Suprisingly, the policy on public parking is (gasp!) publicly available! Online, even!
http://www.cityofvancouver.us/parking.asp?menuid=10465&submenuid=16890&itemID=27786
Parking in Vancouver
Parking at downtown meters, lots and garages
Parking Meters/Pay Stations
Short-Term (3 hours or less)
15-minute (yellow label), 30-minute (red label), 1-hour (green label), 90-minute (black label), 2-hour (blue label), and 3-hour (orange label) meters are available throughout downtown Vancouver. Maximum times are posted on each meter/pay station. Overtime parking is not allowed (please see panel on parking violations for more information).
Long-Term (up to 10 hours)
If you plan on staying longer, look for silver/white 5-hour and 10-hour meters. For long-term off-street options, please see the "Municipal Lots/Garages" panel.
Don't forget - Your first 20 minutes are FREE on some on-street 1-hour, 90-minute, and 2-hour meters in the downtown area. To get your free 20 minutes you must turn the handle one complete turn before you insert your coin.
All parking meters are enforced from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday except the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.
ON-STREET AND PUBLIC LOT PARKING (IE WEST COAST BANK PARK AND GO GARAGE) IS FREE ON FRIDAY EVENING, AND ALL DAY SATURDAY, SUNDAY, AND MONDAY, LABOR DAY
If you plan to secure one of these public spaces, your best bet is to get there Friday afternoon when people are leaving work and before the downtown revelers and other attendees arrive, and park around 5:40 PM, the earliest you can grab a spot and not have to pay a penny. Or, grab a spot earlier, and pay for it for until 6 PM, when the spot becomes free for the entire weekend, INCLUDING LABOR DAY.
I'm not challenging your information HOWEVER I just called the City of Vancouver and spoke directly with Heather. She told me that the rules INSIDE A PARKING GARAGE are different than on-street metered parking. She even verified this with her supervisor.
According to Heather (feel free to call the main customer service number -- you may even get a chance to speak to her directly -- at 360-619-1154), you MUST pay for parking INSIDE the parking garages (like the one diagonally across from the hotel) EVEN on the weekend. She did say that Monday should be free, though.
She also said that, at the very least, police do enforce the area (I've seen them inside the garage myself before) and have the legal right to issue parking tickets.
At this point I would suggest that it is whatever you feel most comfortable doing. She also said that failing to pay (if you're ticketed) would cost $20 per violation. I don't know at what point they may elect to tow but I've seen cars with more than a week's worth of tickets on the street.
On-street parking, though, is free on the weekend and holiday. Oh, and, apparently, the meters IN parking garages are also enforcible on the weekend UNLESS they say otherwise.
Me? I plan on paying... Can't afford to get the thing out of an impound lot...
