Vancouver municipal parties outline major campaign promises ahead of election

With just over three weeks remaining before Vancouver’s municipal election, campaign commitments are mounting on housing, public safety, jobs and the economy. Platforms reviewed include those of incumbent Mayor Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver; Vote Vancouver mayoral candidate Rebecca Bligh; Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate Kareem Allam; Green Party of Vancouver mayoral candidate Pete Fry; and TEAM for a Liveable Vancouver mayoral candidate Colleen Hardwick. The report says 130 names will appear on the ballot.

On housing, Fry and the Vancouver Greens promise pre-approved housing designs, including prefabricated options; a partnership with Build Canada Homes to attract investment and expedite qualifying projects; Canadian procurement and employment requirements; mass-timber and wood-frame construction; and streamlined permits for several housing forms. They also support the Vancouver Building By-law and preserving existing affordable homes. ABC Vancouver did not include housing in its initial platform. Bligh and Vote Vancouver say they would create affordable homes for middle-income earners on public land and include not-for-profit child care in all new developments. Hardwick and TEAM say governments and the private sector should jointly deliver housing middle-income households can afford, while prioritizing low-income, supportive and secure rental housing. They argue that upzoning raises land development value, encourages speculation and makes homes more costly once built. Allam and the Vancouver Liberals say they would replace the Vancouver Building By-law with the B.C. Building Code and merge the 12 departments that approve housing into one.

Fry and the Greens also propose a 24/7 CROW, or Community Response Outreach Workers, team: a non-police, non-medical mobile service for non-emergency calls involving homelessness, street-level addiction, public intoxication and mental-health crises. They say police and paramedics now attend situations that do not require them, limiting their availability for emergencies. The party also proposes an Office of Community Safety to coordinate the City’s safety approach across departments. Sim and ABC say they would ban hard-drug use in public spaces, simplify police drug seizures and advocate for at least 100 involuntary beds in Vancouver. They want provincial overdose-prevention sites located away from public parks and schools, and pledge closer oversight of non-profits and good-neighbour agreements at public-housing properties affected by street disorder.

Allam and the Vancouver Liberals say they will target Vancouver’s high-level organized criminals, arguing that poverty, drug use and homelessness must be addressed alongside organized crime. Allam says he would increase VPD funding, strengthen local cooperation with Canada Border Services Agency officers and advocate for greater Canadian Coast Guard underwater marine-intervention capacity. Hardwick and TEAM promise a residents’ safety action plan targeting repeat offenders, opposing open drug use in shared public spaces and increasing enforcement against street disorder. Their platform also includes community-first policing, a strategy to prevent violence against women and a new approach to addiction. Bligh’s platform contains no public-safety commitments.

ABC promises a property-tax freeze in 2027, an end to residential parking-permit fees and free parking at beaches and community centres. It also pledges to revitalize Granville Street, improve cooperation between the City and major events, and position Vancouver as a technology-company hub that creates more jobs. Vote Vancouver proposes a small-business concierge to provide one-stop help with permits, regulations and city processes, and says it would seek to make Vancouver a western headquarters for growing sectors including critical minerals, defence and technology.

The Greens promise to streamline permits and licensing for small businesses, create a single business contact, simplify and accelerate change-of-use permits for existing commercial spaces, and extend temporary occupancy permits for pop-ups in vacant spaces. The Vancouver Liberals say they would modernize zoning and business rules to support small businesses, entrepreneurs, creators and the next generation of Vancouver’s economy, arguing that industrial-era bylaws prevent some businesses from making and selling products at the same location. TEAM’s fiscal framework promises investment in core services, property-tax increases no higher than inflation and a line-by-line budget review.

Vote Vancouver also promises to work with TransLink and the province to make transit free for Vancouver residents under 18 and to deliver an all-electric passenger-ferry service. It says it would make City Hall more accessible and responsive and repair reported broken street lights within 72 hours. Sim and ABC promise a 50-metre pool at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre and swimming lessons during the school day. Allam and the Vancouver Liberals say they would work with non-profits to provide free Wi-Fi in the Downtown Eastside. The Greens promise stronger tree-protection bylaws and a Municipal Arborist Office with in-house arborists. Their Park Board platform commits to removing 5,000 stumps, replacing them with trees, increasing tree canopy in underserved neighbourhoods and applying a 3-30-300 standard for all homes: three visible trees, 30 per cent neighbourhood canopy and green space within 300 metres.