2026
Province to Explore Virtual Councils for BC Municipalities
The explosion of video and tele-conferencing during the COVID-19 pandemic led to legislative changes enabling virtual council meetings. As the reach and sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) tools grows it appears the next logical step might be virtual council members.
Premier David Eby has announced a special task force on “AI in the council chamber”. The twelve-person group is made up of leaders from the governance and technology sectors in BC and, of course, Silicon Valley. Its marching orders, set out in terms of reference released along with the official government announcement, include: review best practices and experiences from other jurisdictions; consider and make recommendations on allowing chat-bots to serve as council members in British Columbia municipalities.
The task force will have one year to complete its work and report back to the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, so we can expect to learn more on April 1st, 2027.
Guy Patterson