City Hall's 12th Avenue entrance

City approves street cleaning grants to support low-barrier job opportunities

February 14 2023 –

Vancouver City Council has approved $2.46 million in funding for our 2023 Street Cleaning Grant Program. Since 1999 this program has played a major role in keeping Vancouver clean by supplementing work done by our crews and providing meaningful, low-barrier job opportunities for people who need them the most.

Micro-cleaning is a core component of the Street Cleaning Grant Program. It involves the daily collection of litter and needles on foot using brooms, shovels, and wheeled carts. This work complements the street cleaning work done by our crews, which is focused on emptying waste bins and collecting litter using sweepers, flushers, or other vehicles.

Positive impacts of the program in 2022

  • Micro-cleaning in an area covering 7 square kilometers and within 22 Business Improvement Areas
  • Micro-cleaning of 25 permanent and pop-up plazas
  • 71,200 work hours for individuals with barriers to traditional employment
  • 34,000 bags of litter and 109,900 needles collected
  • 20,800 cumulative feces removals in the downtown area

2023 grant recipients

In total, the 2023 Street Cleaning Grant Program will provide $2.46 million in grants to the following organizations:

  • United We Can – Save Our Living Environment ($469,100)
  • Coast Mental Health Foundation – Employment Services Program ($735,000)
  • Mission Possible Compassionate Ministries Society – MP Maintenance ($1,078,150) 
  • Family Services of Greater Vancouver – Street Youth Job Action ($73,100)
  • The Kettle Society – SEED Employment Program ($48,800)
  • MakeWay Charitable Society – The Binners’ Project ($55,000)

We encourage all residents to do their part to reduce waste, dispose of their garbage properly, and consider participating in our community-based litter cleanup programs: Adopt a Block and Neighbourhood Cleanup Party. 

Review the Council report  (178 KB)

Find out more about the Street Cleaning Grant Program

Quote

Mayor Ken Sim

“We are proud to support the Street Cleaning Grant Program,” says Mayor Ken Sim. “The program not only contributes to a safer and cleaner city but helps transform lives by providing low-threshold work to people who are typically excluded from the traditional workforce and helps empower them to make a positive contribution to their community. We look forward to working with the grant recipients in 2023.”