee to pause the changes.
“We fully stand with Vancouver dog owners in opposition to Metro Vancouver’s proposed new restrictions to off leash areas in Pacific Spirit Park,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim on social media earlier this week.
“Very happy to see that Metro Vancouver heard citizens and are not changing designation on off-leash trails in Pacific Spirit Park,” added prominent Vancouver media personality Jody Vance on X. “Thank you, Rebecca Bligh, (for) a common sense motion w/ no added regulations.”