This petition was written by the Carnegie Housing Project

On July 23rd, Vancouver City Councilor Sean Orr is presenting a motion that requests staff to suggest a zoning by-law amendment that would extend the leases on modular supportive housing sites from the current 5-year limit to the life of the building, which is 30-40 years. Read the full motion here. If this motion passes, 600 supportive housing residents would be saved from sharing the fate of the nearly 200 people who were scattered from Larwill Place, Little Mountain, and Aneki when the leases on those sites expired and the homes were packed up and moved out of Vancouver.

The Carnegie Housing Project is helping gather public support for this motion. Signing and sharing this petition is one way you can support. You can also email city councilors expressing support for this motion. Feel free to use parts of this article to support your argument. Email letters to: Rebecca.bligh@vancouver.ca
Lisa.dominato@vancouver.ca
Sean.orr@vancouver.ca
lucy.maloney@vancouver.ca
Pete.fry@vancouver.ca
Ken.sim@vancouver.ca
Sarah.kirby-yung@vancouver.ca
mike.klassen@vancouver.ca
peter.meiszner@vancouver.ca
brian.montague@vancouver.ca
lenny.zhou@vancouver.ca

Sign up to speak to council about this motion here.

Here is background information about the issue.

Vancouver has had about 800 units of supportive modular housing in 13 buildings. They are gradually being moved and the city is losing desperately needed housing that low-income people can afford.

Number of Unhoused People in Vancouver: The Ministry of Poverty Reduction says there are almost 3300 people with no fixed address on social assistance in Vancouver. This does not include seniors and people who aren’t on social assistance. So a reasonable, conservative estimate of the number of homeless people in Vancouver is about 4000.

Number of people on supportive housing wait list in Vancouver: 3000 (source: City’s manager of homeless services)

Number of units of modular housing we have lost already: 98 at Lawwill (now a mostly empty parking lot), 46 at Little Mountain, 39 at Aneki for a total of 183.

Why are we losing the modulars?

They are on land that has been leased for 5 years, with possible extensions to 10 years. Some of the sites like Aneki and Little Mountain are being redeveloped with other buildings. While some sites could last until 2031, if their leases are extended, Land leases on other sites expire in 2026 and 2028. All the units could be gone by 2031 unless the city and province act to extend the leases or find new sites. The city must change its zoning bylaw or they will all be gone by 2031. In 2023 the city defeated a motion from Councillor Boyle calling for a staff report on extending leases or finding new sites. But we have more progressive councillors now. We can try to sway the others with good arguments.

Where do people go who are evicted from modulars that close?

Generally tenants are offered 2-3 options of places to move. Sometimes they are offered SROs that are worse accommodation than the modulars. While BC Housing generally finds housing for evicted modular residents, because $500 a month housing is so scarce, this means that all of those BCH units, to which people who were living in modular housing are transferred, are no longer available to others who are homeless. It effectively removes hundreds of homes from the bank of homes available to those living on very low incomes. At this point, many could die before they get housing.

What does the City of Vancouver website say about modulars?

Benefits of temporary modular housing:

• Provides immediate relief to hundreds of people without a home
• Can be constructed in about three months on vacant or underused sites across the city
• Supplies the right supports until more permanent social housing is available
• Can relocate and reconfigure to fit different sites
• Creates a sense of community with amenity space and connections to the neighbourhood

What does the city say about the benefits of modular housing?

A BC Housing survey found:
“80% of residents reported that their overall well-being is better

82% of residents have experienced positive interactions with neighbours in the surrounding community

Nearly all (94%) of residents remained housed six months after move-in”

What are the modular housing units like?  

Each unit is about 320 square feet, with a private bathroom and kitchen facilities.  They are three times as large as most SROs and way nicer.  Modular housing units are built to be moved and last for decades.
What is the city’s argument for not keeping the modulars?  They say that they should be replaced with permanent, denser housing, but have also passed a motion to pause new supportive housing.

What do we need?  

With a desperate homeless crisis, Vancouver needs all the supportive housing it can get, new permanent, denser housing as well as the modulars. The city and province need to come together with plan to keep all the modulars in Vancouver as well as build new supportive housing. This could be done by extending leases on some sites and finding new sites where necessary, for example, on underused parking lots.

In conclusion:

Modular supportive housing is a critical part of a multi-pronged approach to addressing the diverse housing needs in our community. While we strongly support the development of permanent housing solutions—such as community land trusts that ensure long-term affordability and prevent displacement—we recognize that these projects take time to build. In the meantime, community members need immediate access to stable and suitable housing. Modular housing provides a vital interim solution, ensuring that people have a safe place to live now while we work toward increasing the supply of permanent social housing to meet the urgent needs of those on waitlists.

Vancouver’s existing supportive modular housing must remain in place and operational for as long as possible. If a site is no longer available, the housing should be relocated within Vancouver—not lost altogether. The city cannot afford to lose these essential homes for our most vulnerable community members. Beyond providing shelter, modular housing fosters a sense of stability and belonging. Moving it outside Vancouver would not only displace residents from their homes but also sever the vital community connections they have built within the modular housing and the surrounding neighborhood.

Reach out to us at carnegiehousingproject@gmail.com if you have questions or would like help preparing to speak to council.