Surrey Launches New Initiative to Improve Council Transparency
A series of reforms aim to make municipal meetings more accessible and decision-making more accountable for residents across British Columbia’s second-largest city.
Surrey City Council has unveiled a sweeping plan to overhaul how residents access and engage with civic decision-making, in a move aimed at rebuilding public trust and making the city’s governance more transparent.
One of the central reforms includes expanding real-time public access to all council and committee meetings. Starting next month, meetings will be streamed online with live transcription and interpretation services in Punjabi and Mandarin—two of the most commonly spoken languages in the region. City officials say the goal is to reduce barriers that have historically excluded large portions of the population from meaningful participation.
“It’s not just about showing up at City Hall anymore,” said City Clerk Daniela Wu during a press briefing. “We want people to follow what’s happening from wherever they are, in whatever language they’re most comfortable with.”
Alongside live access, the city is launching a digital archive of all past council meetings and key votes. The archive, which goes live this week, features keyword search tools, downloadable transcripts, and time-stamped video highlights of policy decisions. According to Wu, this change is the result of sustained lobbying by local advocacy groups who’ve argued that record-keeping at the municipal level has long lacked clarity and consistency.
“This archive is going to be a game-changer for local journalists, community organizations, and anyone who wants to hold city leaders accountable,” said Nina Bhullar, a policy analyst with the Surrey Civic Alliance. “It gives residents access to decades of decisions that shaped their neighborhoods.”
Another key part of the initiative is the formation of neighborhood engagement boards that will serve as advisory bodies for council planning. These boards will be made up of residents selected through a civic lottery, ensuring that voices from all corners of Surrey—regardless of income, education, or political affiliation—are included in long-term policy discussions.
The city has also committed to publishing a quarterly “Civic Engagement Scorecard” that tracks participation metrics such as meeting attendance, public comment volume, and demographic representation. The first report is expected in September and will help evaluate whether the new measures are truly closing the civic gap or simply shifting the optics of participation.
Not everyone is convinced. Some council members expressed concern over the cost of implementation, which is projected at $2.3 million over the next fiscal year. “This is a big investment in process,” said Councillor Greg Wallace, “but the real question is whether it leads to better outcomes for the community.”
Despite the debate, the initiative passed with a 7–2 vote and is scheduled for phased rollout over the next six months. City officials say feedback mechanisms will be built into every stage, allowing the public to comment and suggest adjustments as the plan evolves.