Vancouver’s housing crisis has also spurred our partners to action, creating new opportunities, ideas, and solutions. Key partners across all sectors – senior government, non-profit, private sector and beyond – have come to the table with new commitments, resources, and capacity to address Vancouver’s affordability crisis, including the promise of a new National Housing Strategy and a renewed commitment to affordable housing from the province of British Columbia. Vancouver is located on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and TsleilWaututh Nations. Vancouver is strengthened by Indigenous culture and values, lived and practiced by both on- and off-reserve Indigenous residents. The City has intensified its commitment to strengthening relationships with both on- and off-reserve Indigenous partners through its City of Reconciliation initiatives, recognizing the need for important shifts in how we work together moving forward.

An affordable and varied housing stock is an important foundation for supporting a growing population and ensuring a diverse, vibrant city. In Vancouver, rising housing prices have far outpaced local incomes, creating a crisis situation across the spectrum of incomes and households. Homelessness continues to rise in the city and region, with seniors, Indigenous households, lone-parent households, and youth at disproportionate risk of homelessness. Low and moderate- income households, including younger households and families, are also increasingly pressured to find and maintain secure housing in the city, facing the difficult choice of whether and how to stay in Vancouver long-term.