Vancouver mayor plans freeze on new supportive housing in Downtown Eastside as part of revitalization bid

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has unveiled a plan to revitalize the city's Downtown Eastside that would halt the construction of net-new supportive housing units. 

Sim told a Save Our Streets forum held by a coalition of groups concerned about crime and public safety in B.C. that the proposal is one of three key policy shifts being planned to transform the area once described as Canada's poorest postal code.

The mayor says Vancouver has 77 per cent of Metro Vancouver's supportive services, including housing and shelters, yet only about 25 per cent of the population, and pausing construction would allow the city to "focus on renewing and revitalizing the current aging housing stock."

He says an updated area plan for the Downtown Eastside would "encourage a mix of housing, businesses, and services" to break the cycle of hyper-concentrated social services in the neighbourhood.

The third proposal in what Sim termed "a comprehensive plan" to transform the neighbourhood would be a "citywide crackdown" on organized crime and gangs operating in the Downtown Eastside. 

Advocates dismayed

Former Vancouver city councillor and Downtown Eastside advocate Jean Swanson was swift in her rebuke of Sim's plan.

"I feel like Vancouver just elected Trump," she said. "I'm so mad."

Sim's plan to not add any additional supportive housing is going to be "really bad for low-income folks," Swanson said.

"There's about 4,000 people in Vancouver who are homeless. There's 3,000 people who are on the supportive housing wait list, so what does that mean for them? It means they'll probably die on a wait list," she said.

Swanson rejected Sim's argument that the city is shouldering too large a proportion of unhoused people, saying that people deserve to have a home in the city where they want to live.

"Can you imagine New West saying, 'Oh please, Vancouver, send us your homeless people?' That ain't going to happen. Vancouver has to house its own homeless people," she said.

Coun. Pete Fry, who lives in the Downtown Eastside, said developers stand to benefit from Sim's plan.

"There currently is actually [a] restriction on for-profit housing in the Downtown Eastside, and that's what's being undone," he said.

Fry said Vancouver has a growing need — not a diminishing need — for supportive housing.

"I think it's reckless and frankly kind of cruel to take that approach," he said.

Fry said he would like so see an end to gang violence in the neighbourhood, but he doesn't think Sim's approach is appropriate.

"We don't want violent predators on our streets, ... [but] those are issues that involve, you know, the criminal justice system, prosecution, policing and stuff, but none of which is really the purview of the mayor and council."


Sim and his ABC Vancouver party swept into power in 2022 with a key promise to improve public safety. 

"For too long, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent without delivering meaningful change. It's time for a new direction, one that prioritizes recovery, inclusivity, and public safety while integrating the [Downtown Eastside] into the broader Vancouver community," Sim said in a statement. 

Guy Felicella, an advocate with lived experience of homelessness and addiction, said he wished Sim had used his time at the forum to "call out" other municipalities for not having enough supportive housing.

"Unfortunately, this is more of a punishment to poor people instead of supporting them," he said.

Felicella, who attended the forum where Sim spoke on Thursday afternoon, said he wished there had been more people in attendance who live and work on the front lines in the Downtown Eastside.

Clint Mahlman, chair and co-founder of Save Our Streets, said the conference featured retired judges, crown prosecutors, Indigenous legal experts, RCMP, police, and experts in housing and mental health.

Mahlman, who supports the mayor's plan, said other governments need to step up their services in cities and regions outside of Vancouver.

"The provincial and federal governments have a responsibility to have counselling and addiction close to home," he said.

Sim was not available for an interview. His proposal has not yet been discussed or voted on at city council. However, his party holds a majority of seats.