Good morning,
Nate back with you today. Next month we’ll be launching a new City Hall newsletter just for our paying subscribers, which I’m very excited to be heading up. We think it’s going to be a great resource for readers who want to get a deeper understanding of the decisions and processes that shape Vancouver.
We’re still playing with exactly what will be included, but members can expect deep-dive stories on civic issues, explainers on important municipal processes, detailed breakdowns of councillor voting patterns, coverage of park, school, and police boards, and ways to get involved in city consultations and events.
While we won’t be launching this until next month, there’s so much happening at City Hall these days that we thought we’d give all our readers a little teaser of the kind of coverage we’ll be putting together.
To help support this expansion of our coverage, and get access to additional newsletters we’ll start sending out next month, you’ll need to become a member — you can do that here.
Let’s get to it!
— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout
As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].
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WEATHER
Friday: 10 🌡️ 5 | ☁️
Saturday: 14 🌡️ 7 | ☁️
Sunday: 17 🌡️ 9 | ☁️
Monday: 17 🌡️ 9 | 🌤️
INFRASTRUCTURE
ABC promises funding for five community centres, Sunset pool, while Renfrew is left behind
ABC's city councillors and park board commissioners were on hand for the party's big announcement. From left to right, Mike Klassen, Jas Virdi, Ken Sim, Lisa Dominato, Angela Haer, Lenny Zhou, Peter Meiszner, and Brian Montague / Nate Lewis
The ABC majority on city council has released more details about its four-year capital plan, which will be set this summer ahead of October’s municipal election. As we reported last week, ABC’s keystone promise is to invest $400 million to renew five community centres. While the park board is advocating for a larger overall budget for community centre renewal, ABC actually has the power to move its plan ahead.
This week, Mayor Ken Sim and Coun. Lisa Dominato, flanked by most of the ABC caucus, announced that the Dunbar, Kerrisdale, Hastings, Kensington, and Roundhouse community centres would be the lucky recipients, based on “facility condition and community usage.”
“Community centres are at the heart of Vancouver’s neighbourhoods, and this is about making sure they reflect the needs of the city we are today,” Sim said.
While some of the facilities, like Kensington and Hastings, were identified as top priorities for renewal in a comprehensive community centre strategy approved by the park board in 2022, others, like Kerrisdale and Dunbar, were ranked much lower (eighth and eleventh, respectively).
One community centre notably absent from the ABC announcement is Renfrew, which was ranked second-highest in the park board priority analysis. As we reported last year, Renfrew is a 60-year-old facility that is already at capacity. It’s a result of the neighbourhood having some of the lowest per capita community centre access in the city, and that’s not including the approximately 18,000 people projected to move there as part of the new development plan for the area, passed by council last year.
A more complex case is the Britannia Community Centre. The much-needed redevelopment of that site has been in the works for more than seven years, and money for planning was set aside in the previous capital plan. However, due to a lack of funding from the province – which is responsible for the schools there – and the city’s historic neglect of the current ice rink and pool, ABC shifted those planning funds to pay for repairs and upgrades to the existing facilities.
ABC said part of the new plan would be “advancing the renewal and redevelopment” of Britannia’s city-owned facilities. “Britannia continues to be a priority,” Dominato told Vancity Lookout. “In fact, we recently met with members of the Britannia Community Center Association, and we've looked at some of the vision they have for that property. It's complex in terms of the land use and ownership, but we are looking to work with them and exploring partnerships to help deliver on that vision.”
One of those partnerships may be with the Vancouver Canucks for a new training facility at the site, but Sim said he couldn’t comment on that. “There are ongoing talks with a lot of different groups that remain confidential,” Sim said.
Another key project that would be funded under ABC’s plan is a new 25-metre pool at Sunset Park near Punjabi Market. “I’m delighted,” Sunset Community Association president Bhalwinder S. Waraich said following the press conference. “We used to have an outdoor swimming pool, and when it was knocked down [in 2008], the South Vancouver community was promised it would be replaced … so it’s long overdue,” he said.
ABC’s motion, which also includes other minor renewals and projects, will come to council on April 22, where it’s expected to be approved by the ABC majority.
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Finally, an investigative eye on Vancouver City Hall — help us fund it and save 20%
Nobody is watching Vancouver City Hall closely enough. Not really.
Elected officials are making decisions that will reshape your neighbourhood for decades. Meanwhile, Canada’s biggest media companies have laid off local journalists.
We launched City Hall Insider this week to change that. Nate is already on the tail of some great stories. But we'll be honest — one reporter, one publication, patching together the resources to make this happen — it’s an uphill battle.
So far, 15 readers have claimed our 20% discount and joined the campaign to fund our expansion into more city hall reporting. Everyone who signs up gives Nate more resources to dig, more time to investigate, and a better shot at breaking through local government’s obfuscation and secrecy.
COMMUNITY CORNER
Do you think Vancouver needs to improve its community centres?
THE VANCOUVER NUMBER
$785,308,595
The total amount the City of Vancouver paid its employees in 2025, according to its financial statement, up about $22 million from the previous year. Department general managers were the highest earners, with 10 of them earning over $300,000 each. [Vancity Lookout]
THE AGENDA
OneCity members and prospective candidates met up at Heritage Hall to organize for the upcoming election / Nate Lewis
⛴️ Plans for a floating luxury hotel in Coal Harbour outside the Convention Centre have been approved by city council. The 250-room, six-level ‘floatel’ would be connected to the seawall by pedestrian bridges and include a publicly accessible dock with gardens, seating areas, a cafe, and a spa. COPE’s Sean Orr was the lone councillor to vote against the project, saying he didn’t think there were enough public benefits to justify privatizing part of the waterfront. Read more. [Vancouver Sun, Vancity Lookout]
❌ Non-profits are expressing concern after the city eliminated one of two liaison roles that helped reduce violence against sex workers and improve communication between sex workers, non-profits, and public institutions like the city and police. The roles were created after serial killer Robert Pickton targeted vulnerable women, including sex workers, in the Downtown Eastside for more than two decades. “Efforts to support sex workers and related organizations continue to be a priority,” despite “operational changes,” the city said in response. Read more. [CTV, Vancity Lookout]
⚖️ The city’s current ban on net-new supportive housing may be unconstitutional, according to legal scholars. A legal opinion by three UBC law professors argues that the contentious policy brought in last year by Mayor Ken Sim may violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by discriminating against vulnerable populations. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]
💸 Metro Vancouver voted to reduce planned increases in development cost charges – fees paid by developers to support new amenities like water and sewer infrastructure – for the next four years. The $43 million budget shortfall will be covered through property tax and utility fee increases for households across the region. [Vancity Lookout]
🏆 Attendees at this summer’s World Cup matches at BC Place won’t have the opportunity to learn about the province’s sports history, as the BC Sports Hall of Fame will be closed for the duration of the tournament. Thousands of artifacts are currently being relocated so FIFA can have the space as a media working area. Read more. [CBC]
🗳️ On Wednesday, around 200 OneCity members packed Heritage Hall on Main Street to chat with all the nominees who are hoping to become candidates for the party in the upcoming election. OneCity’s William Azaroff and Lucy Maloney MC’ed the boisterous event, which came just a few weeks before party members will vote for their preferred slate in the first week of May. [Vancity Lookout]
🐕 The park board wants to hear from you on planned improvements to Jonathan Rogers Park. They’re proposing a new dog off-leash area, a renewed playground, and improved pathways on the east side of the park. You can have your say online until May 3 or in-person at a pop-up event on April 18. Read more. [Park board]
🌆 Have thoughts on the future of Vancouver’s skyline? The city is reviewing its policy on tall towers in Downtown and wants input from the public. From May 1 to 10 its hosting an exhibit at Vancouver Lookout (no relation to us) in the Harbour Centre, as well as a competition for design ideas on how to create tall buildings that work here. Read more. [COV]
🏃 Watch out for Sun Run road closures this Sunday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Read more. [Daily Hive]
ELECTION 2026
Progressive parties finally ink unity agreement, but questions around mayors persist
After many months of negotiations, Vancouver’s three left-leaning political parties have announced an official unity agreement. COPE, OneCity, and the Greens will each run a mayoral candidate, a maximum of five candidates for city council, and between three and five candidates for the park and school boards.
“I want to give credit, mostly, to the [party members who] were working behind the scenes. This was a long time coming,” COPE Coun. Sean Orr told Vancity Lookout. “I know people will look at this and say it isn’t limiting enough … but it’s what we have and it’s substantial … Every party compromised on something here, we all took one for the team,” Orr said.
Green Coun. and mayoral candidate Pete Fry is one of those who doesn’t see it as limiting enough. “The numbers don't really add up. Five each for council [for 10 spots], that’s goofy math if you ask me,” Fry told Vancity Lookout. “But I appreciate it's been a challenge to get to that spot, and it’s a step in the right direction,” Fry added.
“Sean, Pete, and I work really closely and cooperatively together on council,” OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney told Vancity Lookout. “There are three parties for a reason … [but] when we focus on our common values and priorities, then it's much easier to focus on how we need to work together.”
Orr agreed, pointing to the disconnect between that collaboration as individuals and the previous tensions among the parties. “We're working together [as councillors], and now we're seeing it formalized between the parties. That takes a lot of weight off of our consciences …. it’s not easy … as the face of a party, we have to wear the decisions. This goes a long way for us as counsellors to know that we're aligned.”
The agreement allows each party to run a mayoral candidate, and doesn’t lay out any formal mechanism, like the one proposed in February by OneCity’s mayoral candidate William Azaroff, to rally around a single progressive candidate.
“I think the real challenge will be on the mayor piece for me, but I don't intend to back down,” Fry said. “I feel confident that by the time we get to the end of summer, the others will have gotten behind or gotten out of the way.”
As it stands, it’s up to each individual party to make a “good-faith” determination about the strength of its own mayoral candidate compared to their progressive rivals. While Fry is confident at this point, so too is Azaroff, and Orr said COPE intends to put forward a mayoral candidate as well.
The agreement is good news for progressive Vancouverites hoping to unseat Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC majority on council, but momentum in the race for mayor will be an important factor shaping the ballot as we draw closer to the October election.
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WEEKEND EVENT GUIDE
Youth Volunteer Fair | Slice of Life Art Gallery | Apr. 17, 3-6 p.m. | Discover volunteer opportunities for youth | Free
Teen Angst Night | Fox Cabaret | Apr. 17 and May 8 | Comedic reading series featuring cringy moments from people’s teenage notebooks | Tickets $22
VUFFF Community Planting Day | Burrardview Park | Apr. 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. | Join in to help plant a new food forest in the park | Free
Skyline XTC | Queens and Del Rio, North Vancouver | Apr. 18, 7 a.m. | Run event hosted by Club Fat Ass, 5 and 25 km loops | Free
Family Saturdays at Chinatown Storytelling Centre | 168 E Pender St. | 12-3 p.m. | Hands on activities learning about Chinatown’s heritage | Tickets $10, free for youth under 17
Portobello West Spring Market | Roundhouse Community Centre | Apr. 18-19 | Buy unique goods from curated B.C. makers | Tickets $5
Mt. Pleasant Street Art and Mural Tour | Apr. 19, 11 a.m. | Explore vibrant street art and murals in Mt. Pleasant | Free
Stanley Park Earth Day | Lumberman’s Arch | Apr. 19, starts at 10:30 a.m. | Themed nature walks, education sessions and activities throughout the day | Free
Earth Day Dinner at Lila with Food Stash Foundation | Lila Restaurant | Apr. 22, 5:30-9 p.m. | A dinner with food rescued by Food Stash | Tickets $86
Art Incognito | Beaumont Studios | Apr. 24, 7 p.m.-1 a.m. | Anonymous art party where you can buy original 8” x 8” works | Tickets $25
My Name Is Rachel Corrie | Notional Space, 1523 East Pender | Apr. 24, 7 p.m. | Staged reading of My Name Is Rachel Corrie | Free
Granville Island Comedy Classic | Granville Island Stage | Apr. 25, 8 p.m. | Performances from a variety of comedians | TIckets $42
United Voices Choir | St Andrew’s-Wesley United Church | May 9-10 | Experience two choral masterpieces: Mozart’s monumental Great Mass in C minor, and Schubert’s poetic Mass in A-flat major | Tickets $18
Submit your event and it could appear here and reach 29,000+ Vancouver locals
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Nate Lewis
In keeping with our civic theme today, here’s one of the city’s pop-up engagement stations about the future of Vancouver’s Downtown skyline in Grandview Park 🏙️
COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS
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VANCOUVER GUESSER
Google Maps
Last week’s Guesser could reasonably have been one of two ice rinks, but a lot of you guessed wrong, thinking it was Hillcrest when it was in fact Trout Lake (which, in my opinion, is the city’s best rink).
For today’s challenge, can you tell me what street this is?
