Vancouver to debate plan to pause supportive housing builds

A plan to put a hold on any new supportive housing in Vancouver is up for debate at City Hall on Wednesday, with a protest planned for outside.

Mayor Ken Sim announced last month his plan to temporarily pause any net new builds to “promote regional equity” and prioritize replacing existing supportive housing stock, particularly aging and deteriorating Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units.

Sim has suggested the City of Vancouver shoulders too much responsibility for providing supportive housing compared to other municipalities in Metro Vancouver. 

But organizations like Vancouver’s Union Gospel Mission say the reality is the demand is there.

“We see the demand for supportive housing in our programs, from shelters through transitional to supportive housing,” said UGM spokesperson Nick Wells.

Averie Defimia is in the UGM’s transitional housing program and has been on a waitlist for supportive housing in the Downtown Eastside for two years. 

Defimia tells The Leader Spirit they’ve been saving money just in case they don’t get a housing offer by the time they have to leave.

“I think there’s a thing where people say that because there is supportive housing, people are coming. But there are people who have been here all their lives and when supports come, they get help,” they said. 

“It’s not that they are going to go away when the supports go away. I think that needs to be understood so that people realize we are not leaving, we are not going away, we want to be here in Vancouver, as well.”

Vancouver’s most recent homeless count found that the unhoused population increased by 33 per cent in 2023 compared to the 2020 level.

That is the largest increase in homelessness recorded in the city since 2005. It also found the majority of unhoused people in Vancouver were already living in the city.

Sim’s motion states Vancouver represents a quarter of the regional population but is home to over 77 per cent of the region’s supportive housing and more than 67 per cent of its shelter spaces.

A protest against the plan to temporarily pause new supportive housing is set for 1 p.m. outside Vancouver City Hall.

Over 100 Downtown Eastside residents, allies, and organizations are promising to be there.  

With files from Mike Lloyd.