Meet Canada’s Smart21 Communities of 2021: Township of Langley, British Columbia

The Township of Langley, not to be confused with the City of Langley, which is adjacent to it, is a district municipality of 135,000 people, immediately east of the City of Surrey and part of the Metro Vancouver region. Fort Langley has the distinguished title of being “The Birthplace of British Columbia”. This is the Township of Langley’s first time as a SMART21 community.

ICF recognized the community for several initiatives meeting its ICF Method, including:

• A Municipal Access Agreement process is deployed providing equal access to infrastructure, promoting competition, and streamlining the approval process for broadband-related projects to ensure its citizens and businesses have diverse broadband access choices.
• Encouraging meaningful citizen involvement & inclusion in civic and community quality of life matters to better serve everyone in the municipality through its Public Engagement Strategy (PES) and a Public Engagement Charter (PEC).
• A Sustainability Charter was adopted to meet the social/ cultural, economic, and environmental needs of its current and future residents.
• An eGovernment Strategy was developed that aimed at establishing a foundation for long-term success: streamlining processes, driving organizational efficiency, and delivering services and tools in an ongoing effort to respond to the changing needs of its stakeholders through transformative, citizen-centred open government.
• A Learning Farm initiative offers the opportunity for seniors and others to share their knowledge of growing food with students.