Supporting small business

Good morning, 

Nate with you today. I’ve just recently gotten back from a warm week-long vacation. It was so nice to get some sun for a change and work on my tan, but I’m actually quite pleased to be back in rainy Cascadia. There’s something about the wet, misty woods that makes my heart sing. 

Another maybe surprising reason I’m happy to be home is to get back to work. We finished 2025 on a high note, publishing several stories we’d been working on for months, while my story on enhanced inspections at underground venues (which I’d prepared ahead of my trip in the last few days of December) has held serious traction with readers, other media outlets, and elected officials. 

We think there’s more to tell on that file, and there were a few notable stories from December that flew under the radar. With holidays now in the rearview mirror, we’re excited to dive back into the fray.

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].

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Wednesday: 8 🌡️ 4 | ☁️

Thursday: 8 🌡️ 4 | 🌤️

Friday: 9 🌡️ 3 | ☀️

BUSINESS

Meet the new non-profit helping Vancouver businesses

Read the story online here.

On a grey December day, Michael Wiebe unlocked a small, empty storefront within the ramshackle triangle of heritage buildings between Kingsway, Broadway, and Main Street. This is where Wiebe has chosen to start his new venture, a non-profit organization aimed at helping small businesses and entrepreneurs navigate the city’s complex landscape.

Straightforwardly called Small Business Vancouver (SBV), the organization aims to offer technical guidance and support to business owners, especially around city licensing and permit requirements, and advocate for policies and bylaw changes that support businesses. 

Wiebe has extensive experience in local government and business. He’s a former city councillor and park board commissioner with the Green Party, a former president of the Mount Pleasant BIA, and owner and operator of the now-closed Eight ½ restaurant just off Main Street.   

“During COVID, I couldn't get out of my restaurant lease and it killed me. But finding out later there are options, I just didn't know what they were, and I didn't know who to go to,” Wiebe described, saying he wants SBV to be that place that a struggling small business owner can get support from.

SBV is looking to support every type of entrepreneurship, from non-profits, side hustles, and informal economy – like people who rent a chair in a salon or barbershop – to storefronts and legacy businesses, Wiebe said. 

One way they plan to do that is by providing short, free consultations with experts, like lawyers or architects, who can help businesses avoid early pitfalls. That small business clinic, as Wiebe calls it, would first be rolled out as a pilot program in partnership with Local BC, with SBV providing funding to cover the costs of the experts. 

“Any business can call and get a 15-minute call with an expert, so they will look at your lease or a lawyer will give you early advice,” Wiebe said, explaining this early intervention can put businesses on the right path and help them avoid big headaches and high costs down the road.  

“The city doesn't have a system to support anybody who's kind of calling in to get guidance or direction, so we're really forced to spend, like, extra dollars and cents bringing in specialists,” Jude Kusnierz told Vancity Lookout. Kusnierz operates Mount Pleasant’s Beaumont Studios, a multi-disciplinary art and gathering space, which she founded in 2004. 

“I know my business. I don't know all the stuff that I need to know to engage with the city,” Kusnierz explained, adding that offering business guidance is one of the things she’s most excited about with SBV.

Kusnierz has joined Wiebe on SBV’s board, along with many local business owners and advocates, including Corinne Lea of the Rio Theatre, Zahra Esmail with Vantage Point, Angela Evans of the Collingwood BIA, Curtis Thomas, who is a Tsleil-Waututh Nation councillor and owner of Warrior Plumbing, architect Bill Uhrich, and Louise Schwarz of Recycling Alternative.

SBV is stepping in to fill some of the role of Small Business BC, a similar province-wide organization that declared bankruptcy and folded in late 2024 after more than 20 years of operations, according to CBC. “In speaking with Small Business BC, they said [the business clinic] was one of the most effective programs they did,” Wiebe told Vancity Lookout. 

The intent is for SBV to also act as a forum for business owners to organize through committees and industry groups, with the goal of collectively advocating with the city for improved regulations. Wiebe said SBV is hoping to work collaboratively with the city, acting as a resource that city officials can direct business owners to for guidance. 

It’s a role Wiebe has already taken on in a more informal capacity, which led to SBV being created. 

“Mike was this guy who was always able to move things forward if you had challenges,” Kusnierz explained. “So it got to the point where I think Mike had enough local businesses frustrated and talking to him that he was like, I think we need to take some initiative to move this forward,” in early 2025. 

“I don't think I'm alone in feeling the frustrations with dealing with city when it comes to permitting and such. It's tedious, long, difficult, and expensive,” Kusnierz said.  

Wiebe described numerous scenarios where he worked with businesses and government to update archaic or misinterpreted bylaws.  

“Greta Bar called me up because they aren't allowed to have arcades in Gastown,” Wiebe said, describing how he worked with city staff to update a bylaw that was originally intended to keep underage youth away from Granville Street venues. Another example Wiebe said he worked on was an old rule that mixed genders weren’t allowed in the same room at a steam bath, a regulation that city council removed in October while also allowing for cold plunges and saunas outside. 

In another case at the Flamingo Room on Commercial Drive, Wiebe said he found that a policy around washroom accessibility wasn’t being interpreted correctly. Wiebe was able to point out city staff’s error, allowing the bar to add more seating while still complying with regulations. 

Wiebe is hopeful that SBV will be able to open its storefront, add members, and start the business clinic pilot this spring. 

We rely on readers like you sharing these stories to help others discover our journalism. Share today: Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Bluesky | Copy this url

THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

100%

That’s the increase in the number of excused absences in elementary schools between 2018 and 2025. Those are for illnesses that were reported to the school by a parent. For secondary schools, the rate of excused absences more than tripled. [CBC]

THE AGENDA

🌧️ Get ready for another atmospheric river this weekend, with 125 mm of rain expected. Read more ($). [Vancouver Sun]

🚆 Anyone travelling on the Canada Line late into the evening should be aware that Oakridge-41st Avenue Station will be closed at 11 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday until Apr. 30 for construction. Read more. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🏥 The trial has begun for a pro-MAID group that is arguing health facilities run by religious groups — like Providence Health, which operates St. Paul’s Hospital — should allow non-staff doctors into their facilities to perform medical assistance in dying. They argue that not doing so is unconstitutional, especially because the organization is funded by taxpayer dollars. Read more ($). [Vancouver Sun]

💰It’s proving to be a challenging time to operate a restaurant in the province. Some owners even say it’s worse than COVID and may be the canary in the coal mine over future economic pain, due to how little people are spending and how expensive everything has become. Read more ($). [Vancouver Sun]

💦 There could be increased flooding this spring due to a seven per cent increase over normal levels in snowpack accumulation throughout B.C. Last year it was 13 per cent below normal. Read more. [CBC]

👮 Police have shared a video of a white Range Rover that struck and killed a 61-year-old pedestrian at East Hastings and Dunlevy Avenue on Dec. 7, asking for anyone with information to come forward. Read more. [CTV]

HOME OF THE WEEK

This is the most “affordable” place I could find in Kitsilano. But is it actually affordable?

It’s a one-bedroom apartment with a modern kitchen and lovely open space. The balcony means you’ll be able to enjoy the sun as well.

But is it really worth it for the price? Check for yourself. 

VANCOUVER ARTS GUIDE

Performance

A few shows starting next week at PuSh Festival include the opening party, 2021, a live performance theatre involving the audience, theatre and video-game storytelling, and Le Beau Monde, a sci-fi theatre show about a world very much different than ours that’s trying to resurrect the present.

From Apr. 1-30, Capture Photography Festival returns throughout the Lower Mainland. We’ll be featuring more of the shows as we get closer to the date.

What happens when you mix theatre, dark comedy and a baking competition? You get The Baking Show Show: The Play, as a woman becomes obsessed with trying to win Canada’s most elite baking competition. On at the Shadbolt Theatre from Feb. 5-7.

Barefoot in the Park at the Metro Theatre is an exploration of imperfect love set in the 1960s between a lawyer and a free spirit. On from Jan. 24 to Feb. 14

Art

Landscape photographer Matthieu Rocher’s exhibit Between Lines and Horizons starts Jan. 16 at the Le Centre culturel francophone, exploring the beauty of Western Canada.

Movies

As government crackdowns surge in Iran, there’s no better movie to see right now than Jafar Panahi’s timely It Was Just an Accident about a man tortured in prison.

For those looking for something different, The Cinematheque has a series of movies from Naruse Mikio, an icon of Japanese cinema, who explores the common life of a society suffering under patriarchy and capitalism, on until Feb. 21.

If you need something to do tonight, Sentimental Value is a must-see exploration of a family. Plus, they’ve got two other well-reviewed movies, The Secret Agent starring potential Best Actor Oscar winner Wagner Moura and Rental Family featuring Brendan Fraser.

Submit your event and it could appear here and reach 30,000+ Vancouver locals.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

La Quercia is a traditional, timeless Italian restaurant

La Quercia & L'Ufficio is a rare Italian restaurant that makes no apologies for hewing to tradition and ignoring the latest food trends. As co-owner, Adam Pegg explained, “We really don’t consider how we have affected or grow with the evolving Italian scene in Vancouver.”

You’d be forgiven for thinking Vancouver was an Italian territory. Giusti, Angela Pastificio, Osteria Otto… there’s a new neighbourhood spot opening every few months. But what sets this 20-year-old Italian restaurant apart is not novelty or the latest food fad, but a commitment to tradition.

Read the review

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• This dog was found 54 days after being lost in the North Shore. Welcome home! [CBC]

• See which Vancouver restaurants are participating in Dine Out Vancouver. 

• A PowerPoint presentation to find a date? Yes, it’s a thing in Vancouver. [CBC] 

• The Vancouver International Wine Festival will be focusing on French wines this year. [Straight]

• Vancouverite Finn Wolfhard will host SNL this week. [Curiocity]

• Hy’s Steakhouse got a big makeover recently. [Scout Magazine]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

GAME TIME

For today’s Wordle, we’re mellowing out for a classic January challenge. Can you work out what it is?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Such gorgeous colours in this shot of False Creek and BC Place.

STORIES THIS WEEK