Gregor Angus Bethune Robertson (born September 18, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman, who has served as the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure since 2025. He served as the 39th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, from 2008 to 2018. As the longest consecutive serving mayor in Vancouver's history, Robertson and his team led the creation and implementation of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan and spearheaded the city's first comprehensive Economic Action Strategy.
Robertson was elected to the position of mayor of Vancouver as part of the Vision Vancouver slate. Prior to that, he served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Fairview, as a member of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia, from 2005 until his resignation in 2008 to run for the mayoral position. On January 10, 2018, Robertson announced that he would not seek re-election after three terms in office.
On April 28, 2025, Robertson was elected Member of Parliament in Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby as the Liberal candidate for the 2025 Canadian federal election. He was then appointed to Cabinet by Prime Minister Mark Carney as the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Pacific Economic Development Canada.
Background Robertson was born in North Vancouver in 1964 to a family of Scottish descent.Robertson to lead Vancouver into 2010 Games, CTV News, November 15, 2008. His father, John Robertson, was a lawyer with Russell & Dumoulin, a prominent Vancouver law firm, and his mother, Corneil Therrien, was a teacher. After his parents divorced, Robertson grew up partly in Portola Valley, near San Francisco with his mother, and later with his father in North Vancouver. In 1982, he graduated from Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver and attended Colorado College and the University of British Columbia,"Pursuit of Happiness" , BC Business, December 1, 2006. graduating from the latter with a BA in English and Biology in 1986. After graduating, he intended to become a physician, but the University of British Columbia School of Medicine rejected his application."Gregor Robertson, Sustainability's Superman" , Today's Vancouver Woman, July 30, 2007. Robertson then completed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT/paramedic) training, but turned his career focus towards healthy food and nutrition.
He worked on a ranch as a cowboy in the Cariboo, restored a wooden sailboat and sailed across the Pacific for 18 months, accompanied by his then wife, Amy, whom he had met in Colorado. They settled in New Zealand, where he began farming as a trade. After turning 25, he returned to Canada, where he purchased land in Glen Valley near Fort Langley, and made his living as a farmer there.
Robertson later went on to co-found Happy Planet, a Vancouver-based company that produces and markets organic fruit and vegetable beverages and soups. He was named one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40" by The Globe and Mail."City Profile" , City Award, He was also a Tides Canada (public foundation) director from 2002 until 2004, when he entered politics with the provincial New Democratic Party.
He was elected to the BC Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party having defeated the trade union leader Judy Darcy in a high-profile battle for the party's nomination. He then beat British Columbia Liberal Party's Virginia Greene in the general election. During his time as the MLA for Vancouver-Fairview, Robertson served as the Opposition Critic for Advanced Education, Small Business Critic and as the co-chair of the Caucus Climate Change Taskforce.Palmer, Vaughn, "NDP faces prospect of losing its 'catch' to civic politics," Vancouver Sun, January 9, 2008
As of 2025, Robertson is a special envoy in the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), as well as the global ambassador of Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the largest city alliance for climate leadership.
Mayoral campaign and elections
In February 2008, Robertson announced that he would run for Mayor of Vancouver. In June 2008, Robertson secured the Vision Vancouver party's nomination as its mayoral candidate,Loxam, Erin, "Gregor Robertson is Vision Vancouver's candidate for mayor", News 1130, June 15, 2008 defeating Raymond Louie and Allan De Genova."It's Robertson vs. Ladner for mayor" , Vancouver Sun, June 16, 2008. Robertson soon announced his resignation from the Legislative Assembly effective July 15, 2008."NDP MLA resigning seat to run for Vancouver mayor", CBC, June 19, 2008 His main rival was Peter Ladner of the Non-Partisan Association.
He was elected by a solid margin in the 2008 municipal election. Seven of the ten seats on Vancouver City Council also went to Robertson's Vision Vancouver party. "It was a hard-fought campaign," he told supporters gathered at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, "but there is far more that unites us than divides us.""Robertson is Vancouver's Olympics mayor", The Globe and Mail, November 16, 2008.
Robertson secured a landslide victory in the 2011 municipal election. He defeated Suzanne Anton of NPA by a margin of 18,853 votes, while Vision Vancouver won seven of the ten seats on the Vancouver City Council.
Robertson was re-elected to a third term in 2014, defeating Kirk LaPointe of NPA.
In January 2018, Robertson announced that he would not seek re-election in the fall election. His mayorship ended on 5 November 2018.
Mayoral term (2008–2018) Economic growth In 2011, Robertson created the city's first Economic Action Strategy which led to creation of jobs in sectors such as green energy and digital media. During his mayoral tenure, Vancouver became the fastest-growing metropolitan economy in the country, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Vancouver's unemployment was down in six of the last seven years of his term; the unemployment rate of 4.5% in 2018 was one of the lowest in the country.
Action on homelessness and housing
On December 9, 2008, he announced low-barrier HEAT shelters to assist Vancouver's homeless citizens during an extremely cold winter, which were filled to capacity."Vancouver emergency homeless shelters filled to capacity during winter storms" , News 1130, January 6, 2009. On September 15, 2009, Vancouver city staff issued a report warning Robertson and the City Council that they should no longer expect the HEAT shelters to be funded after the 2009–2010 fiscal year."Now, THAT's an agenda!", News 1130, September 18, 2009."City of Vancouver Administrative Report", City of Vancouver archives, September 15, 2009. In 2011, by the end of his first mayoral term, more than 90 per cent of the homeless people in Vancouver were reportedly sleeping in shelters or other temporary spaces.
In 2014, he oversaw the creation of Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency, which was established to create housing units primarily for low to moderate-income households. A neighbourhood plan aimed to shape development of the Downtown Eastside was also approved. The plan was aimed to protect low-income residents of the area who were struggling to afford rent amidst a rise in cost of living.
In September 2017, the Government of British Columbia announced a funding commitment of $66 million towards Robertson's plan to build 600 units of temporary modular housing in Vancouver. In partnership with the BC Government, temporary modular homes were built within 18 months on empty or underutilized City-owned land, providing immediate relief to 600 people living without a home, as well as access to 24/7 supports, including life skills training and health services.
In 2018, an annual count recorded 2,181 homeless people in Vancouver, up from 1,576 at the beginning of his term in 2008. Robertson attributed this increase to a lack of support from provincial and federal governments. In addition, numbers released by B.C. Housing Ministry pointed to an influx of homeless people coming to British Columbia from other provinces. A 2016 study by Simon Fraser University found that 52% of the homeless people surveyed in Downtown Eastside had migrated there from outside Vancouver, up from 17% a decade ago.
The 12th annual Homeless Count in Vancouver held in 2018 saw a 2% increase in homeless residents since the 2017 count, compared with a 16% increase between 2016 and 2017. Of those counted in 2018, 659 were living on the street and 1,522 were living in shelters, compared to 537 street homeless and 1,601 sheltered in 2017. Fifty-two per cent of those counted reported being homeless for less than a year, showing the fluidity of homelessness year over year in Vancouver, and in 2017, the Homelessness Service's Outreach Team secured 850 homes for residents who were homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Robertson initially downplayed the role of foreign buyers in Vancouver’s housing crisis but later began lobbying Premier Christy Clark to introduce luxury and speculation taxes and to give Vancouver the authority to impose a tax on vacant homes.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/donthave1million-protesters-rally-against-high-cost-of-housing-1.3085729 In July 2016, Clark’s government introduced Bill 28, authorizing Vancouver to impose a vacant homes tax.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gregor-robertson-mike-de-jong-vancouver-empty-home-tax-1.3655326 At the same time, the province announced a 15% Foreign Buyers’ Tax on residential purchases by foreign nationals and foreign-controlled corporations in Metro Vancouver, effective August 2, 2016.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/christy-clark-takes-on-big-risk-with-foreign-home-buyers-tax-1.3701164 In November 2016, Robertson and the Vision Council created and approved Canada's first vacancy tax, known as the Empty Homes Tax (EHT), which placed a 1% annual tax based on a property's assessed value if a residential property was left empty for more than six months.This was an attempt to encourage both offshore and local investors to sell or rent their vacant properties. EHT generated $30 million for the city’s affordable housing fund in its first year and more than $194 million by 2025. By the time Robertson left the mayor's office in 2018, the price of a single-family home on the city's east side was $1.5 million, up from $676,000 in 2008.
Greenest City Action Plan
On February 25, 2009, Robertson announced the members of the Greenest City Action Team in support of his campaign promise to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020."Start now to make Vancouver the world's greenest city, report urges" , Vancouver Sun, April 27, 2009. In April 2009, Robertson and the Greenest City Action Team released a report outlining quick-start recommendations to move aggressively on its green plan. The report focused on three key areas: jobs and the economy, greener communities, and protecting human health.
The Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP) was approved by the Vancouver City Council in 2011. The plan included 10 goals, including reduction of carbon emissions, development of the green economy, improvement in air and water quality, among others. Vancouver became the first city to regulate embodied carbon, and set a goal to eliminate fossil fuels and switch to 100% renewable energy by 2050. In 2013, Vancouver was named as the Global Earth Hour Capital by the World Wildlife Fund in recognition of the city's "actions on climate change and dedication to create a sustainable, vibrant urban environment." In 2016, Vancouver was recognized as the third greenest city in the world according to the Global Green Economy Index, behind only Copenhagen and Stockholm,"2016 Global Green Economy Index" (PDF). Dual Citizen LLC. Retrieved November 14, 2017. and was also the top-ranked North American city in the Arcadis Sustainable City Index.