Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
Reporting & analysis
Housing, policy and community life.
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.
Latest coverage
Canada’s Homelessness Target Would Cost $3.5 Billion More a Year
Ottawa gave itself until 2027-28 to halve chronic homelessness. A friendship centre spent 18 years working toward one East Hastings building. Now a call for a national mission arrives three days before the budget, without a number.
The Debt Behind the Deal
A supplier can offer credit, drugs and a way to earn, then demand repayment under threat. Published Downtown Eastside accounts show what keeps a worker tied to that arrangement. They also show what it can cost to leave.
The Changing Promise of 58 West Hastings
A safe home has changed residents’ lives at Bob & Michael’s Place. Behind that achievement is an unfinished argument over the rents and admission rules that decide who gets the same chance.
Another year to keep the washrooms open
Vancouver’s emergency washroom programs became services people rely on every day. Years later, keeping them open still depends on another grant, another extension, and now, a proposal for shorter hours.
The Freedom to Play Someone Else
A prison record tells one story about a person. At Heart of the City, The Circle Project’s artists offer others, through invented characters and costumes they helped create.
The Real Size of B.C.’s Police Expansion
Recruiting a larger police force starts with replacing the people who leave. B.C.’s incoming government faces that ongoing demand as it promises more help on the streets.
Our coverage
Reporting by subject
