Storefront pilot

Good morning, 

Nate with you today. Reading Julie’s story about dog owners fighting for space to exercise and play with their dogs, the first thing that came to my mind was the school board’s decision a couple of years ago to close school fields that were once used by the community, and yes, dogs, during off-hours. 

While those dog owners who let their pups dig holes or don’t scoop their poop certainly bear some of the responsibility for the closure, to this dog owner it felt like a heavy-handed way to solve a problem — especially given the limited number of dog off-leash areas, most of which you need to drive to.

Lastly, a reminder that there will be no newsletter on Monday as we take a day off for the Family Day long weekend. 

With that housekeeping out of the way, let’s get to today’s story!

— 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: 7 🌡️ 3 | 🌧️

Saturday: 6🌡️ -1 | 🌤️

Sunday: 5 🌡️ -1 | ☀️

Monday: 5 🌡️ -1 | ❄️

BUSINESS

Behind the scenes of the city’s new permitting pilot

Read the story online.

Last month, the city launched a new pilot program aimed at reducing vacant storefronts in the Downtown Eastside and surrounding neighbourhoods. The Temporary Occupancy Permit Pilot offers businesses, including artist studios, a simplified permitting and inspection process that exempts them from potentially onerous building upgrades for up to two years. 

The pilot is the result of a grassroots effort by David Duprey, founder of the Narrow Group, Michael Wiebe, a former city councillor who’s launching Small Business Vancouver, and Landon Hoyt, Executive Director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association (BIA), among others, to reduce permitting barriers for new businesses. 

“Vancouver is a really special monster when it comes to how much bureaucracy and how much red tape we have. So anything I can do to get involved with lessening that I'm stoked on,” Duprey told Vancity Lookout.

Duprey described a common scenario: someone takes on a lease to open a business where the space’s intended use is different from the previous occupant. That change of use triggers a development permit process, including inspections, which can potentially lead to a “massive amount of upgrades, especially in older buildings,” Duprey said.

The simultaneous cost of those upgrades, lease payments, and the lost revenue from not being able to open turns an exciting opportunity into a nightmare, Duprey explained.  

In 2021, painter Shannon Pawliw took action to realize her dream of opening an art gallery and personal studio. After looking at more than a dozen spaces, Pawliw finally found a spot in Chinatown, a former office on Main Street between Hastings and Pender. 

But because Pawliw wanted to change the use of the space from an office to an art gallery and studio, she was faced with a three-month delay for fire upgrades to the walls. 

“Luckily, my landlord was very, very generous and wanted me as a tenant, and agreed to do all of the fire stopping … I don't know how much that cost them, but if I had had to pay for that, I would have had to just bow out and not do it,” Pawliw told Vancity Lookout.

But according to Duprey, whose company operates 10 artist studio buildings, three bars, and three restaurants, it’s uncommon for a landlord to pay those upgrade costs because there’s little return on the investment.  

“All of these people [who] have these super cool little ideas [who] just want to go and do it in a space and make Vancouver better get crushed,” Duprey said, pointing out that other cities like San Francisco, Portland, and Berlin don’t require these sorts of building upgrades for basic changes of use.

“My biggest impediment to doing business in Vancouver is the City of Vancouver,” Duprey said bluntly. 

The pilot is a way to help small businesses get up and running more quickly, Hoyt told Vancity Lookout. “For some of these business owners that are so overwhelmed with permitting and become jaded or discouraged or feel hopeless, especially if they've gone through it and been denied, this is a way to address some of that,” Hoyt explained. 

Last year, Hoyt worked with Duprey and folks from Small Business Vancouver to craft a proposal for city council. A motion was put forward by ABC Coun. Mike Klassen in July and was unanimously approved. Hoyt and the other BIAs then consulted with city staff on the pilot program that was launched in January. 

The pilot is set to run for two years, ending in March 2028, with the potential to make some elements permanent. Given that the pilot just started last month, the city told Vancity Lookout they don’t have sufficient data to share how much interest there has been. City staff will monitor the program's impact, focusing on business activity, community engagement, and space occupancy. 

Hastings Crossing, which covers parts of the Downtown Eastside, Gastown, and Victory Square, as well as Chinatown and Strathcona, have the highest percentage of vacant storefronts of all BIAs in the city, with Hastings Crossing having the highest rate by far at 27 per cent in 2025, according to a city report. But there are signs that’s getting better, with Hastings Crossing’s vacancy rate improving by nearly 5 per cent compared to 2024, while the city-wide average got slightly worse. 

Hoyt and Duprey said that other BIAs like South Granville, Mount Pleasant, and Point Grey have reached out to them, expressing interest in having the pilot program expand to their neighbourhoods. Hoyt said he was even contacted by other cities interested in learning more about the program, including Pentiction. 

While city staff initially planned to report back on the program’s impact this fall, including the possibility of expanding it city-wide, the city’s Business Growth Task Force recommended that the pilot be expanded city-wide prior to the FIFA World Cup this summer “to activate vacant spaces and bolster neighbourhood business vibrancy.” City council approved that recommendation in December and staff are reviewing their direction, according to the city. 

“I asked the city staff ‘is that happening?’ and they kind of shrug their shoulders [to say] ‘I don’t think so,’” Hoyt shared.

Whether the program gets expanded, becomes permanent, or meets its objectives all remains to be seen, but for Duprey “this is just the hugest thing that has happened in so long,” because people can start their operations right away. 

“The bottom line is that the city just needs to get out of people’s way a bit more,” Pawliw said.

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

$13 million

That’s how much city staff underestimated the amount of money owed to the city by a developer due to a calculation error. It’s all part of our story on how a recent audit is raising concerns about the city’s questionable processes for selling its land. Read more. [Vancity Lookout]

THE AGENDA

🗳️ In a competitive race, non-profit housing developer William Azaroff triumphed over Amanda Burrows, the executive director of First United Church, to become the mayoral candidate for OneCity in the upcoming municipal election. Azaroff captured about 59 per cent of the vote among OneCity members. He joins an already crowded field of four other mayoral candidates, with more expected to be announced. Read more. [Urbanized]

🏫 City council looks set to approve a new elementary school in Olympic Village. You’d think building a school would be a straightforward, uncontroversial task. But getting to this point has been a long, torturous process, including a local group that is mobilizing against the number of students and the size of the building. Not to overplay the opposition, the rezoning received 741 comments in favour and 51 against. A final decision will be made on February 26. Read more. [CBC, Vancity Lookout]

👮 Speaking of vacant storefronts in the Downtown Eastside, the London Drugs that closed this month could become the site of a new police training academy, pending approval by the province. Some community groups are calling for another retailer to take its place instead, while others support the idea of an institutional use like the police academy. Police presence in the Woodward’s building is already growing with new offices for over 100 VPD officers opening there soon. [Daily Hive, Vancouver Sun, Global]

🏗️ Council approved a massive redevelopment on the 800 block of Granville Street, which includes the building that houses the Commodore Ballroom. The proposal includes purpose-built rental housing, keeping the Commodore, expanding restaurants and retail, and adding a hotel. Read more. [Urbanized]

👮 A man who us accused of second-degree murder in a stabbing at a Vancouver Starbucks in 2023 has pleaded not guilty. Read more. [CBC]

🖐️ Some experts are speaking out against the proposal by the B.C. government to bring the NATO bank to Vancouver, claiming that it would just boost the war economy and is not a serious plan for boosting jobs. Read more. [The Tyee]

🍎 Vancouver Food Justice Coalition expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s affordable food announcement, which promises a GST tax break and funding for agriculture businesses and food banks. They say it’s temporary and doesn’t address Canada’s legal commitments around the right to food. Read more. [CBC]

WEEKEND EVENT GUIDE

Family Day Weekend at Grouse Mountain | Feb. 13-Feb 16, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. | Daily family activities throughout the weekend 

35th Annual Women’s Memorial March | Feb 14, 12-4 p.m. | Beginning outside Carnegie Community Centre, the public is invited to join the march commemorating missing and murdered women in the Downtown Eastside | More information

Lunarfest Vancouver | Various locations around town | Feb. 14-Mar. 9 | Multiple shows, events and activities all around town | Free and paid

Valentine's Day Rollerskate Class | Rolla Skate Club | Feb. 14, 10 a.m. | Celebrate Valentine's Day with a day of skating | Tickets $20

Bach Reimagined | St. Anglican’s Church | Feb. 14, 7 p.m. | An evening of music featuring J.S. Bach | Tickets by donation

Jokes Please: Saturday in Kits | The Russian Community Centre | Feb. 14, 8 p.m. | A handful of comedians performing in a smaller venue, a show that’s been around for 10 years | Tickets $19

Intro to Bartending Class | Fine Art Bartending School | Feb. 14 and 21, 4:30 p.m. | Learn how to bartend and make five-star cocktails at home | Tickets $53

The Family Forward Festival | Carousel Theatre for Young People Initiative | Feb. 14-16 | A weekend for families with storytelling, drag, dance and music | Tickets $4+

Team Canada FanFest | Jack Poole Plaza | Feb. 15-16 | For fans and families to watch the games, meet athletes and other experiences | Free

Riot — Vancouver Sketch Comedy | Hero’s Welcome | Feb. 15, 8 pm | Live sketch show showcasing local issues, events and personalities of Vancouver | Tickets $17

Kids Take Over UBC | UBC Campus, 6200 University Blvd | Feb. 15 | Over 20 different UBC departments putting on an arts anc culture outdoor festival, held annually on Family Day | Free

Big Bang Festival | Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre | Feb. 15, 12 p.m. | Many fun shows for children 5 and up | Tickets various prices

Family Day Hikes and Campfire | Feb. 16 | Spend family day outdoor, with events at Belcarra and Pacific Spirit Park | Free

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

A notice posted outside Mount Pleasant School’s grass field, which was closed to the public for the foreseeable future at the end of January.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Vancouver Opera has released its 2026-27 show guide.

• Don’t miss out on produce boxes, including the social enterprise team at Sole Street Food. [Scout]

• Budgies Burritos has set up a live stream featuring one of the scariest crosswalks in the city. [Twitch]

• A popular tea shop is setting up a location in Vancouver. [Urbanized]

• Diljit Dosanjh is back in Vancouver this April after a massive concert here in 2024. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Here’s a solid list of Vancouver Lunar New Year events. [VanMag]

• Now that’s a low tide at Granville Island. [Reddit]

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VANCOUVER GUESSER

Ok ok, nearly all of you knew that last week’s Guesser was a raccoon. But have you ever seen a trash panda curled up so snug like that?? 🦝

For this week’s challenge, can you tell me what high school this is?