Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
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Housing, policy and community life.
Winter Shelters in British Columbia, 2026–27: Spaces by Community
Updated winter shelter information for this season in Vancouver and across B.C.: addresses, phone numbers, who each shelter serves, and which ones open only when an extreme weather alert is called.
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How Long Women Wait for Housing After Leaving Violence in British Columbia
A new report treats the wait between a shelter bed and a home as a cost. In B.C., women describe losing scholarships and living in cars, while the Province counts buildings and one night’s waitlists.
Medetomidine in B.C.’s Opioid Supply: What Naloxone Can and Cannot Reverse
In January, frontline workers in Trail found about 20 people unconscious outdoors every night. The suspected cause, the veterinary sedative medetomidine, does not respond to naloxone and now turns up in about one in five B.C. opioid samples tested by Health Canada.
Budget 2026 Renews the $100-Million Emergency Treatment Fund and Extends Addictions Transfers One Year
Budget 2026 renews the Emergency Treatment Fund for two years and extends the addictions transfers to provinces for one. The dates and eligibility rules decide what reaches East Hastings.
The rental rescue funds that leave Vancouver’s SROs out
Canada has put $1.5 billion behind buying affordable rental homes. The rules leave out the residential hotels that Downtown Eastside tenant groups are trying to save.
What affordable shopping on Hastings would take
Filling an empty storefront can bring activity back to Hastings. Residents also need shops they can afford, with the goods and everyday services they have been travelling elsewhere to find.
Vancouver’s Police Audit Promise Needs the Board’s Invitation
A Vancouver council committee approved $5 million for a Downtown Eastside police task force nine months after it began. A promised VPD audit now depends on an invitation that only the Police Board can send.
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