Unlocking Community Potential: Learn From Vancouver’s Policy
Have you ever glanced at the cranes towering over Vancouver, the skeletons of new condos and high-rises taking shape, and wondered: How much does it cost to build those? Where does the money go? How much of it benefits the people who live here?
Fortunately, the City of Vancouver has taken a bold step to ensure that new developments are more than just modern buildings—so that their construction creates employment opportunities for equity-deserving individuals and supports local economic development.
Vancouver has the third-highest low-income rate in Canada, with one in four residents living below the low-income measure. By leveraging the economic power of construction and development, the Community Benefit Agreements Policy seeks to create meaningful opportunities for residents and the local economy.
Understanding Vancouver’s Equity Challenges
A Community Benefit Agreement is a municipal policy designed to align economic growth with social equity by engaging local communities and social enterprises in large-scale projects.
In 2018, the City of Vancouver introduced its first Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) Policy, aimed at ensuring development projects directly benefit the people of Vancouver through local hiring and local and social procurement. This policy requires projects of 45,000 m² or larger to commit to the identified targets and is voluntary for projects that do not meet the square footage requirements. Currently, there are three projects in Vancouver committed to the CBA, including the new St. Paul’s Hospital.
At its core, a CBA is a legally binding agreement between a developer and the city that commits the project to achieving specific targets in three areas:
- First Source Hiring: Provide 10% of new, entry-level jobs to equity-seeking groups, prioritizing those in the Vancouver City Core.
- Social Procurement: Source 10% of material goods and services from third-party certified social impact, diverse, or equity-seeking owned businesses, prioritizing Vancouver City Core businesses.
- Local Procurement: Source 10% of materials, goods, and services, prioritizing those in the Vancouver City Core, then Metro Vancouver and British Columbia.
The City of Vancouver’s Community Benefit Agreement ensures that the economic ripple effects of new projects do not just enrich developers but also benefit residents. Vancouver’s construction sector provides an opportunity to address systemic challenges, such as unemployment and the exclusion of job opportunities among groups who are traditionally equity-denied. CBAs turn large-scale developments into opportunities to stimulate the local economy while creating fair-paying jobs for local, equity-deserving groups.
Jobs, Growth, and Inclusivity in Action
Vancouver’s CBA Policy is the first to be implemented in Canada. While this is a policy, it is applied with a collaborative approach and adjusted as needed. Through the CBA, these projects have created employment opportunities for residents and equity-deserving groups, and supported local, small, and social impact businesses to provide goods and services for the development of these projects. The chain reactions are significant—by embedding local hiring and procurement into project planning, Vancouver is fostering a more inclusive economy while addressing the challenges of poverty and income inequality.
Tackling Challenges, Creating Opportunities
Implementing the CBA isn’t without challenges. Under the CBA Policy, the City of Vancouver, its third-party monitors, the developers, and sub-trades are working collaboratively to improve the application of this policy. These agreements require strategic planning, detailed reporting, and robust monitoring to ensure targets are achieved. The project team continues to source social impact suppliers and to partner with workforce development groups such as EMBERS, Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society, and Mission Possible to connect sub-trades and general contractors with local talent and resources.
Be Part of Vancouver’s Inclusive Future
Vancouver’s CBA Policy offers a blueprint for cities across Canada—and the world. Cities like Toronto are looking to implement similar policies to tackle the dual challenges of urbanization and inequality. By hiring local and equity-denied individuals and supporting small and social impact organizations, Vancouver is not just building towers; rather, it is building a city of inclusivity, where everyone has a chance to thrive.
