Adult and child shopping at a Chinatown herbal shop

Vancouver City Council approves more than $3.4 Million in cultural grants with significant funding for Chinatown revitalization

May 30 2023 –

Today, Vancouver City Council approved $3,486,586 in grants to support the city's vibrant arts and cultural sector.  

Chinatown, recently infused with financial support from the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, will receive an additional investment from the City exceeding $1.1 million. This substantial contribution aims to enhance Chinatown's cultural vibrancy, solidifying its place as a cornerstone of the city's cultural heritage. 

"This significant investment reinforces our commitment to fostering vibrancy through arts, culture, and heritage within the city," says Mayor Ken Sim. "With a substantial focus on revitalizing Chinatown, we are taking bold strides towards preserving and enhancing the cultural heritage of this community and ensuring that it can be a vibrant, prosperous neighbourhood for generations to come."

While cultural space and infrastructure projects in Chinatown have been and will continue to be a priority for all Cultural Spaces grants streams, the Chinatown Cultural Infrastructure Grants recommends an additional $750,000 for three major projects to invigorate Chinatown's vibrant tapestry.

Funding will support the transformation of the historic Wing Sang building into the Chinese Canadian Museum, a ground-breaking initiative by the 221A Artist Housing Society to revive a heritage building into a dynamic cultural hub, and the Wongs' Benevolent Association's essential upgrades to the Hon Hsing building, to support a sustainable future for its cultural activities and legacy businesses. 

The Chinese Canadian Museum Society of British Columbia (CCMSBC) will also receive $334,500 from the ACCS operating budget to support operational funding for the next three years, and an opening exhibit titled "The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act".  

City Council’s approval of the Cultural Grants report also includes the following investments: 

  • Communities and Artists Shifting Culture (CASC) Grants worth $537,500 to 79 organizations city-wide, fostering artistic creation, community-engaged arts practices, and vibrant celebrations. $54,000 in CASC grants will be allocated to five projects supporting Chinatowns cultural vibrancy and diversity. 
  • Cultural Spaces Grants amounting to $1,864,586, supporting 40 projects including operational support for affordable cultural spaces for artists and organizations as well as infrastructure projects to research, plan, improve, buy and build cultural spaces throughout Vancouver. 

Previous Funding Commitment

Vancouver City Council also previously approved four grants as a part of the Uplifting Chinatown Action Plan, for community organizations totalling $387,000 to pilot graffiti abatement and removal projects and community supports in Chinatown. Read our previous news release to learn more.
  
These financial commitments align with the City's key strategic directions, including Culture|Shift, the City’s 10-year arts and culture plan, Vancouver Music Strategy, Making Space for Arts and Culture,  and the Vancouver Chinatown Cultural Heritage Assets Management Plan (CHAMP) Strategic Framework’s goals of supporting Chinatown’s cultural heritage.

Read this news release in Simplified Chinese (215 KB) Read this news release in Traditional Chinese (350 KB