Latest anti-racism updates

Over the years, we've been working on a number of anti-racism initiatives to create a more equitable Vancouver.

Through both modest and comprehensive action, we are working to tackle racism and white supremacy within the City and Vancouver. This is an urgent priority.

Bookmark this webpage for updates, or receive quarterly updates on anti-racism, cultural redress, and equity actions straight to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.

What's happeningPromoting understanding and inclusivity

In 2022, our Council approved interim reports to actively confront racism within our city. We've condensed the reports into two short videos to promote understanding and inclusivity.

Learn more by watching the videos

Countering anti-Asian racism
We are deeply saddened and angered by the level of anti-Asian hate crimes in Vancouver, reported by community groups, the VPD, and more recently highlighted by the Bloomberg report. There is no place for racism, hate, and violence in Vancouver.

We understand that current systems were built and grew from historic foundations of anti-Indigenous, anti-Black, and anti-Asian discrimination. We know that stereotypes, bias, and prejudice lead to violent incidents that affect our whole community. We must name and address these incidents and their impact to reduce further violence and harm. We commit to improving our own response to hate and racist incidents involving City staff, services, and programs.

As part of this work, we are hosting focused conversations with community leaders and City Advisory Committees to build on what the community has already told us:
- Racist incidents are interpersonal, systemic, and institutional in nature
- Victims and targets of racist incidents are further targeted or isolated when they come forward
- There are limited resources to support those who are targeted directly and impacted indirectly
- There is limited understanding about what to do when someone experiences or witnesses a racist incident
- There are limited redress mechanisms for those who are victimized and targeted by racism
- There is limited understanding about who to follow up with when a racist incident occurs
- There is limited accountability for perpetrators and victimizers
These discussions will clarify priorities for the City in moving forward with action and we invite partners to engage with us in addressing racism in our city.

We continue to seek opportunities to work with the community to enact appropriate responses.

This work is informed by Mayor and Council Motion: Report Back - Standing Up to the Rise in Anti-Asian Racism, All Racism & Hate Crimes (49 KB) and continues to take shape via engagement with community leaders, community partners, City advisories, and internal teams including the Emergency Operation Centre, and 3-1-1.

We have also provided funding for the Chinatown BIA for additional security to combat the rise in anti-Asian racism in Chinatown, and we're in frequent contact with community groups in the neighbourhood to offer additional support.

The University of British Columbia held The National Forum on Anti-Asian Racism, an event that brought together people across the country to move us forward against anti-Asian racism in Canada.
- Watch the forum and read the key takeaways
Indigenous community
Colonial audit

Council directed Indigenous Relations to develop a scope of work for a colonial audit, while continuing to work cross-departmentally to implement the City of Reconciliation Framework

MMIWG and Red Women Rising reports

Our work is informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action , the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice , and the Red Women Rising report . All of our anti-racism and cultural redress work aligns with:
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action 57: to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism
- Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls – Calls to Justice 2.6: We call upon all governments to educate their citizens about, and to confront and eliminate, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. To accomplish this, the federal government, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and provincial and territorial governments, must develop and implement an Anti-Racism and Anti-Sexism National Action Plan to end racist and sexualized stereotypes of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The plan must target the general public as well as public services.
- Red Women Rising Recommendations to End Violence Against Indigenous Women in the DTES: Prioritizes a public education campaign in schools, transit system, media outlets, and community centresd on Indigenous rights and systemic racism.
We are developing our response to the calls for justice coming from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Red Women Rising reports.

While this project was temporarily put on hold due to the COVID-19 response it has restarted and is now currently underway.

Read Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and familiarize yourself with the Calls to Justice for all Canadians as a part of your learning about Reconciliation.

Women Deliver Project

Staff are partnering with Indigenous community experts to conceptualize, design, and create a multi-use building that prioritizes Indigenous women for housing, and includes childcare and other supports.

The project team is undertaking a unique decolonizing process to help guide staff in their leadership and decision making.

Urban Indigenous response to COVID-19

Staff are working to support Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council (MVAEC) in identifying and implementing the Urban Indigenous Pandemic Communications and Collaboration Hub, a collaboration between MVAEC, Vancouver Coastal Health, the City, and the First Nations Health Authority.

Our citywide approach also responds to the directions and recommendations of the Urban Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee.

Urban Indigenous Peoples’ Advisory Committee (UIPAC) actions

We welcomed the feedback of the Urban Indigenous Advisory Committee’s open letter in July 2020 on ways to improve the City’s relationship with Indigenous communities in Vancouver.

We are working closely with UIPAC to identify gaps and opportunities and to develop community trust in our institution.

Indigenous healing and wellness

City Council approved an additional grant to Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council for 2020 to accelerate their work on an Indigenous-led healing and wellness strategy. City staff are currently in discussions with MVAEC leadership about allocations of the funds which will help the City target support and investments to priorities set by the community.

Council also approved a capital grant of over $700,000 for an Indigenous healing and wellness space in the Downtown Eastside as part of the 2018 - 2022 Capital Plan.

More recently, an adjustment to the Capital Plan increased this amount in total to over $3 million, and potential locations have been identified.
Historic discrimination and redress efforts
Advocacy

In response to the leadership of Vancouverites, City Council and staff will be advocating to the Ministry of Education and discussing with the Vancouver School Board the need for the history of people of African descent in Vancouver, BC and Canada to be included as core curriculum as opposed to optional Black History Month content.

Curriculum changes are determined by the school board and ministry, but we will continue to push for these changes.

Apologies

Official apology to the Italian Canadian community

Following the declaration of war against Italy by the federal government in 1940, certain Italian men were deemed Enemy Aliens. As a result, nearly 3 dozen men in Vancouver were forcibly removed from their homes despite no proof of wrongdoing and sent to POW Interment Camps.

On June 8, 2022, Vancouver City Council formally apologized for these injustices enacted upon the Italian Canadian community during the Second World War.

Review the official apology (61 KB)

Review the full historical overview (256 KB)

Komagata Maru apology

On May 18, 2021, City Council formally apologized for the Komagata Maru incident, wherein in Vancouver City Council discriminated against 376 passengers travelling from British India on board the Komagata Maru ship in 1914 forcing passengers to remain on board for two months, without sufficient access to medical aid, food and water, because the passengers were of South Asian descent.

The apology for the City’s role in the Komagata Maru incident is part of a larger South Asian apology and redress work to come, which arises from a 2019 Council decision to address historical discrimination against people of South Asian descent in Vancouver.

Council approves Historical Discrimination against People of South Asian Canadian Descent interim report

On July 5, 2022, City Council took a step forward in acknowledging South Asian racism and discrimination by approving the Historical Discrimination against People of South Asian Canadian Descent interim report and the recommendations within the report.

This interim outlines how City staff engaged a small but diverse intersection of South Asian Canadian communities, including through a community advisory group and what is required for the next phase of to report back to Council with a final report and recommendations.

We are grateful for the Historical Discrimination against People of South Asian Canadian Descent Advisory Committee for their openness, time, and candour through this first phase of work.

Review the full report (1.3 MB)

Watch the staff presentation and council meeting

Review approved recommendations from Council (26 KB)

Apology for historical discrimination against residents of Chinese descent

In April 2018, Vancouver City Council arranged a special meeting in Chinatown where former Mayor Gregor Robertson delivered a formal apology on behalf of the City of Vancouver for past discrimination against residents of Chinese descent.

The apology acknowledged the wrongdoings of past legislation, regulations, and policies of previous Vancouver City Councils. Actions recommended by the community are being implemented through the Chinatown Transformation initiative.

Apology to Japanese Canadians

Staff are engaged with local Japanese Canadians on their community-led collaborations and initiatives to recognize the history and heritage of Japanese Canadians, Indigenous peoples and many others in the Paueru Gai/historic Powell Street area.

In 2013, Council issued a formal apology to the Japanese-Canadian community for discrimination and dispossession during World War II.

Additionally, in 2014 the Downtown Eastside Plan was approved by Council with policies to support Japanese-Canadians through public realm improvements, public art, events and programming, and strategic development and heritage rehabilitation opportunities.

Hired a South Asian Communities Anti-Racism and Cultural Redress social planner

In August 2021, we hired a South Asian Redress Planner who will work with community partners and City departments to advance the necessary redress work with South Asian communities.

ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ (Punjabi Market)

Staff are liaising with the community on the revitalization of ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ (Punjabi Market), recognizing the impact of historical discrimination on this key cultural and economic district.

Recent revitalization work we've supported includes:

Marigolds in the Market installation
- Marigolds in the Market was a public art piece that was installed by the Punjabi Market Regeneration Collective (PMRC) in spring of this year to celebrate the vibrant history of the diverse neighborhood and community of the ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ. Watch this video to learn more about the installation and the significance of marigolds in South Asian culture.
Murals in the Market
- In partnership with Vancouver Mural Festival and the PMRC, local BIPOC artists created a series of murals in the ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ to help facilitate storytelling through public art. Visit PMCRs website to learn about the mural curators and see where they are located.
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ self guided walking tour
- Indian Summer Festival partnered with PMRC to create a Self Guided Walking Tour. Grab your headphones and your walking shoes and tour the Punjabi Market this weekend .
City upgrades
- City workers have installed new benches, park furniture, and garbage cans to increase the neighbourhood's comfort and cleanliness.
Anti-Black racism redress
Council approves anti-Black racism cultural redress interim report

City Council approved the Addressing anti-Black racism and historic discrimination interim report (377 KB). The report – which includes input from the City’s Black and African Diaspora Community Advisory Committee – outlines the impact of anti-Black racism on all communities.

The 4 priorities identified in the report are:
- Economic wellbeing and prosperity: Partner with Black and African diaspora community members, businesses, and social enterprises to address poverty, advance community economic development, and prosperity in Black and African diaspora communities.
- Addressing systemic anti-Black racism: Work to eliminate systemic racism within the City of Vancouver as an employer and service provider. Take action against anti-Black racism and advocate to other levels of government, governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations.
- Improving our impact on Black communities: Provide appropriate resources to create ethically sound ways to better understand the experiences of Black community members in Vancouver to reveal:
  - How Black people are impacted by City-led programs and initiatives
  - How human resources practices impact Black staff and leadership diversity in the City
- Creating culturally relevant and safe planning processes: Work to integrate culturally relevant and safe planning processes for urban development, urban design, public space design, housing development, and preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Black and African diasporic people.
Further engagement with the Black and African diaspora community is ongoing to finalize these priorities and develop an Anti-Black Racism Strategy and Action Plan.
Hogan’s Alley

City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Hogan’s Alley Society to deliver housing, public benefits, and amenities on the 898 Main Street block, formerly known as Hogan’s Alley. Hogan’s Alley was once home to Vancouver's largest Black and African diaspora community.

Learn more about Hogan's Alley MOU

Black History Month

Since 2011, we have recognized Black History Month by official proclamation each February.

Learn more about Black History Month

Emancipation Day

We officially recognize August 1 as Emancipation Day.

Review the signed proclamation (472 KB)

Dedicated staff working on anti-racism and cultural redress

We have staff working exclusively on anti-racism and cultural redress, including a Black and African Diaspora Communities Anti-Racism and Cultural Redress Planner. Our staff are working in partnership with senior government on anti-racism initiatives, as well as collaborating with key external partners and stakeholders in the development of an anti-racism policy that will guide our work at the City. They also work to honour and advance recommendations provided by Black Canadians and people of African descent through resourced actions and initiatives.

Community grants

We are reviewing and assessing our granting processes and practices with an equity perspective to create long-term and meaningful change to our granting systems in support of Black and African diaspora communities.

Changes to support IBPOC our staff

The City's Chief Equity Officer has developed a number of internal equity initiatives to support our staff who are Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour (IBPOC).

Initiatives include:
- Creating an Equity Framework, which provides common understanding and an organization-wide, united approach to equity
- Facilitating the creation and coordination of Employee Resource Groups and Communities of Practice
- Providing opportunities for one-on-one support and advice to staff experiencing discrimination or navigating issues of identity in the workplace
- Expanding appropriate and culturally competent crisis management and mental health supports
- Hosting quarterly town hall events for all staff on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) related issues and themes
- Hosting responsive learning and sharing spaces for significant societal announcements and events impacting IBPOC staff
- The formation and support for affinity groups
- Opening safe reporting channels for incidents of racism
- Culturally appropriate mental health supports
- Explicit naming of equity competencies in our leadership competencies
- Quarterly town hall events for all staff on these issues
In spring 2021, we conducted our first Employee Benchmark Survey to comprehensively review employee experiences across the organization. We made sure the data can be analyzed by race and other identifiers, helping us understand how our actions impact specific staff groups.

In 2021, we established the Equity Council to bring together staff from across the organization to advise on our key equity initiatives on an ongoing basis. Membership is comprised of departmental representatives, as well as representatives from Employee Resource Groups. The Equity Council will be consulted on all major internal equity initiatives, with significant influence on their direction and implementation.

Anti-Black racism town hall

We hosted an Anti-Black racism town hall in September 2020, and we are grateful to all of the
community members who participated.

Learn more

We thank members of Black and African diaspora communities for their time and labour providing recommendations and analysis to the City to shape this work and move it forward.

We are pleased to share some of the documents and recommendations that are informing our work:
Anti-racism strategy and actions
Update on Anti-Racism strategy

In August 2022, City staff delivered an update on the development of an anti-racism action plan. Read the full update (856 KB).

We anticipate bringing forward the recommended strategy after further community engagement.

Advocacy

We're advocating to the Province to create a formal representative to improve mental health supports for residents impacted by racism and hate.

This advocacy work includes recommendations for services to assist people seeking redress for experiences of racism and violence.

Public campaign: Day of Action Against Racism

We proclaimed May 29, 2020 as a Day of Action Against Racism (6 MB), a day to reflect on how we can collectively take a stand against racism and hate, while also recognizing that racism has long been part of Vancouver’s history and to learn from mistakes of the past.

Although not all hateful messages result in actual hate crimes, hate crimes rarely occur without prior stigmatization and attempts to dehumanize targeted groups. We all have a role to play in addressing racism. The first step is acknowledging that racism exists. Denying that racism exists supports groups who benefit from continuing racism. It is important to note that people from all backgrounds can carry racial bias’ towards another race.

The systems and dimensions of racism:
- Institutional racism: policies and laws that reinforce racism in social and political institutions like education, justice, and economies.
- Structural racism: multiple institutions collectively upholding racism, for example the ability to access to bank loans can impact educational outcomes.
- Interpersonal racism: acts if racism and discrimination carried out by individuals against individuals who are Indigenous, Black, or members of other racialized groups.
- Internalized racism: overt and subtle conditioning that reinforces the incorrect idea that whiteness is superior and can result in self blame and self hatred for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people.
Racism is within the systems that we all live in. And, we all carry racial biases. Some of us are privileged and some of us are harmed, some of us are both. We are all conditioned to be racist from the education system, media, and society.

At times even when we are not trying to cause harm our conditioning and biases, including racial stereotypes, creep up and affect our actions.

It is all of our responsibilities to unlearn our own racial biases as well as disrupt systems of racism when they happen.
- Watch the Day of Action Against Racism video
Being an ally accomplice and working to dismantle racism is an on-going practice. Imagine what our city would look like if we’re all working on dismantling our own racial biases and educating those around us. We can work together to make this a stronger and safer city for all of us
- Download the bystander intervention guide (643 KB)
Racial and Ethno-Cultural Equity Advisory Committee actions

The Racial and Ethno-Cultural Equity Advisory Committee identified ‘Combatting Racism’ as a key focus area in their recommendations to City Council.

Access Without Fear policy

We're preparing to implement the Access Without Fear policy internally with all-staff and externally with partners like you. This policy has the objective of supporting access to City services by Vancouver residents with uncertain or no immigration status. The policy enables these residents to use municipal services without fear that the City of Vancouver will ask about their immigration status, or report their immigration status to other institutions unless required by law.

Read the full Access Without Fear policy (59 KB)

There will be opportunities to engage City partners in the roll-out of this important work. Email equity@vancouver.ca if you are interested in being involved in this work.
Internal structure changes
Chief equity officer

Just before the COVID-19 impacts, the City manager created the position of chief equity officer in the City Manager’s Office.

The City hired Aftab Erfan, who will lead the development of an organizational plan and our approach to institutional and cultural change, and work with departments to implement the equity framework internally and integrate and strengthen an equity and justice lens in our service delivery to the public.

Internal equity initiatives

We're implementing a number of initiatives to support Indigenous, Black, and other racialized City staff, including:
- A town hall with City staff, planned for late September
- Providing improved reporting and reviewing staff supports and other internal programs to support Indigenous, Black, and racialized staff
Commemorations policy

Staff will review statues and the names of City assets, including streets, and the policies governing commissions and donations of monuments and memorials.

We will also address the painful impacts statues and streets dedicated to figures of colonial history have on Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities.

We will review the Gassy Jack statue in Gastown with direction from the Squamish Nation, in addition to other assets across the city.

Anti-Black racism and white privilege awareness training

We piloted awareness training in 2019 with staff to name and address the realities and consequences of individual and institutional racism.

We are exploring how to embed this training content into our standard training curriculum and how to ensure this work remains a core responsibility across City departments while modelling this work within the City. We are exploring the necessary links between training and onboarding, work-plans, applied learning, policy, and need to support the shift in organizational culture and behaviour.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team in the EOC

An Equity and Inclusion team has been embedded with the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to support community resilience, help lower barriers to accessing timely, critical information, and work to ensure historically underrepresented groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic are part of the COVID-19 emergency response.

During the summer, we hosted virtual town halls in Tagalog, Punjabi, Vietnamese, and Chinese with former Fire Chief Darrell Reid to communicate with residents concerning COVID-19 and next steps in the recovery process.

Dialogue and accountability

We are in the early stages of forming a Public Partners and Communities Working Group on Anti-racism to act on priorities already raised by communities, including:
- Ethically-informed approach to collecting, sharing, using anonymized race-based data
- Impact-focused racist incident reporting and complaint redress processes
- Adequate and appropriate support and follow-up beyond information and referral
- Build shared understanding of racism as systemic, structural, institutional, interpersonal, cultural, and internalized
Equity framework

Staff are in the final stages of developing the Equity Framework which is aimed at transforming the City’s internal structures in order to have equitable outcomes for Vancouver’s diverse communities. This work is grounded on the priority actions identified in the Healthy City Strategy and is meant to align and support the work of the City of Reconciliation Framework. An update on the status of the Equity Framework development was shared with Council in February 2021, and the final report is expected to be presented to Council in the summer of 2021. We will share the Framework materials when they become available.

Staff survey

We conducted a workforce survey which closed in May 2021 as part of our commitment to build, nurture, and sustain a diverse and inclusive environment.

The survey will provide us with disaggregated data on our workforce, as well as an indication of staff engagement and sense of inclusion. The results will help shape HR’s equity and inclusion policies.

Once the survey results are finalized we will share the results with the public on this page.
Videos
These videos offer an overview of the vital reports, making the complex issues of racism and redress more accessible. The fight against racism is urgent, and it starts with understanding.

Historical Discrimination against People of South Asian Canadian Descent: Addressing Racism in Vancouver casts a light on the enduring effects of racism on the South Asian community.

Watch in your language:
Addressing anti-Black racism: Priorities for the City of Vancouver highlights our collaborative work with Black and African diaspora communities to tackle systemic racism and promote social inclusivity.

Watch in your language: