The Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) was established in 2004 by a group of unions seeking to better engage with and understand the various regional governance bodies active in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.

The SCI was created with the mandate to: “Ensure that working people and their families are included in the region’s definition of ‘sustainability’”. This includes all types of “sustainability”, including environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability.

Currently, funding and in-kind support for the SCI is provided by: BC Building Trades, BCGEU, CUPE BC, MoveUP, and the Canadian Labour Congress – Pacific Region

Today, the SCI’s work includes (but is not limited to) monitoring and reporting on Metro Vancouver, TransLink, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the Vancouver Airport Authority, BC Ferries, and other governmental organizations operating in the greater Vancouver region. This work is accomplished through the SCI Director, who monitors and attends over 120 committee and board meetings each year.

The SCI also hosts semi-annual networking events and completes work related to the Union of BC Municipalities’ yearly convention.

Since January 2019, Max Gardiner has served as SCI Director. Max holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (UBC, 2016) and a Master of Arts in Political Science (UBC, 2018). He has written theses on the 2015 Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite and on TransLink’s governance structure. In his spare time, Max enjoys bike rides, disc golf, and planning his next epic train trip.