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Vancouver City Council has reversed a long-standing bylaw that bans natural gas for the use of heating and cooking in new homes.

Councillors voted 6-5 in favour of the change, with Mayor Ken Sim casting the tie-breaking vote.

Advocates say that reversing the bylaw will help spur more home construction in Vancouver.

#Vancouver Mayor Robertson’s natural gas ban reveals BC NDP roots, reports @ilikerox — https://t.co/Ykjz0H3PKq | #bcpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/zIYmscia6i

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 3, 2017

"People want to have the choice on how to cook their food," said Vancouver City Councillor Brian Montague. "They want to have a choice on how they heat their homes and how they heat their water, and they want to have a choice on how much they pay to do that."

Mayor Sim was among those who said that a balance was needed, telling CTV News: “I think the amendment brings a balance, which is super important… Look, we all love the environment and we all have a stake in the outcome and we need balance.”

The move has been criticized by the Green Party of Vancouver, and one educator told CBC that while allowing gas would definitely provide homebuilders with more options, gas is generally considered a luxury as opposed to electrical in most settings.

"A gas fireplace is a luxury amenity relative to anything you can do with electricity," said University of British Columbia associate professor Tom Davidoff. "So maybe you're pitching the housing stock at a higher income point than you would have been without this," he said.

"On balance, my guess is this is kind of a wash for affordability, and the really important consideration is the environmental one."

Green Coun. Pete Fry voiced his displeasure, saying that "All momentum is heading towards electrification, so this is a massive and regressive step backwards.”

Green Coun. Adrianne Carr was also critical of the reversal, calling it a “dinosaur move.”

Benjamin Donald Holt, a 52-year-old paid activist with the Extinction Rebellion-linked Save Old Growth protest group, was part of four separate blockades of major roadways in Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

READ MORE: https://t.co/OhHL2p88wX pic.twitter.com/lLHEKH0yCA

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 10, 2023

“How can we [be] going backwards?” she said. “To roll back climate measures, especially when the industry is all moving in the direction of implementing those changes, is absolutely ridiculous.”

Montague, however, disagrees with this characterization, saying that the move will “significantly help build homes, specifically multiplexes and missing middle homes, which are desperately needed.”