Vancouver Development Project

From Construction to Community: City of Vancouver Project Delivers on Community Benefit Agreement Commitments

In 2018, the City of Vancouver introduced the Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) Policy to boost the local economy by prioritizing jobs for local and equity-seeking individuals and supporting social value businesses through procurement. The policy applies to development projects with floor areas of 45,000 m² or more, ensuring that Vancouver residents and businesses benefit from large-scale developments. Accordingly, this agreement commits the development team to apply best efforts to achieve the following targets:

  • 10% of all jobs must go to local, equity-denied groups, with priority for entry-level hires through the First Source Hiring Program.
  • 10% of material goods and services must be procured from third-party certified social impact or equity-seeking owned businesses, prioritizing Vancouver businesses. 
  • 10% of materials, goods, and services must be sourced locally, prioritizing Vancouver companies, then Metro Vancouver, then British Columbia. 

To implement the CBA, developers must engage a third-party monitor to collect and report data to the City of Vancouver each month, ensuring the project meets its targets.

 

Reeve’s Collaborative Approach to Social Procurement Monitoring

With its sustainable procurement expertise, Reeve Consulting partnered with Light House as a third-party monitor for a large housing and co-op development. Through this partnership, Reeve collects and reports sub-trade data to the City of Vancouver, ensuring the project meets Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) targets while coordinating with contractors and social value organizations.

Deliverables included:

  • Conducting training sessions to onboard new trades. 
  • Collect, verify, and aggregate data from sub-trades reporting on procurement spend and new hires. 
  • Collecting information on equity-seeking hires and the source of hire. 
  • Report data at monthly project-specific working group meetings. 
  • Develop relationships with social value employment agencies and businesses. 
  • Verify social procurement spend. 
  • Draft and finalize the annual report. 

 

Sustained Impact and Continued Partnership

The project has exceeded CBA targets throughout three years of development. By connecting sub-trades with social value groups and encouraging inclusive hiring, the project boosted the local economy. As the project progresses, Reeve Consulting and Light House will continue as third-party monitors during the operations phase to ensure accountability and lasting impact.