There are two municipalities in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia that use the name North Vancouver. These are:
- The City of North Vancouver
- The District of North Vancouver
While the City and District are separate entities, each with its own mayor, council, and operations departments, they share several core services such as the North Vancouver School District, the North Vancouver Recreation Commission and the North Vancouver detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. These two municipalities, along with the district of West Vancouver are commonly referred to as the North Shore.
The differences between the two municipalities are most apparent to their respective residents. For the most part, other Lower Mainland residents rarely distinguish between the District and the City, referring to both collectively as “North Vancouver”. The same is true for commercial advertising, and even for certain government departments, including Canada Post. There have been several proposals over the years with regards to merging the two municipalities, but none have progressed beyond the concept stage
