It also includes unincorporated areas north of the City of Pitt Meadows, which were part of the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District but which were not transferred to the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) when it expanded to include Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.

As a local government or regional district, it can provide services such as water piping, storm sewers, sanitary sewers, street lighting, waste management, fire protection, mosquito control, enhanced 911 service, emergency preparedness/recovery, cablevision, air quality monitoring, library funding, growth management, park maintenance, building inspections and bylaw enforcement, planning, and development approvals.

The FVRD has opted to implement a regional growth strategy, as allowed by Section 25 of the BC Local Government Act.

Economically, the area has grown around resource extraction, specifically farming, logging and gravel mining.

However, most commercial and industrial activities are kept within the municipal boundaries and leaving the electoral areas for farming and rural residential uses.

Boston Bar and North Bend, with populations nearing 200 people each, are the two main small towns in this area.

The communities of Dogwood Valley, Emory Creek, and Choate are just north of Hope and have a combined population of about 133 people.

Sunshine Valley is a community on BC Highway 3 southeast of Hope with 164 people and was originally a Japanese internment camp named Tashme.

Farming (dairy, nursery and blue berries) and resource extraction (forestry and aggregate) along with recreation are the primary activities.

[citation needed] This new Electoral Area H was re-established in 2014 to include Cultus Lake and Columbia Valley.