Park Board office front doors

Park Board and City Staff working to bring CRAB Park Designated Area to a close

October 23 2024 –

The Park Board, with support from the City, is beginning discussions today with intended users of the Temporary Designated Area of CRAB Park (“Designated Area”) in order to bring it to a close and return it to general park use. 

The Park Board and City have consistently conveyed that the goal has always been to bring the Designated Area at CRAB Park to a close. Staff are working towards an intended closure date of November 7, 2024. 

Rationale for Work

There are several reasons why we are bringing the area to a close:

  • Public parks are shared neighbourhood spaces that are relied on by the whole community for their well-being, and the Park Board’s Parks Control By-law has a balanced approach to enabling daytime use for the whole community while enabling temporary overnight sheltering for those without housing who need a space to shelter overnight.
  • There are now seven people remaining in the Designated Area. Five of the seven people remaining have been offered housing and declined the offer, with one person having declined three housing offers. Two people have additional unique circumstances that staff are considering as they work on housing and shelter offers. They have all previously been offered and declined shelter. Each one of the offers are carefully considered in partnership with BC Housing, and other public and community partners to ensure that the offers are responsive to the person’s unique circumstances and needs.
  • Ongoing non-compliance with required guidelines since the restoration of the Designated Area in April continue to pose health and safety risks and are putting unsustainable pressure on Park Board resources.
  • As the weather gets colder, concerns grow about the health and safety of those sheltering outdoors or in encampments and people should be coming indoors when a reasonable space is offered. 

Current Status

Starting this morning (October 23), Parks staff supported by the City’s Community Services Liaison Team have begun a week of direct consultation (1.2 MB) with each of the remaining seven people in the park on how best to support each of them through this transition. 

The City’s Homelessness Services Outreach Team, along with BC Housing and other public and community partners, continues to work on housing and shelter options for all seven people.

Next Steps

The Park Board and City are committed to supporting each person in the designated area throughout this closure and are identifying through consultation with them the supports they may need. 

Anyone remaining in the Designated Area at the time of closure will be offered shelter. Any remaining Designated Area users who choose to not transition indoors into housing or shelter would be permitted to shelter temporarily overnight in CRAB Park as per the Parks Control By-law, which permits overnight sheltering with structures taken down by morning.  

Additional Background

The Designated Area was originally established in April 2022 to support people who were in CRAB Park encampment at the time and unable to take down their structures each morning.  

Given these individuals have received shelter and housing offers, there is no longer a fair and reasonable rationale for these individuals to have priority and exclusive access to daytime public park space given the other over 600 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness across the city who are required to comply with the Parks Control By-Law.

CRAB Park serves approximately 6,000 people within a 10-minute walk, with very few green spaces nearby—the demand for this vital green space for resident well-being is very high. It’s one of the densest neighbourhoods in Vancouver (10,000+ people per square km).

For a link to the GM notice and consultation plan, click here (1.2 MB).