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3mo ago

B.C. to Relocate Supportive Housing From Granville Street After Fire

Vancouver will partner with the province to identify smaller supportive housing sites outside the entertainment district to ease pressure on local businesses.

Business owner Allan Goodall, second from left, with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung on June 12 inside Aura Nightclub on Granville Street showing water damage after a fire in the supportive housing units above the club.
Business owner Allan Goodall, from left, with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung on Granville street June 12, 2025.
Vancouver Police Chief Steven Rai said this week that ‘police have to get out of policing poverty. Our resources are finite, and we have to be responsible with those resources.’
Granville street June 12: Business owners agree that supportive housing needs better management on the street.

Overview

  • A fire on June 11 at the former Howard Johnson supportive housing site injured two people, displaced residents and prompted the relocation plan
  • Since its 2020 conversion, the Granville Street building has generated thousands of emergency responses, stretching police and fire services
  • Nearby businesses report repeated property damage, lost revenue and heightened safety fears linked to disorder around the supportive housing facility
  • The province and City of Vancouver will jointly seek three new city-owned parcels for smaller projects capped at 40 units with on-site security and wraparound supports
  • Business groups in Vancouver and Victoria are demanding immediate public safety measures, warning nearly half of downtown tenants may not renew leases without action