Vancouver City Council Looks To Accelerate Displacement of Tenants 

September 9, 2025

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

VANCOUVER, UNCEDED COAST SALISH TERRITORIES

Amongst growing public backlash and opposition, Vancouver City Council continues to accelerate and intensify development across Vancouver. The latest move? On July 22, 2025, City Council voted to adopt a 447-page report that proposes the mass rezoning of the Broadway Plan area and parts of the Cambie Corridor. Rather than going through rezoning hearings, landlords and developers in these areas would be able to proceed straight to the development permit phase. A public hearing for this proposal will occur on September 16, 2025. Given the current makeup of City Council, we can be almost certain that it will be approved when it goes to a vote.

This proposal sheds light on the already existing limitations of local democracy. Public hearings are the only formal space for those living in or near the buildings targeted for destruction to voice their concerns or opposition regarding rezoning applications. Yet City Council votes in favour of rezoning as a matter of routine. Tenants who have been through the rezoning hearing process know these hearings are mere performances of democratic process. As one tenant living on E 12th asks, “what’s the point of speaking at a rezoning hearing, if the outcome has been decided before it’s even started?”

By entirely removing the rezoning process in the Broadway Plan area and parts of the Cambie Corridor, City Council shows us their priorities once again: accelerating development across Vancouver regardless of the costs to tenants so long as it benefits developers and landlords.

From real estate consultants and developers sitting on the City’s Renters Advisory Committee to City Councilors receiving campaign donations from developers and billionaires like Chip Wilson, the intimate relationship between City Hall and the capitalist class is abundantly clear. With this latest proposal, City Hall continues to make it evident by assuring developers that the City is doing everything it can to look after their profit margins, in large part by reducing the costs and time associated with the development process.

This mass rezoning will simply increase profits for developers and landlords while accelerating mass displacement of tenants, facilitating gentrification and destruction of our neighbourhoods and homes. It is nothing but an attack on the working class. As a tenant facing displacement on W 13th Avenue notes, “The only thing we know for certain is that, one day, we’ll be told we have only four months to figure it out, pack up, and relocate into an unknown future rental environment. That looming uncertainty makes it incredibly hard to feel a true sense of home where we are and it also makes planning for the future feel impossible.”

In response, it is clear that our only path forward is one where we unite with our neighbours to keep each other safe and in our homes. As organized tenants, we can put up a fight to protect our communities.Tenants who are ready to fight this callous attack from the ruling elite of the city should check out our new campaign page, Defend Broadway Tenants and reach out to their local VTU chapter to learn more and get involved. As the city continues to intensify and accelerate displacement, it is our duty to intensify our organizing.

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