Here's what Burnaby's provincial electoral boundaries could soon look like

Burnaby’s provincial electoral boundaries could be in for a change according to the final recommendations report from the BC Electoral Boundaries Commission.

The recommendations to change provincial voting boundaries are due to an increase in population, notes the report.

“Since the population of British Columbia is not static, it is necessary to periodically review the number and boundaries of BC’s electoral districts to continue to ensure that BC residents have effective representation by population,” states the report.

In total, the commission is proposing boundary adjustments to 72 ridings and name changes to 41 electoral districts (including the six proposed new ridings) to ensure they accurately reflect the geography of the district and differ from the names of federal ridings.

Currently, Burnaby has four provincial electoral districts: Burnaby-Deer Lake, Burnaby-Edmonds, Burnaby-Lougheed, and Burnaby North.

The final report proposes that Burnaby be represented by five electoral districts, with adjusted boundaries, to “ensure that the population is relatively well balanced and that there is room for growth where projected.”

The newly proposed electoral districts are Burnaby Centre, Burnaby East, Burnaby-New Westminster, Burnaby North, and Burnaby South-Metrotown.

The area around Metrotown, south of Kingsway would be added to the Burnaby South-Metrotown district to keep the SkyTrain corridor in one riding.

Burnaby East would include Sullivan Heights, Westridge, and Simon Fraser University, and is bounded by the Burrard Inlet in the north and Kensington Avenue in the west.

The Cascade Heights, Garden Village, Deer Lake, and Buckingham Heights neighbourhoods are included in the Burnaby Centre electoral district. The SkyTrain corridor south of Kingsway is also part of this district.

The Burnaby neighbourhoods of Middle Gate and Edmonds are part of the Burnaby-New Westminster district, which also includes the New Westminister neighbourhoods of Kelvin, Eastburn, and Connaught Heights.

Burnaby North includes the Burnaby Heights, Capitol Hill, Willingdon Heights, and Brentwood Park neighbourhoods.

The Burnaby districts are part of what the commission calls the Burnaby-New West Minister-Tri-Cities region.

“We heard about the distinct identities of neighbourhoods in this area, its many transportation corridors and public transportation networks,” reads the report.

“We consider it more important to ensure room for growth in this area's ridings by adjusting boundaries to keep their populations similar than to follow existing municipal boundaries that would result in electoral districts with very different populations.”

The legislative assembly will now review the report and whether or not to approve all, some, or none of the recommendations.