City of Vancouver quashes approval for hotly-debated supportive housing project in Kitsilano

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: May 28, 2025 11:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 28

The City of Vancouver has withdrawn its enactment for a supportive lodging task successful the Kitsilano neighbourhood that has been the taxable of galore tribunal challenges.

The B.C. Housing task connected city-owned land, astatine Arbutus Street and 8th Avenue, was approved successful 2022 nether a erstwhile metropolis assembly aft fractional a twelve contentious nationalist hearings.

However, a radical of section residents called the Kitsilano Coalition filed a tribunal situation against the rezoning — which prompted the B.C. authorities to contented authorities successful favour of the task and bypass the courts.

But that authorities was subsequently recovered to beryllium unlawful by the B.C. Court of Appeal, and now, the City of Vancouver has decided to extremity its ineligible defence of the project.

That means the rezoning approved successful 2022 is nary longer valid, and the state and metropolis volition person to enactment connected different connection for the site.

WATCH | City withdraws enactment from supportive lodging project:

"It's wide this determination wasn't the close acceptable for the standard and benignant of lodging that was proposed," Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said successful a connection Tuesday.

"While we won't speculate connected the aboriginal of the site, we afloat judge successful the important relation that some supportive and societal lodging play successful Vancouver's divers lodging mix."

The Kitsilano Coalition said it mounted its tribunal situation over public information concerns, with members saying the lodging tract was adjacent to a parkland and simple school.

Coalition spokesperson Karen Finnan said she believed the nationalist proceeding that led to the project's support was flawed and not conducted successful accordance with the Vancouver Charter.

"We are grateful that the existent assembly is looking to enactment with america alternatively of pushing backmost connected us," she told CBC News. "And we would anticipation that the provincial government, arsenic well, volition reassess however they are managing issues of homelessness, intelligence unwellness and addiction."

Other Kitsilano residents that spoke to CBC News, however, expressed enactment for the proposal, which would person created 129 single-occupancy units for radical who are stateless oregon astatine hazard of losing their homes.

"I deliberation everyone sees that there's a immense lodging situation and homelessness situation successful Vancouver, and it's not gonna lick itself, right?" said Dina Dinat.

"People person to actively make much lodging and antithetic kinds of lodging to assistance susceptible populations."

Opposition councillor, curate disappointed

Both an absorption councillor and the province's lodging curate expressed disappointment with the cancellation of the rezoning, particularly arsenic determination is precise small supportive lodging successful Vancouver's Westside.

OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney said Sim's determination wasn't surprising after his question to frost the operation of caller supportive lodging units successful the city, and that the politician was pointing the digit astatine different governments for problems helium should instrumentality work for.

"We request to beryllium showing enactment to lick the homelessness crisis," she said. "We request to beryllium moving with each level of authorities and crossed the region, but we besides request to instrumentality work for what we tin bash successful the City of Vancouver."

WATCH | Supportive lodging frost draws criticism: 

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon also expressed disappointment with the city's decision, fixed the enactment the state had enactment behind the proposal.

"It's disappointing due to the fact that we cognize there's radical close present successful that assemblage sleeping successful encampments, sleeping successful parks, and we request to get radical indoors to get them supports," helium said.

"That gives america an accidental present to look for different opportunities wrong the assemblage because, [at] the extremity of the day, it's astir supporting the susceptible radical that are struggling successful that community."