You can now go online if you're looking for an official city notice about changes to land use and elections in the Tri-Cities.
Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody are now running their public statutory notices via their websites and social media channels after the print edition of the Tri-City News ceased publication on Aug. 10.
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, PoCo council unanimously adopted a bylaw to post its notices on the city website and Facebook page; a hard copy will also be placed on the city's bulletin board at the main doors to city hall.
In Port Moody, statutory notices will be uploaded on the city's website, as well as its Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) channels. Civic officials are also directing residents to subscribe to online alerts.
Meanwhile, in Coquitlam, residents are advised to look on the municipality's website for public notices, which are also distributed by text or email via "Council News Notify Me."
Still, Coquitlam is the only city regionally at this time to continue to push its notices to a newspaper: it will also be keeping the public informed through advertisements in The Province, a Vancouver-based newspaper that's owned by Postmedia.
The end for the printed editions of the Tri-City News last month happened on the same day that Glacier Media shuttered the Burnaby NOW and New Westminster Record.
Like in the Tri-Cities, Burnaby and the Royal City will be releasing its notices on their respective websites and through email newsletters.
The provincial government's Community Charter, the legislation that governs the way municipalities run, requires local governments in B.C. to publish statutory public notices for matters such as public hearings, elections, bylaw changes and the disposition of public land.
However, last year, following the ongoing closure of local news outlets, the province changed the Charter to allow for alternative means of publishing public notices.
- with files from Lauren Vanderdeen, Burnaby NOW
