B.C., Washington legislators sign new co-operation agreement

A group of British Columbia and Washington State legislators say they’ve inked an agreement to work together on shared goals.

The agreement, signed in Vancouver on Thursday, will see the bilateral group meet at least once a year, with the first meeting scheduled for later in 2026.

A statement said the group aims to boost communication between the jurisdictions and “explore solutions to common challenges.”

“Washingtonians share deep historical, economic, ecological and cultural connections with the people of British Columbia. This interparliamentary group will serve to further those connections,” said Washington Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck.

B.C. Speaker Raj Chouhan will co-chair the group with Heck.

Rick Glumac, B.C.’s minister of state for AI and new technologies, said he and Heck first began discussing the formation of such a group years ago.

Washington state legislators authorized the cross-border group in 2024, and B.C. MLAs voted to establish it in October 2025.

Á’a:líya Warbus, MLA for Chilliwack–Cultus Lake, said the group will be important for border ridings like hers that share social, commercial and environmental concerns with Washington State.

The agreement comes as Washington State works to maintain a positive relationship with B.C., despite tensions between Canada and the Trump administration.

Data from the Whatcom Council of Governments show the volume of traffic at border crossings between B.C. and Washington State fell by 36 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year.

In March, the U.S. government paused negotiations with Canada to update the Columbia River Treaty. The decades-old agreement allows for the joint management of the Columbia River, which spans B.C. and the northwestern United States.

Calls for better cross-border co-operation were renewed last month when floodwaters from Washington State’s Nooksack River spilled into the Fraser Valley, swamping farms, homes and highways.

The flooding came four years after the devastating floods of November 2021, when overflows from the Nooksack led to significant livestock losses and forced more than 3,300 people from their homes.

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